I have a friend who is 75 and receives some pension credit. He is also entitled to some state benefit pension. He has some limited(stashed)money. Most recently he has had calls from a government department asking him to 'come into talk' about the pension credit he receives. I am of the understanding that the amount a person can receive from pension credit declines with the savings the person has 'in house',as it were. I am aware that amount you can have in savings to receive full pension credit has been decreased over the years. At previous 'interviews' the government official has told my colleague 'we know more about you than what you know about yourself". I thought this true. At the time of interview he had some excess of,say,5 thousand over being able to claim full benefit. He then went out to withdraw this sum to make him eligible for full pension credit. I don't comment whether this is right or wrong here. I just wonder why the government department make the charade that they don't know about individuals personal financial standing when they do. Am I wrong here? I thought with computers speaking to computers and algorythms a-working and speaking to one another,nothing is private these days. Why the attempt by HM to persuade us that we have anything private? I would think HM knows what books and papers we read thru library cards,how much and what we spend thru credit cards,how often and where we go thrhru passport computer chips. Why the feigned privacy policies when every bit of information can be accessed about us....medical records,the lot.
Have I got this wrong? What are your beliefs.
They seemed to know everything about my friends bank balance and as a recent beneficiary of a will. Mind you,he doesn't have the arcane sophistry as being a 'false claimant',my shorthand for other recent(illegal) arrivals.