Benefits application process

Doodledog

Thank you. But I'm not sure how that contradicts what I said.

Why look for contradiction? Sometimes posts are there to augment previous information.

Thank you. But I'm not sure how that contradicts what I said.

I don't know a lot about benefits, but I do know that if you own your own property you can't claim H.B.

I get tired of hearing blanket statements about the old pension being considerably less than the new. It's very divisive. (Doodledog)

The Basic State Pension (BSP) and the State Pension (also known as the New State Pension) are two different types of pensions in the UK. The distinction between them can be confusing, and blanket statements about the BSP being less than the State Pension can be misleading.

To provide some context:

Basic State Pension: This is a flat-rate pension paid to people who have paid sufficient National Insurance Contributions (NICs) to qualify. The amount is set by the government and is currently £141.85 per week for the 2022-2023 tax year.

State Pension: This is a more complex system that takes into account an individual's National Insurance record and lifetime contributions. The amount can vary significantly depending on an individual's earnings history and the number of years they've paid NICs. The average State Pension payout can be higher than the Basic State Pension, but not always. It's a complex calculation that depends on various factors, such as:

National Insurance record: People with a longer or more consistent work history may receive a higher State Pension.

Earnings history: Higher earners may have paid more NICs, which can increase their State Pension.

State Pension age: The age at which an individual starts receiving their State Pension can also impact the amount they receive.

While it's true that the Basic State Pension has historically been a lower amount, it's not always accurate to compare it directly to the State Pension without considering individual circumstances.

That's good to hear.

It makes sense to make an application for help before your income from self-employment ceases if you know when that date will be. How easy that is to ascertain will depend on your business e.g. do you have any debtors such that money you are owed could be paid to you later (after benefits have been awarded and paid) or is it a trade or profession where you are paid on a by a fixed date? Hopefully, it's the latter which will make the process easier. Good luck with it all.

Thank you everyone for your replies and advice: very much appreciated. As a few people have mentioned I'm farily confident with the benefits I will be entitled to: I've used several online benefit calculators, the council-provided calcuators, and also checked with CAB. All are giving the same answer (HB and CTB) so I'm reassured by that.

The advice I'm seeking is whether to apply in advance of stopping work or once I have stopped, if my goal is a) a successful application and b) minimise the time after I stop working before beneifts are paid. Either way, I'm reassured to hear that I can provide an explanation why my bank statements will show income that won't be there in the future.

I think OP's question has been answered so this is off-topic but a response to Madmeg's comments.

You can write to the DWP to ask for an explanation of how your SP is calculated. Make sure you ask for a Working Life letter which will set out your contracted-out earnings (not necessarily the same as your actual earnings) year-by-year.
A Working Life Letter has to come from HMRC but DWP can request them or you can apply directly.

Don't expect a quick reply from DWP. Explanations can be complex so take time. Mine ran to nine dense pages and took six months to obtain.

Three years ago, former Pensions Minister Steve Webb published this comprehensive paper: Why is money being deducted from my state pension? The mysteries of CODs, COPEs and Contracting Out explained - link here for anyone who wants to spend an evenings trying to understand this:

www.lcp.com/media/1150050/why-is-money-being-deducted-from-my-state-pension.pdf

I get tired of hearing blanket statements about the old pension being considerably less than the new. It's very divisive.

In some cases people on the old pension are worse off, but as has been said countless times, not everyone on the new pension gets the full amount, and not everyone on the old gets less - some get considerably more than the maximum amount of the new pension (which can only be enhanced by deferring it).

I agree that the figure quoted when pensions are discussed in the media is always the full new pension figure; but however frustrating for those not getting that amount, how else can it be done? There are so many different amounts that it would be impossible to list everyone's circumstances.

Not that this helps the OP. I agree that the best thing for her to do is to speak to Age UK, who can look at her individual circumstances with an expert eye.

I used to think I was on the ball with pensions but clearly not as I have not heard of most of these things talked about here. I just know that I get nowhere near some of the figures quoted on this thread despite having paid "full-at-the-time" NI conts since I was 16 but contracted out in some years, and have a much smaller SP than DH even though he was contracted out far longer than I was. As I said on a thread some time ago, for about 15 years I paid Class 1, 2 and 4 NI all at once, the latter qualifying me for absolutely nothing at all.

The whole system is at fault but hey-ho the government can't put everything right in less than a year - or perhaps never!

Ah, I see. I thought you were saying you had more than £221.20 pw in SP.

FlitterMouse

^I actually lost my SERPs because I was better off with the new state pension (with the addition of my occupational pension). In total, I receive more than £221.20 a week. ^

growstuff - which means you must have a Protected Payment which is some of your SERPS.

No, I don't. My occupational pension plus state pension is more than state pension and SERPs would have been, so I receive the new state pension and lost my SERPs money.

I actually lost my SERPs because I was better off with the new state pension (with the addition of my occupational pension). In total, I receive more than £221.20 a week.

growstuff - which means you must have a Protected Payment which is some of your SERPS.

Yep, Barleyfields. After Labour MPs supported the withdrawal of universal WFP, they were writing to constituents saying all pensioner would get a rise in April 2025 equivalent to £221.20 * the triple lock percentage which would be more than the loss of WFP. Simply not true.

Just over half (1,737,342) of the 3,407,567 people receiving the new state pension got the full weekly amount of £203.85 in 2023, analysis from Royal London has revealed.

www.pensionsage.com/pa/less-than-half-of-pensioners-receiving-full-state-pension-amount.php

Coincidentally, Paul Lewis has just published a piece about this here:

www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/pensions-and-retirement/why-younger-pensioners-bigger-state-pension-paul-lewis-3458070

Extract:

Recently released figures for May [last] year show that the average new State Pension paid to people aged 66-69 was £207.96 a week, which is lower than the average old state pension of £211.57 paid to those aged 85-89. That is partly because on top of the basic element of £169.50 a week, people can get a few pounds of graduated pension, plus additional pension related to their pay over the years they worked.

And, of course, older women had much better spousal inheritance rights, inheriting up to 100% of a late spouse's basic pension and SERPS. That can no longer happens under the single tier pension. Young widow(er)s are even further disadvantaged by the post 2016 rules (I am) but that's another story.

PoliticsNerd

Bea65

OP said she had a small pension and recd SP ??perhaps clarification is needed… either way, Age Uk are very helpful

I believe it would be best to just allow the OP to proceed with her claim. Her main request was for clarification on the evidence required so she could prepare accordingly. Speculating on eligibility may not be beneficial for anyone involved.

Quite! As I explained to her, I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago. The benefit checker was pretty accurate with my entitlement. It did, however, take some time to work out, but I was eventually paid the amount I was owed. I explained that my past three bank statements weren't an accurate reflection of the amount I was actually receiving when I applied.

As a rough rule of thumb, the minimum it's considered that a single person needs to live is the new state pension amount plus housing costs (rent and council tax).

FlitterMouse

It's because DWP do calculations under the old and new systems to see which gives the higher pension.

Rebate Derived Amount (RDA) whittled down nSP for me so I am better off under bSP. I had post 2016 contributions which burned off some of the SERPS years but still gives me less than the full nSP. I have an occupational pension of course which is enhanced due to contracting out but this assumption that all women who reached SPA after 5 April 2016 receive £221.20 per week is just wrong.

The vast majority do. Even you would have been entitled to it, if you weren't entitled to SERPs.

I actually lost my SERPs because I was better off with the new state pension (with the addition of my occupational pension). In total, I receive more than £221.20 a week.

I think most recipients are well aware that that not everybody receives the full state pension.

Starmer loves to trot out the full new SP figures when telling everyone how big an increase pensioners got last year and will get in April. I wish. Totally misleading.

Bea65

OP said she had a small pension and recd SP ??perhaps clarification is needed… either way, Age Uk are very helpful

I believe it would be best to just allow the OP to proceed with her claim. Her main request was for clarification on the evidence required so she could prepare accordingly. Speculating on eligibility may not be beneficial for anyone involved.

It's because DWP do calculations under the old and new systems to see which gives the higher pension.

Rebate Derived Amount (RDA) whittled down nSP for me so I am better off under bSP. I had post 2016 contributions which burned off some of the SERPS years but still gives me less than the full nSP. I have an occupational pension of course which is enhanced due to contracting out but this assumption that all women who reached SPA after 5 April 2016 receive £221.20 per week is just wrong.

Thanks for clarifying that.

Barleyfields

I can’t see a reference to any pension other than ‘my pension’ which I take to mean the SP, and if that’s the new SP which is considerably more than the old one, then as I understand it that is in excess of the benefits threshold. However as I have already said I have no expertise in this area.

It's in excess of the threshold for Pension Credit, but Housing Benefit is calculated separately.

FlitterMouse I don't know why you're not receiving the new state pension. I'm 69 and 9 months and I receive the new state pension - admittedly not the full amount because I was contracted out, too.

She could have received state pension at 66 and still be working.

Bea65

OP said she had a small pension and recd SP ??perhaps clarification is needed… either way, Age Uk are very helpful

Sorry, you're right. I didn't read it properly (I'm half-asleep). Even so, if it's a very small pension, she could still be eligible for Housing Benefit. I receive a small pension, but get Housing Benefit, but no Pension Credit or Council Tax Support.

My understanding from the OP is that her income currently is from her business plus State Pension (which she could have claimed at 66).

She is now retiring from work and has already used a benefits calculator which tells her that she will be entiteld to HB and CT support.

I don't understand why people are telling her she won't be entitled to this and that. She knows what her income will be once she is no longer working.

Just because someone is 70 doesn't mean they automatically get new State Pension. Even if they do, if they have ever been in a company pension scheme and were contracted out of SERPS, they are unlikely to receive the full new State Pension as it will be reduced because of that:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-state-pension-if-youve-been-contracted-out-of-additional-state-pension/the-new-state-pension-transition-and-contracting-out-fact-sheet

It's a fallacy that everyone born after 5 April 1953 receives full new State Pension.

I am a few months off 70 and my pension is calculated under the pre 2016 rules. I do not receive £221.20 a week even though I worked and paid NIC for 50 years.

I agree with PoliticsNerd. Always check and don't be mislead by what other people think or say. They are often wrong.

When all the furore over the withdrawal of WFP was at its height, especially from those who are just over the threshold for Pension Credit, I used the turn2us calculator to see what help there was for someone with only £221.20 SP per week and no other income.

I own my own home with no mortgage in council tax band F. The calculator asks for the postcode so it can check what council tax I pay. It tells me I could claim Council Tax Support of £43.48 per week or £2,260 a year towards a bill of £2300 so I would only have to pay £40 CT from my SP.