Author Topic: ESA and Pension Credit  (Read 24013 times)

Plonk

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ESA and Pension Credit
« on: Jun 01, 2013, 05:08:43 PM »
Hi,
I am 61 years of age ad due to a couple of Strokes a few years ago I had to pack up work as a Self Employed Electrician.
I ended up on DLA but last year had to attend an ATOS medical and as a result was placed in a work related action group(ESA), this benefit is limited to 1 year so will end in a few months. I will be entitled to claim Pension Credit from January 2014 but as my wife works full time (Shop Assistant)I won't qualify as it is income based.
Clearly things will be very tight financially ( my wife is coming up to 60) so we are considering selling up and downsizing but this will mean moving out of the area. My wife will have to give up her job to achieve this so will (for the first time in her life) be unemployed.
I have since developed further health problems e.g Diabetes and wet type Macular Degeneration in both eyes (for which I am receiving eye injections in an atempt to halt the damage) along with the usual knackered knee jonts associated with 40 years hard graft so doubt I will ever be 'clocking on' again as there does not appear to be much call for brain damaged,half blind 61 year olds.
Am I right in thinking that ,after making the move, and both of us being out of work I will then be entitled to claim Pension Credit? Obviously we would have preferred that this move had not been forced upon us but needs must and my wife would have been retiring soon anyway if the Government hadn't messed around with the retirement age for women.I really just want to check we have not overlooked anything before putting the house on the market.
My second option is to win the Lottery.

xetog

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #1 on: Jun 01, 2013, 05:41:02 PM »
Hi Plonk welcome to the forum.  There will probably be many more qualified than I who reply, but you do raise a lot of issues. Can I ask first of all how you qualify for pension credit when you are 61 and will not therefore be of state pension age in 2014 as you quote?  Are you thinking of some other benefit perhaps?  Also,  although DLA is not means tested, many other benefits are, so selling you hose might turn out to be a bad move. If your wife gives up her job, for whatever reason, she may be deemed to be intentionally out of work and could be at least temporarily disqualified from unemployment benefit.  With your additional problems, could you not resubmit a claim for DLA?  As I say, there will  be others far more qualified than I on this forum, but what I have said should be a start.
M. 8)
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Plonk

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #2 on: Jun 01, 2013, 06:01:58 PM »
Hi Xetog, thanks for the reply.
The Jobcentre initially told me I would qualify for pension credit on Jan 6 2014, I checked online and confirmed this is correct. It is quite complicated how it works but something to do with being based on a woman of the same age.
As for DLA, I am no longer on it, following the medical with ATOS I was moved onto ESA and put in a work related support group ( not sure where the support bit comes in though as I have received no support).It is the ESA that is due to end in a couple of months.

peterpensioner

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #3 on: Jun 01, 2013, 06:20:57 PM »
Go to your local CAB and get them to do a full benefit check for you before you decide to sell up and downsize.

cheddar-caveman

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #4 on: Jun 02, 2013, 07:47:42 AM »
I can't add anything to the above comments, but welcome to the forum Plonk! Like the others, I was confused as to how YOU were entitled to Pension Credit but it is obviously your WIFE who is due to her age.


Your have certainly had and are having a rough time it it [censored] me off so much that there are tens of thousands of scroungers on benefits, never having worked in their lives, and yet a genuine case as you are find it so hard to get help.


Hope it gets sorted for you guys!
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Plonk

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #5 on: Jun 02, 2013, 10:10:43 AM »
The rules on Pension Credit can be confusing but just to make it clear .. I am 61 years old and will be entitled to claim Pension Credit from Jan 6 2014, my wife is not yet 60 and due to changes in the State Pension she will not be entitled to claim Pension Credit for quite a few years. If you google 'Pension Credit qualifying age' the DWP provide a list of qualifying dates according to birth date ,you will see that someone born in early Feb 1952 (now aged 61) will qualify to claim on 6 Jan 2014
I hope that clears up any confusion.


 
 
 
 
 

xetog

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #6 on: Jun 02, 2013, 10:22:52 AM »
As far as I can see, you were born around 1951 and looking at the pensions website your entitlement for both state pension and pension credit kicks in in 2016.  Are you sure that you are not talking at cross purposes with the DWP and they are telling you when you will start to be credited with pension contributions?  You do confuse things a bit by talking about your wife's potential retirement date, which might be 2014, but her right to a pension will not affect yours in any way, unless you have no entitlement and she has enough contributions to claim the full married persons allowance.The picture you paint is incomplete as you do not say what NI contributions you may have paid during your years of self employment and therefore what your entitlement due to those contributions might be, also whether you have contributed to any private pensions.  The right to a state pension can be horrendously complicated in unusual cases and is affected by all sorts of issues that you must be careful to declare to the DWP.  I found that any assumptions they make are very "broad brush" and that they don't necessarily ask all the questions you may expect, so if you do not volunteer the full picture, you get an incorrect assessment. peterpensioner gave the best advice, gather all the relevant facts about income and problems together and make an appointment with the CAB, they have a good track record with things like this.
M. 8)
Plonk, I typed this out before I saw your latest post, and unfortunately did not come up with the same result as you.  That doesn't mean I am right, as I said, I do not possess all the information.  However, having re-read my post, I still think that the basic message stands that you will need and expert and have to be very careful with the information you provide and the terminology in use. From your figures, the earliest retirement date for a man born in 1952 is 65 (2017), but there may be individual circumstances that bring other factors in to play, so tae peterpensioners advice, please!
M.
If you want to control peoples thoughts, first control their words.

Plonk

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #7 on: Jun 02, 2013, 10:58:29 AM »
Xetog,
I agree that I will not reach retirement age for some time but I am talking about something completely different i.e. Pension Credit. If you check the qualifying age for Pension Credit you will find that a man born in early Feb 1952 will qualify on 6 Jan 2014.My wife was born in Dec 1953 so due to changes made by the Government she will not be entitled to the State Pension or Pension Credit until 2019.I did try to post a link to the relevant page but this site does not permit external links. if my wife had been born in Feb  1952 ( my birthday) she would have qualified for full state pension on 6 Jan 2014 ( the date I qualify for Pension Credit).

Phil

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #8 on: Jun 03, 2013, 09:47:34 AM »

There does not appear to be much call for brain damaged,half blind 61 year olds.


It doesn't appear to be a barrier to sitting in the House of Lords.
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Phil

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #9 on: Jun 03, 2013, 09:54:32 AM »
Xetog,
I agree that I will not reach retirement age for some time but I am talking about something completely different i.e. Pension Credit. If you check the qualifying age for Pension Credit you will find that a man born in early Feb 1952 will qualify on 6 Jan 2014.My wife was born in Dec 1953 so due to changes made by the Government she will not be entitled to the State Pension or Pension Credit until 2019.I did try to post a link to the relevant page but this site does not permit external links. if my wife had been born in Feb  1952 ( my birthday) she would have qualified for full state pension on 6 Jan 2014 ( the date I qualify for Pension Credit).

You can post links to DWP & HMRC etc so please post it.

"I've stopped arguing with idiots. They will only bring me down to their level and beat me with experience.”

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Phil

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #10 on: Jun 03, 2013, 10:57:14 AM »

This is the calculator that gives both the State Pension entitlement age & the Pension Credit entitlement age.

It does indeed show an entitlement age for Pension Credits that precedes the entitlement age for the State Pension so thanks for comprehensively spoiling my day!!!!!

https://www.gov.uk/calculate-state-pension/y
"I've stopped arguing with idiots. They will only bring me down to their level and beat me with experience.”

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Plonk

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #11 on: Jun 03, 2013, 01:59:51 PM »
Phil,
Thanks for that.I did indeed consider another career as a Politician but I am not a very good liar. ;D ;D
The qualifying age for Pension Credit used to come into play at age 60 but this has since increased in line with the reirement age.My son in law's Father was made redundant at 59, he is a bit older than me but as soon as he hit 60 they shunted him over from Jobseekers to Pension Credit. Keeps the unemployment figures lower I suppose. ::)
There is another link to the DWP website that lists the qualifying age but I tried again to include it and still got the red banner telling me I am not allowed to link to external websites. I must be doing something wrong
.
 

Plonk

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #12 on: Jul 23, 2014, 12:52:54 PM »
I know this is an old thread but thought I would post an update.
The eye injections didn't work so I have now been register as sight impaired. The DWP sent me another appointment for an ATOS assessment which turned out to be a farce, at the last one I scored a minimum 15 points (to qualify for WRAG group) but this time I scored 0 points despite additional health problems.  I eventually managed to get a copy of the ATOS report and it was a fabrication of lies. The female Assessor first claimed I had suffered no ill effects from my Diabetes even though I provider her with evidence that I had recently spent 5 days in Hospital from a Diabetes related problem. She then claimed I had normal near and distant vision and she reached that conclusion without carrying our a proper eye test. She then went on to describe how I take my wife out in the car every week even though I had specifically told her that I had not driven for over a year and my wife does all the driving.
I complained to the DWP but they stand by their decision to rely on the ATOS report for accurate information,they suggested I complain to Atos which I have done but so far they are happy that their assessor accurately reported my condition. I shall be sending the my sight impaired registration number shortly.
It looks as though my wife may have to give up work anyway to be my carer.

peterpensioner

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #13 on: Jul 23, 2014, 02:06:08 PM »
Ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration of the decision and if it is not overturned ask for an appeal. But beware there are tight time limits of one month for these. Please go to your local CAB and they will guide you through the process, but – again- be careful of time limits.

peterpensioner

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #14 on: Jul 23, 2014, 02:07:50 PM »
If you are eligible for Pension Credit you will be better off claiming that rather than ESA but again the CAB will advise.