ES A to State Pension/Pension Credit

Neko1234

Good Morning and Best Wishes for 2026!

I have a couple of concerns about my change to State Pension and Pension Credit this coming February.

I currently receive ESA in support group and PIP enhanced mobility and standard care. I live alone.

I will receive full SP from 25th February ( my first payment) and the on-line calculators tell me I am eligible for PC around £50 per week. I have applied for this.

My questions are 
Will I still receive Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support if I have to wait for the PC to be issued as I have heard this may take some time?

My next payment of SP is 4 weeks later,is there likely to be any overlap of payment of ESA for this period?I

Thank you very much for any advice 

Ayr_Rage

Don't forget you can always have your pension paid weekly if that helps you with your cash flow.

huckster

You contact the Council and let them know you have applied for state pension and pension credit from 25 February. And tell them you will need Housing Benefit and Council Tax reduction support. Contact Council ASAP, so you can complete any forms required.

No ESA overlapping payment as far as I know. ESA will stop when you reach state pension age.

Neko1234

Thanks I'll contact them today 

Newcad

When do you actually reach State Pension Age?

Presumably that's in just a couple of weeks if you first payment is going to be on 25th Feb. State pension is paid in arrears.
eg. I will reach my own SPA on 26th Feb and so my first state pension payment will be in March

If you already receive HB and CTS then you just need to inform your council of the date that you will reach state pension age.

You can tell the council now if you like and they will process things as a change of circumstances to your current HB and CTS.

Neko1234

Hi Newcad welcome to the State Pension club with me! I reach SPA on 18th February. I called the council today and they are updating my details.
I've got to send them a photo of my ESA finish date letter which I've not received yet.
Thanks for everyone's help

Newcad

Ah, so they are paying your first SP just a week after you turn SPA.
That seems a bit of a short payment, (unless you had asked for weekly payments, but from you post you haven't), my first will be 23 days after I reach SPA.

Myself I'm no longer on ESA having migrated myself to UC a couple of years ago.
Unlike ESA which ends on the day that you reach SPA, UC does overlap with State Pension and runs to the end of the monthly UC AP where you reach SPA.
Which means that you can get paid both for a few weeks, depending on how you SPA date falls within your UC AP*.
If you actually get paid any SP during that period then it does get deducted £ for £ from UC as unearned income, but if you don't get your first SP payment until after the UC has ended then there's not a UC award to deduct it from anymore.

*(My UC AP is the 14th to the 13th of each month - so in March I will get full UC on the 20th, 23-days worth of SP also on the 20th, the first payment of my small private pension on the 26th, and if they sort it out in time some HB on the 27th - basically I'll have double money for March which will be spent on needed things like a new fridge/freezer and new microwave, etc.)

As I'm not currently on HB I will have to make a new claim for that, it shouldn't be too bad because I do already claim CTS so already have the relevant "welfare/benefits account" set up at the council.
I will wait until I know how much my small private pension will be though before I make the claim for HB.

Neko1234

Thanks Newcad yeah my first payment is a bit more (about £40) than my following SP payments will be not sure why!

When I checked in my council account they already had my SP down as income from February but hadn't removed my ESA yet on the system of course, so that was skewing the projected amounts of HB and CT benefit.
My council is Liverpool.
Hopefully it will all settle down over the next few weeks!

Auti

Just to say UC sent me a letter asking for the overlap overpayment to be repaid as you cannot be paid twice for the same period. I repaid as it was a double payment. 

Yamor

What overlapped with UC? Your state pension? If yes, do you remember when you got your first payment of your state pension - was it after your UC had already ended?

Newcad

Neko1234 said:

Thanks Newcad yeah my first payment is a bit more (about £40) than my following SP payments will be not sure why!

There appears to be something odd there.

Just to check - your birthday is on the 18th February?

State Pension is paid in arrears and so if you only reach SPA on the 18th Feb then a payment of SP on the 25th Feb should only be for 7 days, i.e. much less than a normal 28 day payment, not £40 more.