Pension Credit is not taxable and has two parts, there may be entitlement to one or both parts;

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1 Introduced in 2003 it is a means tested benefit for people over the qualifying age which is in line with the women s State retirement age, entitlement varies depending on your circumstances, for example if you are disabled or a carer, single or a couple. is not taxable and has two parts, there may be entitlement to one or both parts; Guarantee Credit is a low income top up which ensures a guaranteed level of income. Savings Credit is for someone over 65 years, this element is a reward for having made some provision above State Pension which may be some savings or another pension. For couples only one partner has to be over 65 years old. Entitlement varies depending on your circumstances, for example if you are single or part of a couple, disabled, caring, or have interest mortgage payments these may be eligible housing costs. Applicable Amounts Per week Single Couple Guarantee Credit can also passport to other benefits such as Housing Benefit which helps with rent and Council Tax (when Universal Credit is rolled out these will be taken into a modified pension credit) health benefits and help from Local emergency support funds (social fund) or Disabled facility grants.

2 Income Most regular income is counted apart from some benefits which are wholly disregarded the main ones being; Housing Benefit, Council Tax benefit or reductions, Attendance Allowance (AA), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment. Some benefits have a 10 disregard others have a higher 20 disregard if you or your partner receives a disability benefit or if registered blind Savings Up to 10,000 is not taken into account but anything over that will be given an assumed or tariff income of 1 for every 500 or part of. Example Amount of savings = 11,000 Amount over 10,000 = 1000 Number of 500 (or part) in 1000 = 2 An assumed income of 2 is added to the weekly income Guarantee Credit The applicable amount is the amount of money per week you need to live on and will depend on your circumstances Example Guarantee Credit Gillian is 70 years old, she is single and owns her own home. Her State Pension is a week, she has no other income but has savings of Her savings are not taken into account because they are below 10,000. The applicable amount for a single person is Gillian does not have that (her income is ) and will get Guarantee Credit of a week to top up her total weekly income up to the applicable amount of for a single person with no disability, caring responsibility or housing costs.

3 Premiums There are additional amounts for people with a disability and for those caring for them, these are called Severe Disability Premiums (SDP) and Carer Premiums (CP). Premiums Severe Disability Premium Carers Premium Severe Disability Premium (SDP) A severe disability premium can be added to calculation if a claimant receives a qualifying benefit such as; Attendance Allowance, DLA Care component; middle or higher rate, PIP daily living component; standard or enhanced rate and no one is receiving carers allowance for looking after them. A single SDP will apply for someone living alone, if a couple are both in receipt of qualifying benefits they will both qualify meaning two SDP s apply BUT if only one partner is disabled the other is not considered dependent and NO SDP will apply. Carers Premium (CP) The Carers Premium can only be added if a carer is looking after someone in receipt of a qualifying disability benefit and they are entitled to carer s allowance. Even if you qualify for carers allowance there are times when you won t receive it, because of overlapping benefit rules. For example if a State Retirement Pension is being paid and it is worth more than Carers Allowance the higher benefit will continue and an underlying entitlement is awarded which can lead to a carers premium for Pension Credit. Housing Costs

4 Housing Costs may include some housing costs for those with an interest mortgage. At the moment Housing Benefit may help with rent and is administered by the District Council but because of the introduction of Universal Credit for younger people will be amended to include help with eligible rent and dependent children. Claimants over the qualifying age for will get help with eligible rent through a new element of called Housing Credit, rather than claim Housing Benefit. New customers over qualifying age will have to claim Pension Credit to access help with eligible rent from October 2014 Existing Housing Benefit customers over qualifying age (with or without ) will be transferred to modified, including Housing Credit, between October 2014 and October 2017 New claims to Housing Benefit from people over qualifying age received up to October 2014 will be dealt with as now. Savings Credit Savings Credit is a reward for those who have made some provision for their retirement, maybe a private pension or modest savings. There is a maximum amount that you can receive and you will have to meet certain criteria; You or your partner must be 65 years old You must have a minimum income (thresholds) You must be living in the UK For every 1 of qualifying income over the Savings Credit threshold (starting point) you get 60p of savings credit (another calculation applies if this amount exceeds the maximum).

5 Calculating Savings Credit If your income is less than or equal to the savings credit threshold, you won t qualify for this part of the benefit. Thresholds (starting point/minimum income) Single Couple Maximum Single Couple Assessed Income Periods was introduced in October The intention of AIPs was to make means-testing less intrusive for pensioners, by not requiring them to report changes of circumstance to the Pension Service on a regular basis. It was justified at the time by the fact that pensioners circumstances tended to change less often than those of working age people but this has not proven the case and the Pension Act 2014 abolishes AIPs from April 2016 Awards to people aged over 65 may (at the moment) include an assessed income period (AIP) of up to five years, during which some changes in circumstances do not have to be reported. People aged 75 will often be given an indefinite AIP, and those whose AIP runs out after they reach 80 will not normally need to be reassessed. The AIP ends early in certain circumstances, for example, if the claimant starts or stops being a member of a couple, goes into a care home permanently or is no longer entitled to. In addition a request for a reassessment of the claim can be made if income or savings reassessment

6 PC Claim line Tel; Pension Service; Pension Age calculator calculator