not2old

imagine though, on basic state pension with even just £5 of pension credit (which now gets the the Guaranteed credit to qualify for other welfare payments) & with £15,000 in savings/capital (which can be a lot of money for some seniors) they'd get full council (property) tax relief.

On top of if they are renting, they would likely get full rent subsidy of approx £100/wk, depending on which part of the UK they live it could go as high as £500/wk

Which leaves the full pension guaranteed credit mentioned up thread of £226.82/wk to live on. No need for savings, private pension or investments because I reckon the council tax as well as the rent supplement (~£500/mth or £6000/yr) one would need around £300,000 in investments earning 2%, only that the combined rental & council tax subsidy or relief is tax free.

So, the pensioner on pension credit or with basic state pension as their only income, who do not own their own home or if they did made sure they sold it several years prior to state pension age & blew the lot or gave it to their children, even stuffing it in cash under the mattress don't seem to be too in need of much?

I read on Age UK & the 'entitled to' website calculators, that should a pensioner(s) still have a mortgage at state pension age & who meet the eligibility for guaranteed credit payment, also will be entitled to get the interest on their mortgage paid up to the level of the local council housing benefit

Of course its all in theory & most likely won't or do such a thing

Only in the UK is all this possible

not2old

good information there Milke

The only other consideration is if the spouse is from a country that requires a visa to travel to the EEA country. Then its 'apply for the Schengen visa before traveling'.

Visa For France - French Schengen Visa Appointment Information

After that, follow what you said Mike, simply 'we are exercising our treaty rights as the spouse of an EU citizen'

maybe the following video will help the OP. replace the EU country in the video with France

rebeccajo

Not2old, a person has to have less than 6000 GBP in savings to be able to get full benefits. 16000 disqualifies them entirely. Savings amounts between the two figures see a reduction in the benefit in proportion to the amount saved. At least that's how it use to work. I have no idea if this scheme is part of Universal Credit, or if pensioners fall under Universal Credit at all.

not2old

bit more generous now with the savings limit

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...027-102014.pdf

the charts & worked examples in the link are informative

rebeccajo

I don't see where that link tells if a pensioner is entitled to housing benefit, council tax credit, etc. It tells if they qualify for Pension and/or Savings Credits.

Doesn't seem to help much anyway because if you are retiring after April 2016 you will not get Savings Credit.

not2old

from my post#31

I wasn't planning on prolonging out a discussion of 'Guaranteed pension credit' since its been discussed many times in various threads.

Current status as of 2015 & who knows how it will all go down for OAP pensioners in 2016

This morning I used or entered into the GOV.UK as well as the www.entitledto.co.uk web calculator that a couple on basic state pension (category A & B) with only that as their income of say £200/wk (income below the guaranteed threshold), as well as savings of £15,000 in a current account

the results....

- Guaranteed pension & savings credit of £32/wk
- full housing benefit(middle UK)
- full council tax relief (middle UK)

Folks can do it for themselves

Benefits Calculator - entitledto - independent | accurate | reliable

from the ageuk website

The perks of claiming Pension Credit | Age UK

sorted.....

formula

PC always piggybacks to other income based benefits. Even a 1p PC claim

And the rules for those already claiming this before 2016, changes in 2016 too.

The welfare reforms changes for all PC claims from 2016 too. Both partners will have to be state pension age for PC and if not, the younger partner is expected to keep their retired partner. Under old rules for PC, only one had to be state pension age for both to be given PC and all other benefits, no matter what age the younger person was. If there still is PC benefit with the new state pension from 2016 which is set at just above the rate to be able to claim and the welfare cuts that will have to be made becasue of the UK's annual benefit cap to stop the ever rising welfare bill.

rebeccajo

OK.

So does £16000 in savings still disqualify a pensioner (or anyone else for that matter) from benefits?

rebeccajo

Really?

not2old

no it doesn't. In fact if you put the numbers into the entitled to calculator that income including state pension is below the 'guaranteed income & savings are in a current account, you can go above £20, 000

Guaranteed credit information is £1 reduction in PC for every £500 of savings. In the real world, current or chequing accounts pay zero interest & that is also taken into account

Try the numbers in the calculator

not2old

well I understand it, do you, or will you after you plug the numbers into the calculator?

formula

16k and deprivation of capital means you are expected to use your savings (or the savings you spent) if you want income based benefits. It's scary to read the powers they have to check on any finances of the claimant and anybody else connected to them Not sure how savings will work with PC under the new rules. Although I really can't see PC being needed now we have a new UK state pension in 2016.

With the newly(ish) created benefits, Pension Credits and Tax Credits, I don't really know how they work and haven't really kept up to date with all the changes as I've never needed to claim them and earn too much even when I retire, to claim then. I know several anomalies are being fixed to bring PC and TC in line with other income based benefits. Hence the finance changes to the savings part of PC; and the claiming part, the ending of TCs and the workfare requirement for TC claimants. The posters on the benefit section on moneysavingexert.com will know what is happening to PCs from 2016 under the already made law by parliament, welfare reforms.

not2old

from post 36 & post 40

I re-plugged the numbers into the 'entitledto' calculator

For a healthy couple aged 67 (not on disability, AA or carers allowance), income £200/wk, with £20,000 in savings in a current account, rent £100/wk, council tax (band B) £21.21/wk

results total supplement £152/wk

pension credit (£31.30), full housing benefit & full council tax relief

The £152/wk (£7904/yr) in supplements. If that was money earned, one would need £395,000 in investments at 2% to get the £7904/yr

formula

LOL That's wishful thinking. They only get some of their interest paid through SMI and just at one fixed interest rate, regardless of what their interest rate is. And only help for up to a set amount of interest on their mortgage, which is currently 3.63. This was changed a few years ago.

Normally the SMI (support for mortgage interest) benefit will only help on interest up to 100k and a 39 wek wait. At the moment there is a temporary rise to a 200k mortgage until a fixed date and a 13 week wait, while UK recovers and that end date was recently extended. If they claim Pension Credit their limit for SMI is 100k. If they move to PC while claiming SMI, they get 12 more weeks at a mortgage at 200k before SMI drops to just interest on 100k. Even if the mortgage is under 100k or 200k, they still may not get SMI on all the mortgage interest. The limit for jobseekers for SMI is 2 years. It looks like income based ESA claimants, will also be limited to 2 years under the welfare reforms.

This means that the repayment part of the mortgage is neved paid by the welfare state. If their mortgate interest rate is higher than the SMI rate, the claimant pays the difference. If they took loans out, remortgaged ect, SMI will only pay the interest on the original mortgage. If they use a flexable mortgage, SMI is only paid on the lowest amount that the mortgage once was. If they need to remortgage (and lenders are now asking for capital repayments too now instead of just interest only payments) they is no extra help from the welfare state.

There has been a parliament report that found that something like 2/3 of SMI claims are pensioners who never made plans to pay off their mortgage before they retired. There seems to be plans to place a charge on the property of retired claimants so that the welfare state will recoup all the SMI payments, plus fees and interest, when that property is sold or changes hands.

For those that don't have both partners under state retiement age and claim SMI, their claim will be limited to two years (SMI) too under the welfare reforms. Those under state retiement age will be required to go on workfare if they don't work at all during this 2 years. If they do any work at all, even part time, all their Housing Allowance (SMI) will end.

Buying a house then claiming to be too sick to work, was often a common practice put about on internet forums and ESA claimants too have welfare limits under reforms in 2008; and the closing of a loophole in March 2015; then again when their area moves onto UC. Income Support claimants SMI claimants SMI changes too under the welfare reforms.

Home owners were always meant to take out insurance in case they became ill or lost their jobs and plan so that they repay their mortgage before they retire. Too many have now stopped doing this and have decided to rely on the welfare state instead and this practice is being stopped, even for existing claimants.

formula

I've read that entiledto only calculates until the end of the present tax year. What it states now, may not be the same per week from 6 April 2015. From 6 April 2016 it will change again because of the welfare changes starting from 6 April 2016 and that will include some changes on savings for Pension Credit for existing claimants too.