Can anyone explain about elderly mother’s basic state pension?

[river1]

Hi - trying to sort out attendance allowance for elderly mother and in process realised her pension is only £68 pw. Born in 1937 and probably worked until age 30’when she had children. Seems v low? Thanks a lot

[thenightsky]

My mum passed away three years ago, so my memory may be a bit dim. I'm sure she got around £68 too. Born 1929 and worked the same pattern as your mum. I think they had to pay something called the Married Woman's Stamp if they weren't working. I think it gave them a very basic state pension only. I remember my mum saying she'd only ever paid Married Woman's Stamp.

[river1]

Thanks a lot. We will try to call and get it explained tomorrow but shocked it is so low compared to current basic rate? Seems incredible...

[HoleyCoMoley]

Does it depend on how many years she paid n.i.

[llangennith]

She should be claiming pension credit.

[river1]

Thanks don’t think eligible for pension credit if she has savings?

[Exasperatedcroc]

She might be entitled to Pension Credit to top it up if she has a low overall income. Worth checking.

[sleepyhead]

It's likely to be due to Married Woman's Stamp as mentioned by previous posters.

This allowed married women to pay a token amount of National Insurance as it was assumed that they would be supported in old age by their husband's pension . It was very tempting to have "jam today" and not pay full NI - particularly if money was very tight and you had bills to pay.

Decades down the road, these women are not entitled to a full state pension in their own right due to their incomplete NI records, however Pension Credit should top it up if it's her only income. Does she have any survivors pension benefits from your dad?

[river1]

Thanks a lot for explaining it. My father is still alive, it’s just she has a lot of care needs now so trying to make sure she is getting all she is entitled too, which Isn’t much. Now about to fill in form for night time attendance allowance, although it seems hard to get....

[thesandwich]

Can I suggest contacting age uk or carers uk for free help completing the attendance allowance forms? They are really helpful and know how to phrase things. Good luck. Are you using forms off the net or actual ones? If you phone and get actual forms the claim is dated from the form date- meant dm got a few hundred quid back pay. That was a tip from a wise mnetter!

[river1]

Thanks yes I did speak to them and now have form so may run it by them again. It seems ridiculously complicated but then I imagine that’s the point🙄

[thesandwich]

There is definitely an art to it- I drafted it and then went through with a carers uk person- took several hours! But we got the award so it really was worth it. Top tip was imagine dm on her worst day.

[river1]

Thanks thesandwich

[missedith01]

There's no upper limit for savings in a pension credit claim, so do get that checked out. They assume some income from capital. For example, the basic guaranteed income for a single person is £163 per week. If they had no other income except a low state pension they could still get some pension credit with £40,000+ of savings. If even a few pence of the guarantee part of pension credit is paid it passports to full council tax support, getting round the local authority capital limit of £16,000. There's several online calculators that will work it out for you if needed.