Pension Credit - claim before October.

immoral_angeluk

Not sure if this has been posted before but I'm a volunteer for the CAB and thought this would help some people.
Basically if you are 60 or over make sure you check if you are eligible for Pension Credit. If you are, apply ASAP and ask for a backdate as currently you can have have your claim backdated up to 12 months. In October this is changing to 3 months so if you are eligible for Pension credit the coming few months could mean a massive difference to the amount you recieve backdated so get in there and claim ASAP.
Also if you claim and recieve Guarantee Penson credit and rent you are automatically entitled to full housing and council tax benefit, so claiming and not claiming could have a huge effect on your household budget.

Quoted from the CAB Advice guide website. www.adviceguide.org.uk

Who can get Pension Credit



You claim Pension Credit for yourself and your partner who lives with you. If you, your partner, or both of you, are living permanently in a care home, you will usually each have to claim Pension Credit as single people.


There are different rules for getting the guarantee credit and the savings credit. Remember that you may be entitled to both, so it is worth giving all the details on the claim form.


Who can get the guarantee credit



You can get the guarantee credit if you are 60 or over. It does not matter what age your partner is. You must be living in the UK and not have any immigration controls on your stay here that would stop you claiming benefits. You must also have income below a certain amount. The amount depends on your circumstances. There is no limit on how much capital - that is savings and property - you can have, but you will be treated as having income from any of your capital above £6,000 (£10,000 if you live in a care home).


Who can get the savings credit



You can get the savings credit if you or your partner is 65 or over. It does not matter which of you makes the claim for Pension Credit. You must be living in the UK and not have any immigration controls on your stay here that would stop you claiming benefits. You must have more than a certain amount of income, but not so much that you do not get any savings credit.


How much Pension Credit can you get



When you apply for Pension Credit, the Pension Service will first work out if you are entitled to any guarantee credit, and if so how much. Then they will look at whether you can get any savings credit.


How much is your guarantee credit



Your weekly income (which includes your partner’s income if you live with your partner) is compared to a fixed weekly amount called the ’appropriate minimum guarantee’. The ‘appropriate minimum guarantee’ will vary for each person because it is made up of different elements which depend on your circumstances. The rates of the different elements are fixed and are usually increased every April.


You will only be entitled to guarantee credit if your income is less than the ‘appropriate minimum guarantee’. Only certain types of income count for Pension Credit and not all your income will be taken into account, which means it does not affect your Pension Credit. Other income is partially disregarded, which means you can get a certain amount each week before it affects your Pension Credit. For example, Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance are all fully disregarded. Savings above £6,000 (£10,000 if you live in a care home) will add to your income by £1 a week for every extra £500 (or part of £500).


Your amount of your guarantee credit is the difference between your ‘appropriate minimum guarantee’ and your income. If your income is more than your ‘appropriate minimum guarantee’, you will not get any guarantee credit, but you may still get some savings credit.


Your ‘appropriate minimum guarantee’ includes a standard minimum guarantee which is a set amount for a single person and a set amount for a couple. If you have additional needs, for example, because you are disabled, additional amounts will be added to your ‘appropriate minimum guarantee’. There are additional amounts for severe disability and for caring for a disabled person. If you have been transferred to Pension Credit from Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, you may also get an extra amount to make sure you are not any worse off.


If you want more information about the additional amounts in guarantee credit, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.


Guarantee credit and housing costs



If you have a mortgage or home loan, you may be able to get an extra amount to help with your mortgage interest. You may also be able to get help towards some other housing costs, for example, rent as a Crown tenant, ground rent for long leases and some service charges. However, in most circumstances, if you rent your home you cannot get any guarantee credit for housing costs and you should claim Housing Benefit instead.


For more information about Housing Benefit, see Help with your rent – Housing Benefit.


If there are other adults living in your home apart from your partner, your landlord, or a joint owner, tenant or lodger, a deduction may be made from the housing costs which guarantee credit can cover. This might apply, for example, if you have an adult son or daughter living with you.


If you want more information about the guarantee credit, you can go to www.thepensionservice.gov.uk, or you can consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.


How much savings credit



The amount of savings credit you can get depends on whether you have more or less weekly income that the ‘savings credit threshold’. This is a rate which is set each year and depends on whether you are a single person or a member of a couple. If your income is less than or equal to the savings credit threshold, you will not get any savings credit. If your income is more than the savings credit threshold, you may get some savings credit. However, if your income is greater than your ‘appropriate minimum income guarantee’ (see under How much guarantee credit, above), it may be too high to get any savings credit.


Working out savings credit is complicated. You can find out more about the calculation at www.thepensionservice.gov.uk or you can consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.


How to claim Pension Credit



You will have to make a claim for Pension Credit. You should claim Pension Credit on form PC1. You can get this by telephone, or in person at a Pension Service surgery, benefit office or local authority housing benefit or council tax benefit office. The national telephone helpline for Pension Credit is 0800 99 1234 (textphone 0800 169 0133). In Northern Ireland the Pension Service application line is 0808 100 6165 (textphone 0808 1001165) The Pension Service has a website at www.thepensionservice.gov.uk and in Northern Ireland at www.ssani.gov.uk where the claim form is also available.


If you telephone, the Pension Service staff can fill in an application form over the telephone and send it to you to check and sign, if you would find this helpful.


To make a valid claim for Pension Credit, you must provide certain information, usually within one month of making your claim. For example, you will need your national insurance number or evidence to allow the Pension Service to find your number. If you do not have a national insurance number, you will have to apply for one.


For more information about national insurance numbers, see National insurance - contributions and benefits.


You will also have to prove your identity. You may be able to do this by providing a document such as a driving licence, birth, marriage or civil partnership certificate, or a passport. You may be asked to provide more than one piece of evidence. If you do not have any documentary evidence, try to provide as much other evidence and facts about yourself as possible.


You will also have to provide evidence of your income. This evidence could include, for example, pension payslips, proof of service charges, and proof of any other money you receive. You have to send or show the Pension Service original documents, not photocopies. They will be returned to you as soon as possible.


If you want further help with your claim, you can call the national Pension Service number or you could consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.


Getting Pension Credit backdated



Usually you get Pension Credit from the day that you first get in touch with the Pension Service to tell them you want to claim. You will have to supply all the required information to support your claim within one month. However, you may be able to get Pension Credit for a period of up to twelve months before you make your claim. This is called backdating. You do not have to give a reason for making a late claim, as long as you explain on your claim form when you first became entitled to Pension Credit.

How much Housing Benefit can you get
If you are on Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or the guarantee credit of Pension Credit (whether you get it on its own or with the savings credit), Housing Benefit will cover all of your eligible rent. But you need to remember that not all of your rent or housing costs may be covered.


Also, the Housing Benefit you can get may be reduced if another person lives with you who could be expected to pay towards their accommodation, even if they do not.


If your Housing Benefit does not cover all of your rent and you need more help, you may be able to get some additional money from the local authority.

I hope this helps someone.

Newly_retired

Thanks for that very useful post.
I too am a CAB volunteer and wish more people would claim. Pension credit is one of the least claimed benefits. Admittedly it is complicated but well worth checking out for eligibility, especially as there are other benefits "attached".

tanith

Thanks to both of you for your helpful posts but is it any wonder that an 80+ lady I know adamantly refuses even to look into pension credit even though in my opinion she would qualify easily.... its madness most people just don't want to go there.... and its always those that need it most...
She said to me I will not beg for money I'll manage and she won't budge on the subject...

brodev

There is a point about savings I am not sure of. Does the income that the savings generate count or is it only the implied income over £6000 that counts?
Example savings £16000. income at 4% £640 per year. As this is £10000 over the £6000 limit then there is an assumed income of £20 per week or £1040 per year.
Question: Is income £1040 or £1040 + £640= £1640?
I think I understand my own question:rolleyes:

msmo_2

At last a thorough explanation in plain English, thank you both so much !!

immoral_angeluk

brodev wrote: »

There is a point about savings I am not sure of. Does the income that the savings generate count or is it only the implied income over £6000 that counts?
Example savings £16000. income at 4% £640 per year. As this is £10000 over the £6000 limit then there is an assumed income of £20 per week or £1040 per year.
Question: Is income £1040 or £1040 + £640= £1640?
I think I understand my own question:rolleyes:

No, if you have savings between 6 and 16,000 then you tell them your normal income, but they then take into account £1 for every £250 of savings you have and apply that to your claim. If that means you don't qualify for guarantee credit because your 'savings income' takes you over your applicable amount, you will still more than likely be eligible for savings credit as long as you are over 65.
Sounds complicated but the key message is to apply even if you're unsure as to whether you qualify, as putting it off could mean you miss out on 12 months worth of backpayments!

margaretclare

Newly_retired wrote: »

Thanks for that very useful post.
I too am a CAB volunteer and wish more people would claim. Pension credit is one of the least claimed benefits. Admittedly it is complicated but well worth checking out for eligibility, especially as there are other benefits "attached".

I went to a seminar with CAB/the Pensions Service when Pension Credit was coming in. I did the sums then.

Not long after, we went to a day run by the local Volunteers' Association and we were urged to apply. I did the sums again. My DH said 'Are you sure?' I went through the whole thing on line - result the same. 'You are entitled to £0 of Pension Credit'.

I didn't find it all that complicated. It's more complicated for us, because we each have pensions income with about 5 different annuity payments. If I was alone, with only basic state pension, it would have been simple.

Subsequently DH started getting letters from the Pensions Service along the lines of 'We notice that you have not applied for Pension Credit and we would like to send someone to visit you and to help you to claim'. He phoned them on at least 3 occasions and said 'thanks but no thanks, we've done the sums'.

The next time they were more insistent. They'd made an appointment for someone to come round. DH phoned again and said 'no need, we've done the sums'. They were quite insistent, so he said 'Well, all right, it will be a waste of everyone's time, but if you really feel it's necessary...'

The following Monday morning a nice lady turned up at our house and we invited her in. Before her bottom hit the chair DH handed her a piece of paper on which he'd written details of his income. It stopped her in her tracks. She didn't even ask to see mine - just his income put us completely out of court, as we knew it would.

However, we had a pleasant chat for a few minutes, she asked to go to our bathroom, and that was that. She did say that many people are not claiming and that is why it's 'policy' to go and visit anyone of pensionable age who hasn't claimed pension credit. She mentioned people sitting shivering with inadequate income because they're 'saving it for the grandchildren'.

So Pensions Service staff are actually visiting everyone of pensionable age to try to persuade them to claim, to help them with forms, that lady told us. It was only by coming to visit us that they actually believed us when we said - more than once - that we'd done the sums and knew we weren't eligible.

brodev

margaretclare wrote: »

So Pensions Service staff are actually visiting everyone of pensionable age to try to persuade them to claim, to help them with forms, that lady told us.

They haven't been to see me. I must live in a "deprived" area

margaretclare

brodev wrote: »

They haven't been to see me. I must live in a "deprived" area

Did you get a letter from them?

brodev

To be honest I don't remember, if I did I would have binned it. My investments mean I would not qualify. My enquiry was on behalf of someone else.

margaretclare

brodev wrote: »

To be honest I don't remember, if I did I would have binned it. My investments mean I would not qualify. My enquiry was on behalf of someone else.

And did 'someone else' get a letter from them?

As recounted above, DH had at least 3 successive communications from the Pension Service along the lines of 'we notice that you have not claimed Pension Credit', more or less saying 'why haven't you' and urging him to claim. This was before they were persistent enough to insist on sending someone to visit. I am therefore surprised that anyone in the age-group is 'slipping through the net'.