Pension credit cut sneaked in.

jeanmd
jeanmd Posts: 2,361 Forumite
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edited 12 July 2019 at 11:09PM in Benefits & tax credits
Hi, This was sneaked out just before 8pm last night whilst everyone's eye are on Brexit.

I'm putting this here as I belive pension credit is a benefit and I can't see this anywhere else.

My husband and sister both reach retirement age in May next year, yet my sister will receive £13,273 and my husband only £5,986.68 due to my sister being a widow and hubby married and I don't reach retirement age for another couple of year after him. I am his full time carer, so I will have to claim universal credit now rather than us being able to live of his pension.
Sir Steve, now director of policy at mutual life, pensions and inve
stment company Royal London, said the DWP had said it was “considering” how universal credit would affect pension credit as recently as last month.

He said a couple expecting to receive £13,273 in the 2019-20 financial year from pension credit would see that figure fall to just £5,986.68 under universal credit.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pension-credit-cut-benefits-payment-government-austerity-conservatives-brexit-a8728631.html
£2021 in 2021 no.17 £1,093.20/£2021
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Comments

  • calcotti
    calcotti Posts: 15,696 Forumite
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    edited 15 January 2019 at 8:33PM
    Parliament approved this change some time ago (in 2012) but an implementation date had not previously been confirmed. The announcement last week was confirmation of the date of change.
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.
  • tomtom256
    tomtom256 Posts: 2,217 Forumite
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    All they have done is make it fair so that both halves of a couple have to be of pension age, instead of say a 65 year old married to a 50 year old and both getting PC, just because he is 65 as it used to be, as in theory the 50 year old could still work.


    Forgive if I have it wrong but hard to read the Independent website with adblocker on.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Posts: 15,696 Forumite
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    More on this here https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/15/benefit-rule-changes-could-cost-pensioners-in-uk-thousands-a-year-pension-credit
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.
  • tacpot12
    tacpot12 Posts: 7,966 Forumite
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    tomtom256 wrote: »
    All they have done is make it fair so that both halves of a couple have to be of pension age, instead of say a 65 year old married to a 50 year old and both getting PC, just because he is 65 as it used to be, as in theory the 50 year old could still work.

    Forgive if I have it wrong but hard to read the Independent website with adblocker on.

    I can see the aim of the change is as you say, and this is a good thing, I do wonder if the timetable of the change is fair - have people made decisions based on what they expected to happen May 2019 and if so, is changing the situation with just four months notice fair?
    The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.
  • tomtom256
    tomtom256 Posts: 2,217 Forumite
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    I am not saying if it is fair or not, just that I think it is aimed closing the loophole that was there.
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 34,685 Forumite
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    jeanmd wrote: »
    Hi, This was sneaked out just before 8pm last night whilst everyone's eye are on Brexit.

    I'm putting this here as I belive pension credit is a benefit and I can't see this anywhere else.

    My husband and sister both retire in May next year, yet my sister will receive £13,273 and my husband only £5,986.68 due to my sister being a widow and hubby married and I'm not due to retire for aother couple of year after him. I am his full time carer, so I will have to claim universal credit now rather than us being able to live of his pension.



    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pension-credit-cut-benefits-payment-government-austerity-conservatives-brexit-a8728631.html
    MSE article posted on the Pensions board:
    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5951059
    I've suggested it belongs on here.

    tomtom256 wrote: »
    All they have done is make it fair so that both halves of a couple have to be of pension age, instead of say a 65 year old married to a 50 year old and both getting PC, just because he is 65 as it used to be, as in theory the 50 year old could still work.
    I too can see the logic behind this change.
  • jeanmd
    jeanmd Posts: 2,361 Forumite
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    Did I read this wrong?
    From what's being said here, rather than reducing the married persons income to less than the single persons they are making the single person and the pensioner in a couple have the same income. Is that correct?
    £2021 in 2021 no.17 £1,093.20/£2021
  • tacpot12
    tacpot12 Posts: 7,966 Forumite
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    As I understand it, they are saying that the Pensioner in a couple cannot claim Pension Credit until the younger person reaches State Pension age. This means that the Pensioner's income will not be supplemented by Pension Credit even if their state pension entitlement and other income is very low.

    This is the state's way of saying that they expect the younger person to support the living costs of their older partner until both reach state pension age, at which point the couple MIGHT get some support. I'm guessing that if the younger person has a good pension entitlement and other income, the older person will still have no entitlement to Pension Credit.

    Anyone with better insight is free to correct me!
    The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.
  • margaretclare
    margaretclare Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    jeanmd wrote: »
    Did I read this wrong?
    From what's being said here, rather than reducing the married persons income to less than the single persons they are making the single person and the pensioner in a couple have the same income. Is that correct?


    There's a lot of misinformed talk about a 'couple's income'. As I understand it, income is an individual matter. That has been the case since - I think - the Budget of 1990.
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
    Before I found wisdom, I became old.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Posts: 15,696 Forumite
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    margaretclare wrote: »
    There's a lot of misinformed talk about a 'couple's income'. As I understand it, income is an individual matter. That has been the case since - I think - the Budget of 1990.


    For means tested benefits (both new and old) it is the case that the combined income of couples has to be taken into account.
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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