Jasmine Birtles answers your pensions questions in the pensions and retirement Q&A – exclusively for GB News members.
Question: Can I get Pension Credit? I was born in 1951 and my only income is my pension, which is £884 a month. My wife died four years ago. She was a nurse for 23 years. My pension is my only income.
Jasmine replies: It’s hard to live on that amount per month. I’m so sorry that you’re having to live on just the state pension.
I asked Natalie Gillespie, the Benefits Advice Coordinator at the Noah’s Ark debt advice centre in Halifax about your situation and she gave me a lot of potential benefits you could be entitled to. This is what she said:
“The minimum guaranteed income for a single pension age person is £218.15 per week. The Client states they receive a State Retirement Pension of £884, which would be £221 as it is paid every four weeks.
Jasmine Birtles is GBN Membership’s money expert. Got a question you’d like her to answer? Email [email protected].
Hundreds of thousands of pensioners are eligible for Pension Credit but don’t claim it, DWP figures show
PA
“Based on this information alone as the Client’s income exceeds the minimum guaranteed income for a single pension age person, the Client would not be eligible for Pension Credit (PC) at this time.
“The Client could explore entitlement to housing benefit (HB) if they are responsible for rental costs or council tax reduction (CTR). Their local authority would assess and issue this.
“It is important to note that when a client has no entitlement for Pension Credit, there is a capital limit of £16,000 to claim HB and CTR.
“If the Client has £16,000 in capital or over they cannot claim HB or CTR. If the Client has savings between £10,000 and £16,000 this will affect the amount of HB or CTR they are entitled to. If the Client has savings of below £10,000 this will be disregarded and not impact their HB or CTR.
“As mentioned above the minimum guaranteed income for a single pension age person is £218.15 per week. If the person in question has health conditions and is in receipt of a health related benefit the weekly minimum guaranteed income could increase. Another thing that could increase the minimum guaranteed income is if the person in question is considered a carer for someone who is in receipt of a health related benefit.
“If a person has Pension Credit entitlement this automatically passports them to receive full HB and CTR. It is important to note that Pension Credit does not have a capital limit. If the Client has savings of below £10,000 this will be disregarded, anything over £10,000 will affect the amount of PC they are entitled to. In these circumstances if a person has capital over £16,000 they could still claim HB and CTR.
“There is a benefit called Savings Pension Credit; however, based on the Clients date of birth they would not have any entitlement to this as they reached pension age after April 2016.
“Benefits for pension age people can be fairly complex, so I would always advise pension age people to receive a benefit check from a benefit specialist to ensure they are advised correctly.”
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So I suggest that you speak to some specialists such as the advisors at Age UK and Citizens’ Advice. Nathalie is an advisor at the Noah’s Ark Centre which is part of Community Money Advice. They have centres all round the country so it’s likely there will be one near you. Their advice is free and they will do their best to find extra sources of money for you.
It’s also useful to speak to your local authority as Nathalie suggests. Go round to your local Council offices to speak to their benefits section.
It can also be worth speaking to the advisors at Turn2Us.org.uk as they have access to grants that could apply to you. Here’s their grants section and they also have a benefits calculator which might come up with extra benefits that you’re entitled to.
Jasmine Birtles is a personal finance expert, TV and radio presenter and author of 38 books. Her website, MoneyMagpie.com, covers all aspects of personal finance from money-saving and money-making ideas to investment and pensions information. She is a keynote speaker at conferences around the world.