First time poster! Pension v pension credit

Onedaysoonplease

Hello all

My mother in law (88 years old) is struggling financially.  She is, like many older people, asset rich, cash poor.  She owns her home outright, but has little income.

She is almost blind, and her home is where she feels safe.  She can navigate around really well considering her blindness.
She has five children, only one of whom lives nearby (my husband!) and so we do a lot for her.  In fact, we do everything for her.

She has her state pension plus a really small private pension my late father in law took out that gives her around £80 a month.

If she didn't gave this £80 a month she would be entitled to pension credit, council tax reduction, and all the other extras pension credit can bring.

Can she refuse this additional small pension my late FIL took out?

Thanks for your help xxx

Cairnpapple

Is she claiming Attendance Allowance?

Onedaysoonplease

Cairnpapple said:

Is she claiming Attendance Allowance?

Yes, she is.  She has a large garden and the allowance pays for her gardener and a cleaner

tacpot12

She can refuse the private pension, but it won't do her any good. There is a rule for pension credit (and other benefits) about notional income, where the DWP assume that you receive the income, even if you have declined it. The DWP can ask the pension provider to confirm what benefits the claimant is entitled to, and the provider has to provide a response by law.  

The best thing to do is to write to her MP (with her permission) and complain about the unfairness of the cliff edge. Unfortunately, the answer is likely to involve making the benefit less generous for some, so that more people can have some benefit, e.g. more people get pension credit, but no-one gets the council tax reduction.

Onedaysoonplease

tacpot12 said:

She can refuse the private pension, but it won't do her any good. There is a rule for pension credit (and other benefits) about notional income, where the DWP assume that you receive the income, even if you have declined it. The DWP can ask the pension provider to confirm what benefits the claimant is entitled to, and the provider has to provide a response by law.  

The best thing to do is to write to her MP (with her permission) and complain about the unfairness of the cliff edge. Unfortunately, the answer is likely to involve making the benefit less generous for some, so that more people can have some benefit, e.g. more people get pension credit, but no-one gets the council tax reduction.

Exactly as I thought it'd be.

Thank you!

Tescodealqueen

Has she actually applied for Pension Credit or just assumed. If she gets Attendance Allowance and no one claims Carers Allowance for providing care and she lives alone the rate would be higher. Might be worth applying if you haven’t or seeking advice from an organisation like AgeUK

pmlindyloo

Tescodealqueen said:

Has she actually applied for Pension Credit or just assumed. If she gets Attendance Allowance and no one claims Carers Allowance for providing care and she lives alone the rate would be higher. Might be worth applying if you haven’t or seeking advice from an organisation like AgeUK

Absolutely agree with this.  People claiming AA makes a difference.
Put her details into www.entitledto.co.uk (benefits calculator) for a quick check.

Murphybear

pmlindyloo said:

Tescodealqueen said:

Has she actually applied for Pension Credit or just assumed. If she gets Attendance Allowance and no one claims Carers Allowance for providing care and she lives alone the rate would be higher. Might be worth applying if you haven’t or seeking advice from an organisation like AgeUK

Absolutely agree with this.  People claiming AA makes a difference.
Put her details into www.entitledto.co.uk (benefits calculator) for a quick check.

I also agree, definitely worth applying.  I couldn’t get Pension Credit as my income was a bit too high.  When I got Attendance Allowance I became eligible for PC 😺

Silvertabby

If all else fails, have you considered some form of equity release?

Not all on these boards will agree with me, but if it means that your m-i-l could have a more comfortable life by being able to buy some treats and not worry about being able to pay her bills, then surely it's worth thinking about?