bloody conservatives and pensioners being made to claim uc

[passionflower50]

cant believe that after years of working the tories have pushed through an agreement where if a person claiming pension credit with a younger partner will now be made to claim universal credit istead of pension losing them around 400 pounds a month this was sneaked in whilst the world was watching about brexit how the hell is that fair

I thought from how I read it and I could be wrong that it was for those such as myself & DH. He is 20+ years older and so if he was claiming pension credit then he could only get it for himself and not the ‘couples’ rate as I am still of working age. If we were the same age then we’d both get it. At the ages we are, he would claim Pension Credit and I would claim UC. AFAIK they can’t make someone of pension age claim a benefit meant for jobseekers or allow people of working age to claim pensions? I find it all confusing and not sure of the ins and outs but that was how I understood it.

We don’t claim anything so I don’t know for sure.

@MissCharleyP No, completely wrong. Until this change, if you had a PC age partner you were eligible for a joint PC claim. Now, until both are pension age then they need to make a UC claim, leaving them considerably worse off.

It's going to meam a loss, on average, of 7k per year.

Let's hope this issue will help sway the pensioner vote away from the Tories.

It's clear that come Brexit, when we aren't governed by anti poverty strategies, everyone will be worse off.

The situation is that currently even if one partner is under pension age it is possible to claim couple rate.

Under the change only if both partners are over pension age will the couples rate apply.

There are lots of horrible changes being implemented by this government but actually this one seems pretty fair

Why should someone of working age be entitled to a substantially higher benefit rate just because of their spouse’s age? You can’t claim your state or private pension early on that basis.

Thanks Bombardier, I read it in the paper a couple of times but didn’t really understand. It’s a bit strange as to how they now make someone of pension age claim what is essentially a benefit for those of working age. Once you had reached pension age things like JSA and IB used to stop (not sure about IS), my mums friend lost money as he’d been on IB (Incapacity Benefit) and this was stopped when he got his pension.

im a couple of years younger than my husband and his full time carer so it doesnt affect me i just wonder what other ruses they are going to come up with to deny someone there pension its allright expecting the younger person to claim uc but to deny it to someone of pension age and make them also claim uc how yhe hell is that fare ???/

wonder if this is Brexit related. How many older British guys have much younger EU wives? And when rules for EU citizens change - they won't be able to afford their wives, who, will possible not be allowed to claim benefits or face restrictions to works.

So even if someone is of pension age, the fact they have a younger partner means they cannot get pension credit but now have to get UC instead? I just thought it meant the younger partner had to claim UC which is fair enough, am happy to be told I have it wrong though. Will they still be able to claim their state pension?

I understand that its not possible for someone below pension age to claim a benefit meant for pensioners. Which strikes me as pretty fair.

My mum is 64 this year and widowed. She has to work until she is 67 (was born in sept 54 so her pension age went from 60 to 67). If her husband was still alive (5 years older) she could have been claiming these credits instead of working.

Whilst she is pretty pissed off about extending her working life by 7 years, especially as she isn't in the best of health, she is still able to work. And support herself. Barring health reasons I don't see why anyone else should think they are entitled to an age related benefit when they aren't at that age yet.

I'm 15 years younger than my husband. He's 68 and has always only claimed the single rate of approx £159 per week even when I wasn't working for a year when I was going through chemo. He's not entitled to pension credit because he also has a private pension of about the same amount.
The way I've read it is that a couple with one spouse under pension age won't get the extra income related top ups anymore. The younger spouse will have to work up to their retirement age. If they are a carer in receipt of carers allowance, they won't have to work as well as doing caring duties though and the couple can claim UC. Who I knows though? Because the DWP certainly don't!

The older partner would still be able to claim the single rate surely, just not the couple's one?

The older partner can still claim pension credit. Just the single rate not the couple rate. Nothing is being taken away from the pensioner partner

Frouby, are you sure that's right? I'm younger than your mother and I qualify for state pension at 66. (You worried me so I just went to check on the government calculator!)

Why should pensioners get more state support than other vulnerable groups? Surely if they failed to plan for their retirement the shouldn’t expect special treatment?

Ah right, so the main thing that's changed is that rather than both partners claiming pension credit, the pensioner partner IS able to claim state pension and pension credit. The partner who is not yet of pensionable age is no longer able to claim pension credit and instead must claim UC.

Provided that's correct, and the pensioner partner loses nothing, I think it's pretty fair. How come someone not yet pensionable age was able to claim pension credit?

I'm sure Bombardier is wrong, they don't both have to claim UC until they're both of pensionable age, just the one who is under pension age.

Makes sense to me.

A couple will be making a couple claim currently in a mixed aged couple it is pension credit and housing benefit. From May it will be universal credit (in full service areas.)

This will reduce the amount of benefit, as the couple allowance, premiums (such as for disability) are lower and bedroom tax will apply.

www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Universal-Credit-And-Pension-Age