pension credit help

[juless77]

Is there anyone, aside from Citizens Advice, who could help my elderly parents fill out the Pension Credit forms? They’re both in their 80s and really struggling financially. They receive the state pension and only about £400 a year from a private pension. They do get a small reduction in rent and council tax, but they've been told they don't qualify for Pension Credit.
They completed the application online themselves, but I suspect something may have gone wrong in the process. Unfortunately, they won’t let me assist or look into it for them—they’re a bit old-fashioned in that way—but they would be willing to speak to a professional.
My mum has several health issues and receives Disability Living Allowance. Her mobility is poor, and she recently had to finance a mobility scooter. My dad is recovering from cancer, which he was diagnosed with two years ago, and thankfully seems to be doing better now.
Any advice or direction on who could support them with this would be really appreciated.

Age uk can help them with the paperwork and check they are claiming all they are entitled to.

Do they receive full state pension each?

dad does mum only gets around 90 pound a week

Why won't they let you do it?
Surely that is better than a stranger knowing all their finances?

They may not qualify if they have savings and your D's pension etc bring them over the limit.

They can use the calculator here https://pensioncreditcalculator.dwp.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator-form.php?stage=1

There isn't a Disability living allowance once you turn 16.. adults get PIP.
But yes Age UK can help.
If she gets PIP..then she's entitled to Pension credits.

Actually, for those who were older than 65 in 2013 it is still DLA.
For anyone else over 65 since 2013 it is AA or PIP depending on needs.

Getting PIP doesn't entitle someone to Pension Credit. Pension Credit is means tested.

Age Uk, Citizen Advice and Turn2us all provide general form filling support and benefit advice. Additionally some larger Churches and other organisations offer help too. When my friend had cancer she received benefit advice from Macmillan money advisers, is this an option for your Dad?

It’s not an automatic entitlement is it?

Savings over a certain amount stops or reduces pension credit. Maybe they have savings over the threshold allowed.

If your mum has DLA is your dad claiming carer’s allowance? He may be entitled to that?

He won’t be as he gets the full state pension

There is no such thing as DLA for adults of that age- it's then PIP.

The threshold for savings is quite low which may exclude them from Pension Credit.

OP- on a serious note, are your parents secretive about their finances?
It seems very unwise IMO that they don't allow you to know their finances, but they are happy for a stranger to know this.

My situation is very different as I handle all my parents finances, their bank accounts etc, advise on interest rates, etc , applied for AA and looked into PC.

Heres the pension credit calculator. Age UK also has a benefits calculator.

https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator

Not true.

The problem @spicemaiden is that the OP does not have access from what she's said about their finances. So she can't use the online calculator.

Does either one of them need help getting dressed or showered even if they don’t receive it and just get by?

That's something for Attendance Allowance, not Pension Credit.

PC tops up a low state pension if the person didn't contribute their full NI etc when they were younger. It brings it up to the max rate for someone of their age.

However, savings are taken into account and if one person (spouse) receives the full state pension, they may not qualify anyway.

But her parents can.

They can ring up and people on the Pension credit line will go through it all for them. If your mum is in receipt of middle rate DLA or Attendance allowance and your dad provides 35 hours care for her a week then he can apply for carers allowance and whilst he can't be paid carers allowance he can be credited with a carers premium on the pension credit calculation which raises the threshold. They still may not qualify for pension credit though, it will depend on the amounts of their state pensions, private pensions and whether they have any savings. There are plenty of online calculators which could help them to know whether they qualify. The Age Uk one is very accurate. Or they could ring Age Uk who will do a benefit check for them and may be able to help apply. Ou age Uk branch helps a lot to apply. the problem is that people are frequently not transparent with their income and pension figures. We do the claim for them then they suddenly find another ISA with 50k in that they had forgotten about. I generally now encourage people to appy themselves on the phone line.

OP says they have applied once and it was rejected so OP thinks they made a mistake with the calculations.

They completed the application online themselves, but I suspect something may have gone wrong in the process. Unfortunately, they won’t let me assist or look into it for them—they’re a bit old-fashioned in that way—but they would be willing to speak to a professional.

I know.

Thats an application.

this is a calculator - may be easier for them to use.

Age UK will visit at home and do it for them but it's clearly very intrusive as you have to show bank accounts with savings, money stuffed under the mattress (!) and every penny you have.