Your Pension …

Saggi
I had this battle with my H.
Only half of your H’s work pension should go to his care.
All of his state pension will and AA if he got it but they cannot take all his work pension.
I enlisted Age Concern who sent me leaflets.
Please contact them straightaway.
I see that Callistemon has put the leaflet number on whilst I have been posting.

Germanshepherdsmum

Above all don’t be proud Saggi. You have worked for many years and are entitled to everything available.

This ^

Please re-read the above form GSM.

I will pray for you, if you don't mind.

My income after working 47 years and only stopping for two years( kids) is £10,080 per year. I live on a knife edge ….my husbands pensions went with him into full time care home for Alzheimer’s…. my entreaties that I still have a house to maintain and heat , fell on deaf ears! I now dont heat my home, no matter what the temperature… and sometimes don’t eat ….. I go to bed instead

When I read things like this it makes me very angry!

We can send money abroad to sustain foreign wars and keep the invading boat people in luxury hotels but we cant pay our own (who have actually contributed to the country) to maintain a decent standard of living.

From GSM, obviously not form.

Only half of your H’s work pension should go to his care.
All of his state pension will and AA if he got it but they cannot take all his work pension.

Interesting annsixty, thank you for that information.

biglouis

*My income after working 47 years and only stopping for two years( kids) is £10,080 per year. I live on a knife edge ….my husbands pensions went with him into full time care home for Alzheimer’s…. my entreaties that I still have a house to maintain and heat , fell on deaf ears! I now dont heat my home, no matter what the temperature… and sometimes don’t eat ….. I go to bed instead*

When I read things like this it makes me very angry!

We can send money abroad to sustain foreign wars and keep the invading boat people in luxury hotels but we cant pay our own (who have actually contributed to the country) to maintain a decent standard of living.

Yes, biglouis money is available.

Unless someone applies for it then the government can't pay it.
Citizens' Advice or Age UK know the right steps to take.

The DWP estimates that £1.7 billion of Pension Credit went unclaimed by up to 1 million pensioner households in the financial year 2021/22.

policyinpractice.co.uk/unclaimed-pension-credit-value-by-local-authority/

Saggi this is the link referred to above, it’s on page 8 of this Age UK guidance.
www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs39-paying-for-care-in-a-care-home-if-you-have-a-partner.pdf

Age UK may be able to send one of their people to see Saggi to explain what’s available and help with forms. MOnica used to do this.

Just think of the difference all that unclaimed money could have made to so many people. I wish these sort of benefits were much more widely publicised.

Callistemon21

Age UK
Factsheet 39
Paying for care in a care home if you have a partner
April 2022
3.4Pension credit rules
If you receive Pension Credit (PC) as a couple, your entitlement changes if one of you permanently enters residential care. The Pension Service will then treat you as two separate individuals and eligibility for PC or other benefits depends on your individual levels of income and capital.

I can't do a link to it but perhaps you can find it, Saggi. It might be worth a read.

www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs39-paying-for-care-in-a-care-home-if-you-have-a-partner.pdf

Link to the fact sheet 39

Sorry - duplicated link

Callistemon21

^yes I could downsize but that costs a lot too^.

It does. We've looked around but by the time somewhere might need renovating plus all the removal expenses (not to mention the upheaval) it might be better to stay put and pay for some help when needed.

I agree Callistemon, we saw a smaller, suitable bungalow for sale near us, but by the time we added up stamp duty, getting it up to the standard we wanted by replacing the swirly carpets, installing a new kitchen, new bathroom, rewire, probably new central heating.........we decided that the amount involved was more than enough to pay for help in our current garden when we need it in a few years, plus we are going to get some work done in the garden this year which will minimise the usual gardening tasks.

Thanks Casdon and NotaGran

I don't know why I couldn't do it.

HousePlantQueen

Callistemon21

yes I could downsize but that costs a lot too.

It does. We've looked around but by the time somewhere might need renovating plus all the removal expenses (not to mention the upheaval) it might be better to stay put and pay for some help when needed.

I agree Callistemon, we saw a smaller, suitable bungalow for sale near us, but by the time we added up stamp duty, getting it up to the standard we wanted by replacing the swirly carpets, installing a new kitchen, new bathroom, rewire, probably new central heating.........we decided that the amount involved was more than enough to pay for help in our current garden when we need it in a few years, plus we are going to get some work done in the garden this year which will minimise the usual gardening tasks.

The Estate Agent gave us an estimate of the cost of moving 😲 but he tried to sell the bungalow as ready to walk into.
No, it wasn't, HousePlantQueen, not at that price anyway.

This is shocking Saggi, and so unfair. I’m very sorry you find yourself in this situation, through circumstances outside of your control. I agree with the others’ comments to please look into any support you are rightfully due. I wish you all the best.

The problem with any figures like these, is that expenditure patterns are based on averages - and of course none of us is average.

We come in at the top end. We both had professional jobs and, while neither of us worked for any employer for many years, when we retired we had a reasonable amount of occupational pension.

However our main gain is that DH, now nearly 80 has never stopped working. He is a consultant engineer and while the work he does is now only desk based and comes in in bits and pieces, his expertise is in the installation of offshore windfarms, so demand is steady. When he finally stops work, we will notice the loss of income.

Wheniwasyourage

Why would anyone need a new kitchen or bathroom every 10/15 years?

Yes, I was thinking the same

Mine is so well-made it could last for ever

I'd love a new kitchen though.

Callistemon21

Mine is so well-made it could last for ever

I'd love a new kitchen though.

Ours has lasted forever, will continue on after we pass.

New would be lovely, to what end for 78/80 year olds?

I dislike waste, and like saving.

Wish I could change, but I won't.

I've got 2 years and 3 months until I get a state pension of £9660. When my husband retires (15 months), we'll still be under that 1st tier.

Norah

Callistemon21

Mine is so well-made it could last for ever

I'd love a new kitchen though.

Ours has lasted forever, will continue on after we pass.

New would be lovely, to what end for 78/80 year olds?

I dislike waste, and like saving.

Wish I could change, but I won't.

Well, Norah, I'd like easy to access drawers instead of scrabbling around at the back of a cupboard!
We did have a nice new tap recently

New would be lovely, to what end for 78/80 year olds?

Well, we are the same age and we have just had a new kitchen. The previous one was 25 years old and the paint was bubbling and the MDF swelling, not to mention the hinges breaking regularly. The new kitchen is in an extension that gives us a big window where we can sit and look out over the garden.

Age, of itself, should not be a bar to doing anything.

Saggi, you can try Citizen’s Advice too,they may help.

M0nica

^New would be lovely, to what end for 78/80 year olds?^

Well, we are the same age and we have just had a new kitchen. The previous one was 25 years old and the paint was bubbling and the MDF swelling, not to mention the hinges breaking regularly. The new kitchen is in an extension that gives us a big window where we can sit and look out over the garden.

Age, of itself, should not be a bar to doing anything.

Our home is over 60 yrs old, it was old when we bought it. Given a new kitchen would have always been lovely, we'd like to be able to pay for our care as we age, apart from looking at a worktop.

Our of interest, are you the poster who asked me about walking terriers, at my age? Not too old, age is not a bar to dog walking!

JPB123

Saggi, you can try Citizen’s Advice too,they may help.

Agreed, please call, Saggi.

No, Norah, I know nothing about dogs, I would certainly never write a post suggesting there was anything anyone could not do on grounds of age alone.