UC and TfL Pension Benefit Question

biscuit222

I'm on Universal Credit and considering taking my TFL pension.

My pension is low — below £3,000 a year. Paid every 4 weeks (13 payments a year).

I understand it will be taken pound for pound against my UC allowance. So my total money stays the same — it just comes from two places instead of one: UC pays part, TFL pension pays the rest. I'm not losing out overall.

My biggest worry is: will my full Housing Element and full Council Tax Reduction be affected. These are the two things I absolutely need to keep safe.

Because it's paid 4-weekly:

• Some periods get 2 payments → UC goes down more

• Some periods get none → income shows £0 → UC goes back up

My savings are well below £6,000 — hardly anything.

Has anyone actually been through this? I just want to hear your real experiences — did your housing money stay exactly the same? Did your Council Tax support stay the same?

Thank you.

kaMelo

As long as you maintain your qualification for UC then your housing element will be unaffected. Your council tax reduction is difficult to say as each council sets their own criteria so it may be affected.

As there is no benefit financially to you in taking your pension then, unless you have reached SPA, why are you contemplating taking it now?

KxMx

Universal Credit works by adding up entitlements, then making any deductions.

So your Housing Element would be included in your total award before deductions, then a deduction is made for your pension.

You could try a benefits calculator to estimate your award with the pension in payment, doing two calculations to cover when you get one pension payment per Assessment Period and when you get two pension payments per Assessment Period.

https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

Each local authority has different rules for Council Tax Reduction so it's very hard to advise on individual cases from here. Your LA website might have an entitlement calculator.

biscuit222

Thank you for your reply.

It's a small pension amount each month, so the main reason I'm taking it now is to get the £5,000 lump sum. I've had a recent bereavement & cared for the person for 16 years and do not intend to stay on UC for too long.

I will contact my local council & use the benefit calculator