National Service

Marjrie

My 89 year old father did National Service from 1952 until 1954, would he be entitled to any kind of army pension? 

He gets state pension and no other income, he has some savings of £34,000 but these are dwindling fast, he pays full council tax and runs a little car. He has heart problems so needs to keep warm, he lives alone so wouldn’t get attendance allowance.
A little bit extra from the Army would take a bit of pressure off.
thank you for reading 

german_keeper

Living alone shouldn't preclude him from getting Attendance Allowance unless the rules have changed. Many years ago when I worked as an Adjudication Officer on Disability Living Allowance, which was essentially the same as AA but for younger people, the phrase used was that it isn't about the care the disabled person receives it is the care they should be receiving. Obviously the key to it is whether he has those care needs or not. 

molerat

No army pension I am afraid.  Up until 1975 22 years had to be served  for any kind of pension.

Silvertabby

No pension, I'm afraid,  but the RBL are paying grants of up to £200 per month (for a year) to vets who are struggling with the cost of living.

You don't have to be in receipt of means tested benefits to qualify, but it may be that his savings will rule him out.  

MX5huggy

Try the benefits board to go through everything he maybe entitled to. How much State Pension does he get? 

Marcon

Marjrie said:

My 89 year old father did National Service from 1952 until 1954, would he be entitled to any kind of army pension? 

He gets state pension and no other income, he has some savings of £34,000 but these are dwindling fast, he pays full council tax and runs a little car. He has heart problems so needs to keep warm, he lives alone so wouldn’t get attendance allowance.
A little bit extra from the Army would take a bit of pressure off.
thank you for reading 

You say he pays full council tax but lives alone. I think he should qualify for a 25% single person discount - check his local authority's website.

xylophone

Have you (or he) done a full check for any benefits to which he may be entitled?

With regard to his CT, is there any reason why he is ineligible for (at least) single person discount?

Check with his local council - you should be able to access full details on the Council web site.

With regard to AA, my relative's relative lived alone until she was 91 and received the lower rate of AA.

Read

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs34_attendance_allowance_fcs.pdf 

And check on whether he has any entitlement to pension credit.

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/large-print-factsheets/fs48-lp-pension-credit.pdf

And you have checked his winter fuel payment?

https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/how-much-youll-get