Can anyone answer this please

[charliesgranny]

Hi all, my husband has not worked for 19years due to ill health and severe mobility needs, he is now 57 and is getting very stressed about the changes to the benefits which are being almost daily in the media. He currently gets IB/IS/and DLA but, he has been told that at 60 he could be paid pension credits does anyone know if this is right? If this is right does that mean he will no longer get his other benefits and that he will no longer have to attend medicals and fill in those dreaded ib50`s? Sorry for so many questions but I can`t get my head around this as they say people should have to wait longer for their pensions then he is told this. Thanks

[padja]

not knowing full ins and outs of new legislation, but have some knowledge of old Pension credit, I think thats right if so he should be no worse off in fact he may still get some disability benefits on top so may be better off. No he shouldn't have to undergo medicals anymore as he will be classed as retired, this was the old system (went through it with inlaws) however not up to speed on new benefits so i may be wrong not much use eh?

[charliesgranny]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, it seems as though it may be right what he was told. Will this be likely to happen when he is sixty in the august or would it be at a later stage? Still does not make sense to me.

[MIKEY DABODEE]

Its changed slightly , I.S used to be paid up to the customers sixtieth birthday and on their birthday they went onto penson credit automaticallly, now they are transferred across on a series of qualifying dates , we have a few of these dates each year.. The last date applicable date was 7th March, on that date if you were sixty then you went across. to penion credits... Pension Service write out and tell you the exact date and make the transistion smooth so there are no worries..

 

So he may be on I.S till slightly over sixty.. However IB is ending soon so he will be transferred over to ESA and then rules may change again

[Nystagmite]

His DLA will stay the same if he still meets the criteria.

[id6052]

as things currently stand, your husband will reach the qualifying age for pension credits in approximately 6 years

 

if his date of birth is between 1 - 5 august 1953, he will reach qualifying age on 6 november 2016

 

if his date of birth is between 6 - 31 august 1953, he will reach qualifying age on 6 january 2017

 

(this is assuming he is older than you - if you are older than him, then you may achieve qualifying age earlier, and as a couple only one of you has to achieve the qualifying age to move on to pension credits)

[charliesgranny]

Thanks guys for the help here

[SueP1944]

as things currently stand, your husband will reach the qualifying age for pension credits in approximately 6 years

 

if his date of birth is between 1 - 5 august 1953, he will reach qualifying age on 6 november 2016

 

if his date of birth is between 6 - 31 august 1953, he will reach qualifying age on 6 january 2017

 

(this is assuming he is older than you - if you are older than him, then you may achieve qualifying age earlier, and as a couple only one of you has to achieve the qualifying age to move on to pension credits)

 

That loophole is to be scrapped. In future both parties (husband & wife etc) will have to have reached an age where they BOTH are entitled to the OAP. This will stop claims when the wife is say 62 and the husband 55. In this example it is intended that Pension Credit can only be claimed when the husband is 65 and the wife 72, or 68 & 75 depending on when they raise the retirement age! At the moment in that example, they could have claimed Pension Credit when he was 53 and his wife 60.

 

This will have the effect in that example of making the husband claim JSA and look for a job until his normal retirement age. A sensible thing really. You really shouldn't have a male retiring at 53 in that example, claiming Pension Credit which is an enhanced payment over JSA/ESA, when he has at least another 12 years or working life still in him.

 

The same will apply for IB/ESA, he will have to prove that he is unfit for work for another 12 years.

Edited March 21, 2011 by SueP1944

[id6052]

Suep1944

 

Not heard anything about the change you mention, do you have a link to information on these changes?

[SueP1944]

Suep1944

 

Not heard anything about the change you mention, do you have a link to information on these changes?

 

Sorry that I have not been back earlier.

 

This is taken from the WRB

 

Welfare Reform Bill Explanatory Notes:

 

Page 22

145. Paragraph 64 amends the State Pension Credit Act 2002 so that a member of a couple who has attained the qualifying age for state pension credit may not receive state pension credit if the other member of the couple has not attained that qualifying age. This is to ensure that all claimants who have not attained the qualifying age for state pension credit are required to claim universal credit and, if appropriate, be subject to work-related conditions of entitlement.

 

And in the Welfare Reform Bill itself,

 

"Quote"

Page 113

State Pension Credit Act 2002 (c. 16)

 

Paragraph 64 In section 4 of the State Pension Credit Act 2002 (exclusions), after subsection

(1) there is inserted—

 

“(1A) A claimant is not entitled to state pension credit if he is a member of a couple the other member of which has not attained the qualifying age.”

 

This effectively stops the current situation of a man reaching 61 and his wife who is 55 being able to claim Pension Credit. Both have to be of the normal retiring age, currently 65, increasing to 68 for a male and 61 increasing to 65/68 for a female, before a claim can be accepted.

 

Until both reach the normal retirement age they will be required to either claim JSA and look for work or have a claim accepted for ESA after an assessment. (JSA & ESA are to be combined under Universal Credit)

Edited March 29, 2011 by SueP1944

[id6052]

you may think it sounds sensible to close this, but it worries me

 

there is a 16 year age between me and my partner, so if we pretend there will be anything left of the welfare state when i reach retirement age at 68 and if my partner was out of work, we would have to make a joint claim for JSA/UC?

 

hmmm...

 

so i would have to be available for and actively seeking employment until i am 84, oh, what a prospect

[SueP1944]

you may think it sounds sensible to close this, but it worries me

 

there is a 16 year age between me and my partner, so if we pretend there will be anything left of the welfare state when i reach retirement age at 68 and if my partner was out of work, we would have to make a joint claim for JSA/UC?

 

hmmm...

 

so i would have to be available for and actively seeking employment until i am 84, oh, what a prospect

 

That would seem to be the case unfortunately.

 

The only reason I can think that they have come up with this change, is that anybody claiming JSA (not so much ESA as they don't regularly see anyone from the DWP) is currently being pushed over to Pension Credit by the Jobcentre when the first party reaches the qualifying age.

 

This has meant that people are being written off the unemployment register far too early. It can't be right that a male who gets to 61 automatically gets his benefit without having to sign on or produce evidence of disability. Especially if his wife is a lot younger than him - she is also written off.

What they seem to be saying is that until you reach the normal retirement age you WILL either have to continue to look for work or prove a genuine sickness why you can't do any type of work.

[Daney]

The thing is about this new change comming to Pension Credit about couples is that if you are 60 and single you will still be able to claim Pension Credit and not have to look for work.

This is totally biased towards single people.

[SueP1944]

The thing is about this new change comming to Pension Credit about couples is that if you are 60 and single you will still be able to claim Pension Credit and not have to look for work.

This is totally biased towards single people.

 

That is how I read it also. However the retirement age is now 61 and will increase gradually until it gets to 68.

 

It is certainly biased towards the single people - maybe that is the answer - get divorced, live apart and have the privilidge of claiming Pension Credit!!!!

[id6052]

I can think of better reasons to get divorced, lol