Our pension increase is small change for MEPs

“Any man or woman born BEFORE 6th July 1951 is eligible by age to make a claim for Pension Credit now.”

“It seems the PC rules might have changed since my pal began getting PC when he was 60 years old four years ago.
Like I said, he was aged 59 and on JSA of about £60 pw, and got a letter from the Jobcentre asking if he'd like to sign off JSA and go onto PC when he reached 60.
He said yes, and began getting £138 pw PC, about twice as much as JSA..:)
He's 64 now and has been regularly getting PC for the past four years and it's since crept up to £147 pw.
At the same time he's also been getting full Housing Ben and Council Tax allowance, and free prescriptions and stuff. He's a single man with no savings.”

“If you are a woman you must be of state pension age to claim Pension Credit

If you are a man you can claim Pension Credit when you reach the state pension age of a woman with the same date of birth as you.

Men should therefore check for the state pension age of a woman to find out the date they become eligible for Pension Credit.”

“Just to say that I actioned the Dir Gov Pension Credit Calculator and inserted a fictitious date of birth of 28th October 1951..i.e I would now be 61 years of age. I was immediately told I was not eligible as I had not attained the minimum qualifying age to be eligible.
I suspect that like the actual age at which one becomes eligible for the State Retirement Pension this is now a moveable feast and, in truth, those that think that may be entitled to claim are best advised to complete the calculator and then seek the advise of the Pensions Dept.”

“Pension Credit for both sexes is now linked to the pension age of women which is gradually increasing. It tops up income to £142.70 per week for a single person and £217.90 for a couple. Extra can be paid to those who have made some provision towards their retirement. Apply by phone on 0800 99 1234.”

“rob the web site is gov .com link to pension credit ,i know what i say is correct as i recieve pension credits next year i will get the state pension and will not get pension credit as my mod pension plus the state pension will take me over the limet, but i will still have free perscriptons winter fuel payment and bus pass”

“Jackplane - thank you for that information but can you please specify a website link which confirms your statement? Both myself and others have checked the current eligibility rules for Pension Credit and they are, as you will appreciate, at variance with your comment.”

“do you all understand now when you r 60 you can claim pension credit , when you reach state pension age if your state pension is not the ammount the goverment say you need to live on you can claim pension credit to top up your state pension,at the moment its 142 pounds a week,if you r on pc you also get free dental treatment ,council tax and housing benifit,plus help with glasses. free perscriptions everyone gets at sixty weather thay r on pc or working ,same as a bus pass again everyone over 60 gets one weather you r on pc or working ,you only get free tv lience when you reach 75 ,and also everyone over 60 gets the winter fuel payment weather working or on pc simple”

“Sorry but something went adrift and I was not advised of quite a number of "New comments". Seems as if confusion reigns supreme..which for the DWP is normal!.

I have just looked again at the eligibility for Pension Credits on the government website and, as i said previously it is payable when the claimant or his spouse reached pensionable age which is currently 65 for a man.

The reason for re-posting is that the government website was last updated on 27th October 2012.
I suspect therefore, that those who are currently in receipt of Pension Credit but who do not satisfy the above eligibility condition qualified under a previous ruling. It would be interesting to see a posting from an unemployed man who has just turned 60 if he is on still JSA or CP and whether or not the offer to switch has been made.”

“..Prot said- 'So I guess we all agree on one thing, any info from the DWP is designed to frustrate and confuse. They are experts when it comes to cheating and lying, lets face it they have had years of practice'..

For the record, it took TEN WEEKS for the DWP to process my pals Pension Credit, and during the wait he had to take out Crisis Loans through the jobcentre because he'd signed off JSA and was therefore getting no income throughout the 10 weeks.
He asked his MP Linda Gilroy to sort it out and she played a blinder and soon got it sorted, it appeared the DWP had "lost" his original application.
The DWP manageress was full of apologies and gave him £25 compensation.
That was all 4 years ago, let's hope the DWP have got their act together a bit better by now.”