Mother's pension

[ineedabodytransplant]

Hi all, I've had a brief search but haven't found a relevant thread yet(will keep looking) and I'm slowly getting the info from my mum

Mum's in her 80's and has been getting state pension. Seems she also gets pension credit(?). She also gets a small payment each month (approx £70) from my late dad's pension.

Last year she was offered the chance to 'cash in' my dad's pension and have a lump sum. She took this and paid the required tax on it.

In November she was contacted by DWP regarding her pension. She completed a form and returned it. She then received another form and with it a letter saying they were suspending the pension credit part of about £60 pm as of Jan 27th or somewhen like that.

They have stopped ALL her pension since then so she hasn't had any money for a month now

Now it's down to me to sort it out as she's getting more and more confused. I'm also now sorting out POA (up until this it seemed that it wouldn't be necessary yet)

Anyone have any advice, please?

Was it a rolls Royce pension?

The lump sum would have reduced the amount of pension credit she is entitled to, and that has messed everything up. If you aren't getting anywhere with the DWP directly, try Citizens Advice - they deal with this sort of stuff all the time and are very good at getting through to the right department - or possibly Age UK to see if they can help unsnarl the red tape.

The state pension should not have stopped - the pension credit depends on income an savings, so the ump sum may have reduced the amount she is entitled to.

Her state pension should'nt have stopped.

You will have to ring the DWP together and get your Mum to tell them she is handing the phone to you to deal with it.

The pension credit was designed to top up your total pension (state and private) to a specified amount. Last year your mother's income would probably have been above the pension credit threshold so no pension credit was payable.

The lump sum would not affect her state pension entitlement but I am wondering if the pension credit was overpaid and they are clawing back the overpayment through the suspension of the state pension. Not sure what powers are in this regard but I would imagine that they have an obligation to ensure that you r mother continues to receive a n income sufficient to live on so I would challenge them.

If you/your mother aren't sure what has happened you can phone them for more detail. If you think they have the figures wrong then look at the letter or get advice about challenging - there is normally a deadline, sometimes one month from the decision letter date, but get advice about that.

You can have £10 000 savings before it affects pension credit. After that they reduce the amount you get. (Guaranteed credit is the top up for a low income, savings credit was an amount given if you had saved something towards retirement but that is not available for people who reached pension credit age from April 2016 onwards.

sections from citizens advice website section on it

There is no limit on how much capital - that is savings and property - you can have, but you will be treated as having income from any of your capital above £10,000. However, some capital is ignored, for example, your personal possessions and the home you own and live in. Certain other types of property are also ignored. For full details of other property which is ignored, you should get advice.

You will only be entitled to guarantee credit if your income is less than the ‘appropriate minimum guarantee’. Only certain types of income count for Pension Credit and not all your income will be taken into account, which means it does not affect your Pension Credit. Other income is partially disregarded, which means you can get a certain amount each week before it affects your Pension Credit. For example, child maintenance, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Allowance are all fully disregarded. Savings above £10,000 will be treated as if they add £1 a week to your income for every extra £500 of savings (or part of £500).

Your amount of your guarantee credit is the difference between your ‘appropriate minimum guarantee’ and your income. If your income is more than your ‘appropriate minimum guarantee’, you will not get any guarantee credit, but you may still get some savings credit.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/older-people/benefits-for-older-people/#pension_credit