Husband Gets Pension Credit For Both Of Us

[sbrown1450]

We now have a letter saying he can apply for State pension.
The estimate is:- £149.38 a week. Or £649.54 per month(£7,794.44 per annum).
It says nothing about me and we have no idea if we should claim State Pension or not? Can anyone advise us.

[fiction-factory]

What do you mean when you say "Husband Gets Pension Credit For Both Of Us".
Are you currently claiming pension credit? Are you in receipt of your pension yet?

[fiction-factory]

I recently got an immediate pension forecast online on the HMRC site or you can apply for one to come by post. you could both try that

[sbrown1450]

My husband gets pension credit at the moment and gets extra for me. It comes to £141.15 per week.
We got a letter saying he can claim State Pension, which I looked up online and it gave an estimate of £149.38 per week. We assume that is just for him.
He also get a works pension.
At the moment I get DLA only so do I claim something else.
Would we be better staying on Pension Credit?
Think we need to find someone who can sort it out who knows the system and benefit amounts.
It's seems very complicated and they won't talk to me as husband gets the Pension Credit and he will not use the phone.

[fiction-factory]

You can get you own pension forecast. Are you approaching pension age then? If he is and you aren't then his estimate will be just for him

[ubasses]

Under the new rules (post April 2016) there is no benefit to deferring taking his pension if he is getting pension credit, as any days he claiming the pension credit he will not get be able to build up any extra pension from the deferal
https://www.gov.uk/deferring-state-pension/extra-state-pension-and-lump-sum-payments

[sbrown1450]

I cannot claim State Pension until 04/07/2017.

[EDDIE51]

You are in exactly the same situation as me and my wife.
I was on pension credit and then at 65 I could claim state pension.
My wife gets DLA and I used to get carers allowance for looking after her.
Your OH will no longer get carer's allowance , if he was claiming it, but the pension credit will be increased.
The pension claim help line are very very good and helpfull. Call them and they will explain your options and help you choose the best one for your exact situation. They can process your state pension claim over the phone and tell you exactly the date you will get the first payment and how much it will be.
You will get the pension credit amount for a couple with any extra due to the DLA added in. We get about £280 a week and 100% rent and council tax paid. It is very well worth claiming the pension credit even if you only get a very small amount. Any pension credit even a £1 a week means you also get all the 'health service benefits' like hospital fares paid & completely free NHS dental treatment, plus the winter fuel and cold weather payments automatically as well as 100% housing and council tax benefit.
As I said the pension forecast help/claim line are VERY good / efficient and will make sure you get the maximum possible for your situation.

[themas]

Do as Eddie suggests, but I think you will find you are no longer entitled to Pension Credit. It is a means tested benefit & the State Pension is treated as income in working out the entitlement. Your husband's State Pension will be more than the Pension Credit you now get so - unless there are special circumstances - the entitlement will probably end.

[EDDIE51]

^^ themas, I get my £159 a week state pension and £76 a week pension credit on top of that, plus around £30 a week private pension, you can get state pension, private pension and pension credit all at once as I do. Things will change when my wife gets her state pension in another 5 years but until then I know how much income we have every month.
You can also opt to have your pension credit/state pension paid weekly or 4 weekly to suit you. The pension forecast / help line will offer you the choice weekly or 4 weekly payment.

[themas]

Eddie Apologies - memory at fault. The couple rate of pension credit is £237.55 p wk (i.e. pretty much what you say your state pension + pension credit is), unless there are any specific additions, such as some housing costs or carer addition.

Any private pension is treated as income & in your case the £30 would normally reduce the pension credit to about £46 p wk. So I assume a specific addition must apply in your case.

[EDDIE51]

I get an addition for my wife being disabled and getting DLA.
The questioner also gets DLA so her husbands claim for Pension credit will also be increased . The increase in Pension Credit is to compensate for no longer getting carers allowance, which stops when the claimant reaches state pension age. As I said, this case is exactly like mine and my wife's case.