Pension Credit vs Second Adult Rebate for council tax reduction

BensonBooga

Just asking this on behalf of my 80 year old mother. She lives with her adult son who is on ESA Income Related benefit (no others), this means she can get a council tax reduction. She is also going to apply for Pension Credit (her husband died recently so didn't need to apply for these things before). She will only be entitled to about £2 pension credit going by the online calculator due to her savings, but I heard a bonus of this benefit is you get a reduction of council tax if you get the Guarantee part of Pension Credit. 

There is a clause that says "But not if the person lives with a 2nd adult". Given the 2nd adult in this case is on benefits, would that cancel out the clause ? Which reduces the council tax the most, Pension Credit with non dependant adult son on benefits, or Second Adult Rebate ? 

Also, what happens when pensions go up by 10% this April, this might take her over the £182 a week limit for the Guaranteed credit ? Does this limit go up too in April ? 

With the Guaranteed part of the pension credit, do savings get included in this part or only the weekly earnings ? 

My head hurts with all this. Thanks. I plan to ring the pensions helpline for her next week but would be good if in the meantime anyone knows info for the above. 

calcotti

BensonBooga said:..She will only be entitled to about £2 pension credit going by the online calculator due to her savings, but I heard a bonus of this benefit is you get a reduction of council tax if you get the Guarantee part of Pension Credit. 

That not exactly correct (but the result is the same). You do not get a reduction in Council Tax liability as a result of receiving guarantee PC. However receiving guarantee PC automatically entitles her to maximum Council Tax Reduction without a means test by the local authority. CTR will cover all of her CT. Because the son gets income based ESA you will not be expected to contribute.

Second Adult Rebate is only relevant if she doesn’t qualify for CTR. 
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/council-tax/check-if-you-can-get-a-second-adult-rebate-on-your-council-tax/

Pension Credit thresholds are also increasing in April so if she qualifies now she is likely to also qualify in April - but it depends on how her income is made up.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-and-pension-rates-2023-to-2024/benefit-and-pension-rates-2023-to-2024#pension-credit

When calculating PC any savings over £10,000 will reduce the guarantee PC by £1/week for every £500 over £10,000.
There is a calculator
https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator