Mixed age couple, husband starting pension & wife starting UC, think we were advised wrong eek!

Poppyandme

We spoke to Citizen's Advice back in March as hubby received a letter regarding stopping our IS claim as he will start to claim his pension (23/06/24) Citizen's Advice then sent through different scenarios showing amounts showing both outcomes both with and without me being added to LCWRA and husband on state pension. We don't know anyone on UC and have no idea how it works but had no reason not to doubt him when he worked out we would get both UC and hubby's pension, this we later found out wasn't right   When we asked should we make our applications to UC before or on husband's retirement date (ie his birthday) the gentleman told us to wait till the actual day or it would be confusing for UC. We then had reason to speak to Citizen's advice again only to be told the gentleman was no longer working there. When questioned about claiming UC and a state pension as in the figures we were sent, the lady said she didn't know and there was no information from our last inquiry! We have since had a letter from HMRC saying hubby needs to pay back some pension as they paid too much! So far after joining on the 23/07 we have no idea what we will get till 29th of this month and then wont receive any payment till 08/08/24. The stress is terrible as we are trying to support our 19-year-old son till he starts uni in September. He has no income till he gets his grant so we are paying his prescriptions etc and its really tough. Im sorry this isn't concise, I do struggle with things like this.

Spoonie_Turtle

Sorry I can't advise about your claim but is there a particular reason your son isn't claiming UC in his own right?  At this point it'd probably only be one payment between now and starting uni but still better than nothing.

huckster

State pension would affect any UC claim award on £1 for £1 deduction basis, so unless you had Housing rent as part of the UC award, I doubt you would receive any UC award or very little.

What does your UC claim include ? Was Son verified as Child due to you saying he was still in education as academic year had not completed ?  Did you include Housing rent costs ?

Your post does not say much about what was the basis of the UC claim you submitted.

poppy12345

Poppyandme said:

So far after joining on the 23/07 we have no idea what we will get till 29th of this month and then wont receive any payment till 08/08/24. 

What did you join? If you mean you claimed UC on 23/07 then your first payment will not be until 29/08. When you submit your claim for UC your first payment isn't until just under 5 weeks later. 

Do you or your husband claim a disability benefit such as PIP/ADP or DLA? If so what award do you have exactly please?

sheramber

Your son should make a claim under the low income scheme  for help with NHS prescription costs
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/nhs-low-income-scheme-lis/