pension credit application-interview refusal

[cavvy]

hi all

 

just wondering if anyone can offer some advice re my mother in laws pension credit application

 

basically back in june my father in law suffered a severe stroke which has left him partially paralysed and unable to speak,he has gone into full time residential care and unfortunately my mother in law has now lost his pension and some of his dla money so we were advised to apply for pension credit for her

 

when i first enquired i was told a representative of the benefits agency could visit her and

sort everything out but basically she is elderly has just suffered all the stress of the stroke and its aftermath and doesnt handle/understand interviews or officialdom very well !!

i told the guy this and he said dont worry then just apply online

 

so we did that but she then got a call again requesting an interview and although she agreed without really realising what was happening,she then cancelled as it was scheduled for the same day as an important operation for her husband.the lady who she spoke to was very off about the cancellation and seemed to suggest they could not process her application without the interview

 

so my question is do you have to be interviewed at home in regards to a pension credit application

or can you refuse this? has anyone got a draft letter i may use to find out the situation and to decline said interviews requesting the application proceed as a postal one only?

 

 

many thanks for any help and advice

[Kevin Bolt]

Have they said why she needs to be interviewed at all. Pension Credit is usually a fairly simple thing to apply for as the only information they would need to know is.

 

1. Amount of State Pension

2. Amount of any private pension payable to you

3. Amount of savings you have as any amount over £10,000 will be deemed to create an income of £1 for each £500 over £10,000

4. Any other income ie rent from an investment property, shares, etc

5. Rent (if you pay this) for Housing Benefit claim

6. Council Tax for Council Tax Benefit claim

7. Whether you get any disability benefits to determine whether they need to add on any disability premiums to the base level of pension credit.

 

Basically they add your incomes together (disregarding any disability payments such as DLA and Attendance Allowance).

 

They then work out your "applicable amount" which is £142.70 for a single person plus any additional premiums (disability & carers).

 

If the applicable amount is more than your income then the difference is topped up with Guaranteed Pension Credit.

 

There is an additional type of Pension Credit for those over the age of 65 called Savings Credit which is a reward for making some provision for yourself with your private pensions.

[cavvy]

hi

they seem to be saying if they interview her they can make sure she is in receipt of everything she is entitled to ,which in principle seems to be a good idea however you worry that it may be an attempt to snoop,not that she has anything to hide but just could do without the stress at the moment

we havent heard anything for a while so i also feel they have stopped her claim for the time being

[Kevin Bolt]

Call them to ensure the claim hasn't been stopped. It used to be the case that claims would automatically be back-dated for 1 year, but the nasty Tory party stopped that as they didn't want the plebs to get too much money in one go.

[estellyn]

Pension credit interviews tend to be very useful and in my experience the people doing them are on the whole nice and helpful. It is something they like to do for more vulnerable claimants in order to be helpful, and is nothing to worry about, it's the easiest way to get the claim sorted.

[Surfer01]

When we applied, the interview was done in our home by a very pleasant and helpful lady. She looked at all the documents and when ti eventually came through, we received back payment. Easier when done at home as all documents can be checked straight away.