Age UK Bolton
Mr D
Mr D is 74 and his wife is 60. He came into Age UK Bolton as he had received a letter from Bolton Council advising him to check his entitlement to Pension Credit.
Two weeks previously he had called Pension Credit to make an application and been told that as he is in a mixed-age couple he couldn’t make a claim and was immediately put through to Universal Credit (UC). His Housing Benefit (HB) & Council Tax Support (CTS) claim was immediately ended so he started to accrue rent arrears. He had to wait a month for his first payment of UC.
We checked his entitlement and found that he was advised wrongly by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), he should not have claimed UC and he was in fact eligible for Pension Credit. Under UC he would be over £100 per week worse off than on Pension Credit. Due to being unable to backdate UC, he would have missed out on the Winter Fuel Payment as well.
The problem was that once you claim UC and legacy benefits (a benefit being replaced by UC) stop, you cannot then claim legacy benefits again.
We contacted our national policy team urgently, who put us in touch with a DWP rep. The DWP rep took action and have acknowledged their mistake in wrongly advising the resident: he was eligible for Pension Credit and should not have claimed UC and his HB & CTS should not have stopped.
They have now put his Pension Credit back in place and backdated it for 3 months which also qualifies him for the Winter Fuel Payment. His HB & CTS will be reinstated and backdated to when it was stopped. Any UC he was paid will not be recovered.
He will be around £9,828 better off annually and will receive approximately £1,928 in time for Christmas.
Mr L
Mr and Mrs L both have reduced pensions and health problems. They previously only qualified for payment of around half of their Council Tax, which was paid through CTS. After receiving the letter from the council advising them to check for Pension Credit, they came to one of our drop-in sessions.
We found that they should be eligible for Pension Credit of around £57 per week and all their CT paid. They can also get it backdated for 3 months which would be £684 plus the Winter Fuel Payment which will be £200 each.
We have also identified possible Attendance Allowance (AA) eligibility which would be at least £72.65 per week for each. In addition, an award of AA would then passport them to an increase of Pension Credit which could total £311.48 per week.
In all they could be £24,525 better off annually, plus a one-off payment of £1,084. A final decision is still awaited from the DWP.
Mrs J
Mrs J came to the drop-in as she had tried to apply for Pension Credit but had been told by the Pension Credit office that she was not eligible and advised not to make a claim.
Our calculation found that in fact she is likely to be eligible for a small amount of Pension Credit savings credit (£5.62 per week) and that she may even get it backdated for 12 weeks, giving her a small lump sum and qualifying her for the Winter Fuel Payment of £200. Her CTS should also be increased to £20.31 per week.
As she is 77, if she gets Pension Credit she will also qualify for the free TV license. A final decision is still awaited from the DWP.
For more information on Pension Credit visit: Pension Credit – Bolton Council
Contact details for service:
Email: enquiries@ageukbolton.org.uk
Age UK Bolton via Telephone: 01204 382411, Monday-Friday between 9am and 5pm