Applying for pension affecting housing benefit?

DaffyDuck316

Hi, 

When my mother reached pension age, she applied for a pension and she got spooked as she received a letter, the details are sketchy, but she was worried she may lose her housing benefits, and as such, she has given up on applying for pension.

I think her worry is that maybe she should not be receiving housing benefits in the first place. She was born in 1956, and moved to the US from 2000-2014. My dad earned most of the household money (he died in 2014), but my mum did work part time every now and then.

Any information appreciated. I don't really like to ask her for more information as I think it makes her feel insecure.

elsien

You’re going to have a little to give a little bit more clarity around what  “applying for a pension” means.
State pension, private pension, pension credit, any other sort of pension she might be eligible for?

what income is she living on if she’s not getting a pension?

Marcon

DaffyDuck316 said:

Hi, 

When my mother reached pension age, she applied for a pension and she got spooked as she received a letter, the details are sketchy, but she was worried she may lose her housing benefits, and as such, she has given up on applying for pension.

I think her worry is that maybe she should not be receiving housing benefits in the first place. She was born in 1956, and moved to the US from 2000-2014. My dad earned most of the household money (he died in 2014), but my mum did work part time every now and then.

Any information appreciated. I don't really like to ask her for more information as I think it makes her feel insecure.

The only way to resolve this is to ask her for more information, and work through whether or not she should have been getting housing benefit. See https://www.gov.uk/housing-benefit

She's going to feel 'insecure' until this is resolved, so the sooner one of you grasps the nettle (gently!), the sooner her mind can be put at rest.

molerat

Failing to apply for a pension, either state or private / occupational after reaching NRA, could result in her being assessed as in receipt of those pensions and having to pay back any benefits received as a result of the assessed income.  A worst case scenario is that it is investigated as benefit fraud so best get it nipped in the bud now to save her any more stress.

DaffyDuck316

Her housing benefit covers most of the rent and bills, and I have been giving her £200/month for the rest and food shopping. She rents through a letting agent but the rent has been fairly low. 

I'll try to find out if she is eligible for a State Pension, I think it involves 10 years of NI contributions, but I'm not sure she has that, but maybe being a widow could help.

I hear you about grasping the nettle, it can be difficult as I work 60-70 hours a week and I'm worried I might lose my own home at the moment too. If she lost her housing benefit, I think the stress would be overwhelming.

I think my mother qualifies for housing benefit, but she is worried her landlord would find out she is using housing benefit to pay for her rent. I'm not sure why that should be an issue.

I'm not really sure what I am asking here, I guess it was to see if you can get housing benefit AND state pension at the same time, I am a bit clueless and I'm having trouble finding information. 

Altior

The benefits section is probably a more appropriate place for this query than the pensions one. As far as I know, housing benefit is only intended to pay the rent, not utilities. How about council tax? Appears there may be something else going on. 

The answer to the specific question is that people can be in receipt of state pension and housing benefit. 

hugheskevi

DaffyDuck316 said:

When my mother reached pension age, she applied for a pension and she got spooked as she received a letter, the details are sketchy, but she was worried she may lose her housing benefits, and as such, she has given up on applying for pension.

So she has deferred drawing her State Pension. The rules around State Pension deferral say:

You must tell the Pension Service if you’re on benefits and you want to defer.

Taking your extra State Pension as higher weekly payments could reduce the amount you get from:

• Housing Benefit

DaffyDuck316 said:

I think her worry is that maybe she should not be receiving housing benefits in the first place.

If she thinks she may not be entitled, the rules on this are clear too:

You commit benefit fraud by claiming benefits you’re not entitled to on purpose. For example by:

• not reporting a change in your circumstances
• providing false information

DaffyDuck316 said:

I'll try to find out if she is eligible for a State Pension, I think it involves 10 years of NI contributions, but I'm not sure she has that, but maybe being a widow could help.

She should have inherited her husband's NI record given his date of death (Category B State Pension) and may have benefitted from Home Responsibilities Protection if she was named as the claimant on the Child Benefit received for children. Deferral will also have increased the pension due, as well as the part-time work (if she earned above the Lower Earnings Limit).

DaffyDuck316 said:

I'm not really sure what I am asking here, I guess it was to see if you can get housing benefit AND state pension at the same time, I am a bit clueless and I'm having trouble finding information. 

Yes, you can receive Housing Benefit and State Pension. It will not be difficult to go through everything and ensure she is receiving what she is entitled to. Not sorting it out now will only make things more difficult at a future point.

You can see what she is entitled to using this calculator. You should help her collate details of other income and private pensions she has. If she has a disability she may be entitled to additional amounts.

She may find she is entitled to more, eg, if she is eligible for Pension Credit in particular. A good starting place when you have done the above is to get her to contact the Pension Service to sort out her benefit entitlement. Some points to ensure are covered in the discussion:

• She has not yet claimed her State Pension. Have her National Insurance number to hand.
• She was married and her husband died in 2014, before the introduction of the new State Pension in 2016. Have her husband's National Insurance number to hand.
• She has been in receipt of Housing Benefit (have dates of receipt to hand).
  
• To consider if she may be eligible for Pension Credit
• Query whether she can purchase any missed past State Pension qualifying years, and whether this would be beneficial 

elsien

Additionally, if she sorts her own finances out, you won’t be carrying the burden of financing her every month.
if she can’t get a pension for any reason there  may still be other low income benefits she can claim on top of her housing benefit.
insecure or not, if it’s impacting on you then you have every right to be asking the questions in order to help her out.

itsthelittlethings

She should lose her housing benefit and then regain it as I understand it.

p00hsticks

itsthelittlethings said:

She should lose her housing benefit and then regain it as I understand it.

Yes, I think you may have to re-apply when you reach State Pension Age

Marcon

Pension credit is the really useful one - and she might well be eligible from what you say: https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit