Be Wise with Hanover

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1 Be Wise with Hanover Your guide to and advice on benefits Do you know which benefits you could be entitled to? Pension Credit Housing Benefit Council Tax Reduction Attendance Allowance Personal Independence Payment Disability Living Allowance Carers Allowance

2 Everyone living in a Hanover property has access to our Be Wise services offering support with benefits advice and energy savings. It can be hard to know if you can afford to move into Retirement Housing or an Extra Care estate to start with, or if you are continuing to maximize your income and make the most of available help as time passes in your home. The rules for claiming welfare benefits can be particularly complex. This guide helps to explain which benefits may be available to help with the cost of your home; how the rules for these benefits work; and how you can claim them. Contact us Financial Rights team For confidential benefits advice financial.rights@hanover.org.uk Energy Adviser For help with energy switching energywise@hanover.org.uk or getting the best energy deal 2

3 Which benefits could you be entitled to? Pension Credit Housing Benefit Council Tax Reduction Attendance Allowance Personal Independence Payment Disability Living Allowance Carers Allowance Information in this guide is not definitive, as personal circumstances may vary. It is a good idea to get further detailed advice if making a claim. Our Financial Rights team will be happy to help, or to signpost to appropriate advice sources. 3

4 Pension Credit Pension Credit is an income related benefit to help increase the income of anyone who is no longer of working age. This is a key benefit for older people which can open doors to other extra income; including help with housing costs. It does not matter if you rent or own your home the important thing is having a low or moderate income. You can still qualify if you have some savings. It is paid as either of two types Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit. Both are worked out and paid together, but have different rules. Depending on your age, income and capital you may be entitled to either or both types. Who can claim Pension Credit? Anyone over minimum state pension age this is the state pension age for women, which is gradually increasing. The minimum age to claim Pension Credit is increasing at the same time, and you can find out your qualifying age at or by contacting the Pension Service on For couples, only one partner needs to be above the minimum state pension age in order to qualify. This may change at some point in the future. How is it claimed and paid? You can claim over the phone by calling , or by downloading a form at This form can be printed and completed by hand, or online. You will need details of your income, savings and capital, any disability benefits, and your National Insurance number. Pension Credit is usually paid along with your State Pension (if you are claiming this); and paid into your nominated bank account. Payment by cheque is possible in some circumstances. If you make a claim, but would have been entitled if you had claimed earlier, this will be backdated for up to three months. Any linked claim for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction will be backdated for the same time.

5 How is it calculated? Pension Credit is worked out by comparing your income and savings with an amount which the rules say you need to live on. This amount varies depending on your personal circumstances. There is a basic amount for single people or a couple, plus extra amounts can be added if you: Receive a disability benefit such as Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment Are a carer for someone who receives a disability benefit Own your home and are paying a mortgage or loan, or pay service charges and/or ground rent as part of a lease agreement The total of all these amounts gives the figure which is compared with your income and savings. Not all income is taken into account in the comparison: Any money received in disability benefits is ignored; Any savings below are ignored, and there is no upper savings limit. Income from your savings above is calculated using a set formula The value of the home you live in is ignored. This will also usually be ignored whilst you are selling your home to move into a Hanover property If your income has a shortfall against the comparison figure, you will be paid the difference as Pension Guarantee Credit. 9 out of 10 claims made are successful Nearly Pension Credit 5

6 Unclaimed Pension Credit is worth 2.8bn EACH YEAR How does it help with housing costs? Anyone entitled to Pension Guarantee Credit will receive the maximum eligible Housing Benefit towards rent and service charges. Homeowners will receive help towards interest on a mortgage, or home loan, any service charges payable, and any ground rent. You will also receive full Council Tax Reduction towards your Council Tax bill. You will usually need to make a separate claim for help with Council Tax and Housing Benefit. One third of older people are still missing out on an average of What else could I be entitled to? If you are aged 65 or over and have some savings and/or extra pension, you may be entitled to Pension Savings Credit. Depending on your individual circumstances you may be entitled to just this, or both Savings and Guarantee Credit. Getting Savings Credit alone will not automatically entitle you to Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction, but your income and savings may still be low enough for you to get some help towards these benefits. It is worth claiming anyway. Any Savings Credit will count as income when claims are assessed. Receiving Guarantee Credit also entitles you to extra help with heating your home Warm Home Discounts and cold weather payments; and with some health care costs. Anyone aged 65 or older who is awarded Pension Credit will usually be given an Assessed Income Period (AIP). This may be up to five years, or longer for anyone over 75. During this AIP most changes of circumstances will not affect the award this includes an increase in capital, which may happen if you sell your house after moving into a new home with Hanover. Only when the AIP ends will your claim be reassessed and any eligibility adjusted according to your circumstances at that time. If you receive Pension Guarantee Credit, entitlement to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction will also be protected during the AIP. 33 PER WEEK 6 Pension Credit

7 Housing Benefit Housing Benefit is an income related benefit which helps towards your rent and any service charges. It is paid by your local council. This is particularly important if you are struggling to pay your rent. It is always worth checking if you are getting all the help you can. Who can claim? Anyone legally liable to pay the rent and living in the property as your normal home. Unless you receive Pension Guarantee Credit you must have less than 16,000 in savings to claim. If you are of working age and receive another income top-up benefit instead, this capital limit is Housing Benefit may help towards all or part of rent and service charges, depending on individual income and savings. This also applies to shared owners, even if no actual rent element is paid. In this case the level of help will also depend upon the lease agreement. How is it claimed and paid? Each local council has their own application pack many now encourage claiming online or by downloading a form. Completed forms must be returned to the Council. It is important to claim as soon as possible before moving into a new property, in order to get Housing Benefit paid from the tenancy/lease start date. Normally Housing Benefit cannot be paid for a home that you have not yet moved into. Housing Benefit is usually paid every four weeks in arrears, direct into a bank account. Post Office card accounts cannot be used. It is usually possible to request that benefit is paid directly to Hanover; although working age claimants may not always have this option. How much can be paid? Housing Benefit is assessed on the total rent and service charge payable; but not all service charges are eligible. Ineligible charges usually include individual heating, water charges and support costs there may be others, and level of help will vary depending on services provided on each estate. In some cases there may be other amounts deducted from eligible Housing Benefit payable; for example if there is another adult (not your partner) living with you. It is always important to tell the council of any changes in your circumstances, in case these affect how much Housing Benefit you can be paid. Telling them of any annual increase or decrease in your rent and/ or service charges is particularly important to make sure you are claiming the correct help available. Hanover can estimate how much Housing Benefit you may be entitled to, if you are worried about the cost of moving into a property; or can help with on going claims and queries. An average of 47 PER WEEK is unclaimed per pensioner Housing Benefit 7

8 Council Tax Reduction Council Tax Reduction is a localised scheme giving help towards council tax bills for those on a low income. Each local council sets its own rules and schemes may change each April. Anyone over minimum State Pension Credit age should have their claim assessed differently to those of working age, and may be entitled to higher levels of Council Tax Reduction. Who can claim? Anyone responsible for paying Council Tax on the property they occupy. It does not matter if you live in a rented, owned or shared ownership property. Unless you receive Pension Guarantee Credit and are automatically entitled to full Council Tax Reduction, you must have less than 16,000 in capital to claim. This limit may be lower for those of working age. How is it claimed and paid? It can be claimed at the same time as Housing Benefit, using the same claim form; or the form can be used just to claim help with Council Tax. Each council has their own application pack as before, claiming online is encouraged or downloading a form. Completed forms must be returned to the Council. Council Tax Reduction is a form of rebate, so it will be credited against your Council Tax bill, and will reduce the annual amount you have to pay. How much can be paid? If you are claiming Pension Guarantee Credit, or your circumstances and income mean that you qualify for your full Council Tax amount, then you will not have to pay any Council Tax at all for that financial year. This may change if your circumstances change during the year. If you are only entitled to help with some of your Council Tax bill, you will have to pay the balance left on your account as normal. On average 728 PER YEAR is unclaimed per person of pension age 8 Council Tax Reduction

9 Attendance Allowance Attendance Allowance (AA) is for anyone aged 65 or over who needs help with their own personal care, due to their physical or mental health. It helps to pay for additional care expenses which may arise due to a disability or health condition. You do not have to actually have someone helping with your personal care; it is the level of need which is important. An official diagnosis of health conditions is not essential, but contacting your GP is advisable. Who can claim? You must have had the physical and/or mental health problems which affect your ability to care for yourself for at least six months prior to when you claim. You cannot successfully claim Attendance Allowance if you only need help with household tasks such as cleaning or shopping but many people do not realise how they are actually coping with personal care needs and may dismiss this unnecessarily. There is no restriction on how Attendance Allowance is spent if a claim is successful, unless you receive care provided by Social Services. Service Centre on or online at A successful claim will be backdated to the date when the paper claim pack was sent out, if it is returned within six weeks. The claim form is quite long and it is a good idea to get further advice and help before completing this. Local welfare rights agencies, such as Citizens Advice Bureau, AgeUK, or Hanover s Financial Rights team may all be able to assist. Payments are every four weeks in arrears; either alongside any State Pension or into a nominated bank, building society, or Post Office Card account. How much is it? Attendance Allowance is paid at two rates lower and higher. Which level is paid will depend on whether your care needs are just for day or nighttime, or if you need help during both ie. 24 hours. It is not related to your income or savings at all, and is not taxable. Attendance Allowance also does not count as income when assessing benefits such as Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction but receiving it can considerably increase how much you receive in these benefits, and is therefore often worth more than just the AA amount alone. How is it claimed and paid? A claim pack can be requested from the Attendance Allowance Disability affects over 45% of those above State Pension age Attendance Allowance 9

10 Personal Independence Payment Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is for anyone aged who needs help with their own personal care, due to their physical or mental health; or who has mobility problems. You do not have to actually have someone helping with your personal care or mobility; it is the level of need which is important. It is always worth investigating if you could claim, and advisable to get help to complete the forms. An official diagnosis of health conditions is not essential, but contacting your GP is advisable. This is a new disability benefit which replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in PIP has two components daily living (care needs) and mobility. Depending on your care and mobility needs you may qualify for one or both. Who can claim? You must have had the physical and/or mental health problems which affect your ability to care for yourself or which affect your mobility for at least three months prior to when you claim. You must also expect these needs to continue for at least the next nine months. You cannot claim both PIP and DLA at the same time; nor can you claim PIP or DLA and AA. If you are already getting DLA, and you were under 65 in April 2013 when the new benefit started, Over 60% eventually you will be reassessed for PIP instead. This will not be before late 2015 onwards. You may be reassessed earlier if your award is due to end, or if of claims receive both daily living and mobility awards

11 you have a change in your condition which means your entitlement would be looked at again anyway. How is it claimed and paid? You can find out more information from the PIP Enquiry helpline on or online at To claim call or textphone on Your phone call is the first part of the claim process. You will then be asked to complete a paper form explaining your needs and how you manage. PIP is not related to your income or savings at all, and is not taxable. Depending on your circumstances you may be asked to discuss your claim face to face with a health assessor before a decision is made. Payments are the same as for AA paid four weekly in arrears; alongside any State Pension or into a nominated bank, building society, or Post Office Card account. Every year as much as 5.5bn of benefits are unclaimed by older people How much is it? PIP is paid for both components at two rates standard and enhanced rate. The level at which either component is paid is entirely separate to the other it all depends on your levels of need when assessed. As with AA, it is not related to your income or savings at all, and is not taxable. Also PIP does not count as income for other benefits but it can considerably increase how much you might receive, and is therefore often worth more than just the PIP amount alone. Personal Independence Payment 11

12 Disability Living Allowance Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is for those aged under 65 when they originally claimed; needing help with personal care due to physical or mental health; and/or who have mobility difficulties and problems getting around. It helps to pay for additional care or mobility expenses arising due to a disability or health condition. DLA has now been replaced by PIP for all new claims. You cannot claim both DLA and AA or PIP, at the same time. DLA has two components - for care needs, and mobility. Awards are for either care or mobility, or for both. How is it claimed and paid? Only those people already getting DLA can continue to claim this: Anyone aged 65 or over at 8 April 2013 will continue to get DLA if their award is indefinite Anyone below 65 at this date, or who has a fixed term award, eventually will be reassessed for PIP instead Existing claimants over 65 can still have their DLA award increased if their health and care needs deteriorate they may be entitled to the care component if not getting this already; or to a higher amount. The two higher care component rates will be considered using the same rules as for AA. Changes are not possible to awards of the mobility component. This is all dealt with by the Attendance Allowance Unit. Who to contact to check the possibility of applying for a higher rate, or to seek advice on how your DLA claim may be affected; will depend on your age Anyone born on or before 8 April 1948 should contact the Attendance Allowance Service Centre on Anyone born on or after 9 April 1948 should contact the DLA helpline on

13 Payments are the same as for AA and PIP paid four weekly in arrears into a nominated bank, building society, or Post Office Card account. It can be paid alongside State Pension for those who have reached this age. Up to 20% of disabled people are struggling on a very low income How much is it? DLA care component is paid at one of three rates, with the two higher rates the same as for AA. DLA mobility component can be paid at either a higher or lower rate. As with AA or PIP, it is not related to your income or savings at all, and is not taxable. It also does not count as income for other benefits but it can considerably increase how much you might receive, and is therefore often worth more than just the DLA amount alone. Disability Living Allowance 13

14 Carers Allowance Carers Allowance (CA) is available to anyone aged 16 or over who cares 35 hours a week or more for someone getting a recognised disability benefit AA, DLA middle or high rate care component, or either rate of PIP daily living component. It is not available just for mobility awards. CA is not a means tested benefit, but there are rules and restrictions for you to qualify: You cannot earn more than the maximum per week - this is 110 net in 2015/16 You cannot get this as well as a main benefit which replaces earnings State Retirement Pension, Job Seekers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Universal Credit, or Maternity Allowance If you qualify for CA as well as one of the above benefits, you will be paid whichever is the higher amount One in eight adults are caring for someone. How is it claimed and paid? Contact the Carers Allowance Unit on or textphone for a claim form, or to discuss National Insurance Carer Credits. CA can also be claimed online at www. gov.uk/carers-allowance/ how-to-claim. It will be paid four weekly in arrears into a nominated account, as with other benefits. CA is not related to your savings and is not taxable. Even if you are getting one of the main benefits listed here, you can still apply for CA if your claim Up to 49% of carers may be struggling financially is successful it will not actually be paid to you, but entitlement to CA can increase other benefits in a similar way to claiming a disability benefit. However if you are entitled to CA and it is actually paid to you, this may reduce the amount of income related benefits (such as Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction) received by the person you care for. This can prove complicated and it is always advisable to get further advice before actually making a claim. Our Financial Rights team will be happy to assist. Unpaid care saves the State 119bn every year

15 Universal Credit Universal Credit (UC) is a new working age benefit which is gradually being introduced nationally. It replaces a number of means tested benefits, including Housing Benefit. Because introduction is gradual, not everyone has to claim UC instead yet. It does not apply to anyone over minimum State Pension Credit age. How is it claimed and paid? UC is claimed online at There are no paper forms. You will need details of your income, savings and capital, any disability benefits, and your National Insurance number before you start the claim. It is paid monthly in arrears into a nominated bank account, or Post Office account. This includes any help towards housing costs, and claimants cannot normally have these paid directly to Hanover instead. How much can be paid? As with other means tested benefits, UC compares your income and savings with amounts you need to live on depending on personal circumstances. It can include help towards childcare as well as housing costs whether you rent or own your home. It is assessed on total rent and service charges payable; but not all service charges are eligible. Entitlement can also be affected by whether or not you are working, or if you are expected to be looking for work. Rules are stricter than for existing benefits. Where to find other information... For all benefits information and claim forms; calculators for State Pension age and Pension Credit entitlement; State Pension forecasts. The UK s leading charity working for older people. They offer independent advice on a wide range of matters, including welfare benefits; and have a host of factsheets and guides available. For independent advice on welfare benefits, debt advice and consumer issues. They can signpost to local sources of help. For independent advice and information on all aspects of disability or chronic health problems. Universal Credit 15

16 Useful contacts Pension Service For any enquiries about State Pension or benefits for those nearing and over state pension age. Pension Credit claim line To claim Pension Credit by phone or to request a claim pack. Attendance Allowance Service Centre For general information and advice, request a claim pack, or to discuss on going claims and reviews. For AA and DLA claims for over 65s. Personal Independence Payment claim line To start a PIP claim. Personal Independence Payment enquiries For general PIP enquiries and to discuss on going claims. Disability Living Allowance enquiries For information about existing DLA awards and reviews, for those aged under 65. Carers Allowance Unit For general information and advice, request a claim pack, or to discuss on going claims. Contact us Financial Rights team For confidential benefits advice financial.rights@hanover.org.uk Energy Adviser For help with energy switching energywise@hanover.org.uk or getting the best energy deal Money Wise Home Wise Insurance Wise Energy Wise Do you know your financial rights? Thinking about adapting your home? Looking to save on your home insurance? Looking to save on your energy bills? Know what benefits you can claim Get help applying for extra income Free and confidential advice Be more independent Get help applying for funding Contributions towards home adaptations Are you paying too much? Know what to insure? Looking for a low premium policy with no excess? Find the right energy tariff for you Switch supplier or stay and save Free and confidential advice Money Wise Help and information on welfare rights and benefits Home Wise Information on adapting your home to suit your needs Insurance Wise Make sure you re not paying too much to insure your contents Energy Wise Help and information about saving on bills and switching suppliers 242/042015