General Chat

Time was, when you could get Pension Credit if you were unwell/unemployed within a few years of retiring.
The 'driver' received it for 5 years!
Now, you have to be receiving a pension before you can get it.

A friend, (B) aged 63, who was a scaffolder foreman had an aneurysm in his leg in April.
He's still on crutches, and is waiting for his other leg to be operated on.
His partner (C) is 10 years older than him, and owns the house they live in.
Because she gets a pension, and does a bit of gardening for people, (the money she receives for this, she declares - but it's mainly to keep the car on the road) they can't get anything.
C's money (which isn't a lot) makes them above benefit level, and she is expected to carry on working :-| Oh - and they live in London!

We are alright in that direction but he does not receive it for another two and a half years.

He is a bit unwell at the moment and it is quite a good time to stop working although we had expected him to carry on until he drew his pension.

well done Sharron!!

Assuming the HB claim is successful, get OH to ask for a Pension Forecast before he stops working. Ideally he needs to make sure that he has enough ‘qualifying years’ for a full basic pension.

Claim whatever you are due Sharron. Receiving any kind of benefit often opens the doors to other things. For example receiving Housing Benefit in this area gives you a 70% discount off Adult Learning Class fees. Many of the classes are for new hobbies to try.

Looked on the local council website and we are too old for UC so the claim for housing benefit has gone in.

If we get the full amount it will mean OH can stop working.

It doesn't matter how much it is You are entitled to it

so claim it :-D

Sharron claim whatever you may be entitled to, if it's awarded you have as much right to it as anyone else. Just because you've managed up to now doesn't mean you're not entitled.

It gets worse!

I rang CAB and he suggested I go to Turn2Us and calculate what we might be entitled to.

It would appear that, even with OH working part time, we could have claimed £107 a week.

I don't really mind having missed out on that over the last couple of years because we really didn't need it and, had I pugged it away, that might have taken it over the limit to claim anything.

What truly bugs me is that, because the man at the CAB told me that our area is all Universal Credit now, I put the calculation in for that and it came up that we are now entitled to £17 a week.

Now I can see what devastation that benefit can cause.

Claim for it Sharron, if you don't someone else will. They can only say yes or no.

I agree check out what you are entitled to

Entitiled is the operative word . :-D

Check out what you are entitled to, Sharron. You saved the government loads of money by keeping Fred on the fairly straight and narrow, now take what you are entitled to.

Lizxx

Check out what you are entitled to, Sharron. You saved the government loads of money by keeping Fred on the fairly straight and narrow, now take what you are entitled to.

Lizxx

Claim it the worse they'll say is you're not entitled.

Well go for it Sharron :-D. Every little helps these days

As you might remember, when Fred was alive, for several years, I paid the rent without claiming housing benefit before I found out we were entitled to have it all paid for us.
After my pension came and OH was working, we didn't claim, in fact I paid some back.
Now OH has over two years left until his state pension comes but he does have another one so we have lived on that, what he earns and my pension but he really needs to stop working.
We have enough and some to spare at the moment but have been wondering if we could survive without his wages.

Looking on the housing benefit calculator, it seems we could already be claiming help towards our rent.