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Ask an Expert - Older People - September 2011

Heating and energy efficiency

• Where can I find help with the cost of getting the water tank and hot water pipes lagged please? (Brenda)

• With a joint income of £1300 per month, is there any benefits that would be available to us. In particular with regard to heating installation? (David)

Karen Holmes: We have had several questions asking us about assistance with the costs of heating and energy efficiency measures.

The Government, energy suppliers and your local council (link opens in a new window) are the three main sources providing grants to help you implement energy saving measures in your home, such as grants for: boilers, heating, loft insulation and cavity wall insulation. The Energy Saving Trust (link opens in a new window) has a database which has details of these energy savings grants, offers and discounts along with other information about energy efficiency.

Schemes that may be able to help include the Warm Front Scheme (England), Nest Programme (Wales), Energy Assistance Package (Scotland) and Warm Homes Scheme (Northern Ireland). The rules on who may be eligible may vary between countries, but to qualify, you usually have to be claiming certain income-related benefits, such as Pension Credit, and living in a property that is poorly insulated and/or does not have a working central heating system. You must own your home or rent it from a private landlord. See our page on Grants to help with energy efficiency for more information about what is available and how to claim.

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Winter Fuel Payments and living abroad

• I am an English citizen, born in 1932, and came to live permanently in Spain in 1996, and have asked the appropriate Ministry in UK, if there is any possibility of receiving the Winter Fuel allowance, but their reply to me was that I am not qualified!! Is this true?? I can confirm that it gets very cold here in the winter months, and because of the hollow structure of the house - bricks, it is both expensive and uneconomical to run my air conditioning. Is there any help available? (John)

Independent Age Casework Team: It is possible to claim Winter Fuel Payment whilst living abroad, but restrictions do apply. You need to have qualified for it whilst you lived in the UK and it is only available if you move to an European Economic Area (EEA) country (or Switzerland). However, you cannot receive it if you left the UK prior to the time Winter Fuel Payments were introduced on 5 January 1998. This is why I believe you have been turned down.

As far as we are aware, there isn’t a Spanish equivalent of the Winter Fuel Payment but the Spanish Government are looking at energy efficiency measures. The Public Information Service on Energy Efficiency may be able to give you some advice on energy saving in the home. You can contact them on (+34) 91 456 49 00.

You should still be able to claim your State Retirement Pension whilst living in an EEA country. If you need further information on this, the International Pension Centre (+44 191 218 7777) deal with enquiries regarding the payment of State Retirement Pension, bereavement benefits, and other benefits for those living abroad.

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Pension age changes

• I am sixty in 2013. I have been told that I will not get my state pension until 6th March 2017 d.o.b. 10.09.53 I  have a disability. I worked all my life apart from when I stopped to have children. I would like to retire at 60. Women have not had enough time to plan for this. My private pension is not enough to live on. And Pension Credit is also going to change in line with state pension. Please let me know what am I going to live on. The state have stolen three years and three months of pension from me. I started worked at sixteen in 1969. (Christine)

Independent Age Casework Team: You are correct in that the date of your entitlement to the 'guarantee component' of Pension Credit will coincide with the date on which you are entitled to State Retirement Pension (06/03/17), owing to an increase in the applicable age for eligibility to each. Whilst you may be able to claim Pension Credit four months prior to this date, you wouldn’t be able to do so any earlier than this.

It is worth bearing in mind that you will only be paid the guarantee component of Pension Credit if your income falls below the minimum weekly guarantee amount. Given that you have made regular national insurance (NI) contributions which go towards a State Pension and have a private pension, the amount that you are paid at the date of eligibility by these could surpass the minimum guarantee, meaning that no Pension Credit is payable when you reach the qualifying age. You can apply for your State Pension forecast by calling 0845 3000 168.

When you reach 65, what you may be entitled to though is the second component of Pension Credit, savings credit, which rewards those who have made provision for a pension in the way that you have.

What you will find, when you do reach pensionable age, is that while your weekly income will likely decrease, you will be entitled to other benefits that you weren’t previously entitled to because your income is now low enough to make you eligible. For example, it is likely that you will be eligible for Housing Benefit (HB England, Scotland, Wales) (HB Northern Ireland) and Council Tax Benefit (only available in England, Scotland and Wales). In many cases those of pensionable age receive such benefits to the full extent of their obligations for rent and council tax meaning that this isn’t something that you will need to pay from your weekly pension.

Another thing to consider is that your disability could be a relevant factor in considering which benefits you might be eligible for, both now and in the future. You may for example be eligible for Disability Living Allowance now; this is a non-means-tested benefit payable weekly at various rates dependent on the award made following a claim, it looks at your ability to carry out every-day tasks. This can in turn affect your entitlement to other benefits – for example, it can sometimes separately result in an increase in the amount of Pension Credit payable (once you are of pensionable age). If your disability prevents you from working at any point before pensionable age, you could be entitled to Employment and Support Allowance.

For any other financial help from occupational, health or other charities, have a look at the Turn2us Grants Search database.

Finally, your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau or Age UK can help you to complete benefits forms and carry out a benefits check to see if you are entitled to anything else. Use the Turn2us Find an Adviser tool to find a branch local to you.

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Benefits in addition to pensions

• Both of us have finished work now at the age of 70. What benefits would we be entitled to? No savings, state pension, I have two small pensions, the wife one school pension. (Michael)

Karen Holmes: The benefits you are entitled to will depend largely on how much income you have coming in from the pensions you mention. You may be entitled to some Pension Credit, the guarantee element of this benefit can top up a couple's income to a standard minimum guarantee of £209.70 per week. If your income is already above that amount, you may be entitled to the savings element of Pension Credit instead which rewards people who have made provisions for their retirement through savings or pensions, like it seems you have. If you input your details into our Benefit Checker, it will do the calculations for you and let you know if you are entitled to Pension Credit or any other means-tested benefits.

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Pension Credit and savings

• I need to know what the maximum savings is before Pension Credit is given to an individual. Thanks. (Dennis)

Independent Age Casework Team: Pension Credit does not have a maximum savings limit, however the amount you receive will depend on the amount of savings that you have.

Any savings you have under £10,000 are ignored.

If you have more than £10,000 you may well still be eligible for Pension Credit but they will presume that you will receive £1 income from every additional £500, even if this is unlikely in the current economic climate.

For example, if you have £12,000 in savings they will presume you have £4 of income a week and add that to any other income you have when they calculate your entitlement to Pension Credit.

So, if you are over 65 and have no income at all, you could actually have £96,000 savings (£139,000 for a couple) and still be entitled to some pension credit. Or, if you have basic pension £95.25 you could have £48,500 savings and it would not rule out the possibility of pension credit.

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Disability benefits for older people

• My next door neighbours are husband and wife aged 84 and 79 on pension and pension credit as they are having problems with day-to-day health. Are they entitled to any other benefits? (Mary)

Karen Holmes: If your neighbours have health problems, they may be entitled to Attendance Allowance. It will depend upon what care needs they have as a result of their health problems. As with all disability benefits, it is best to speak with a specialist who can go through the entitlement conditions with your neighbours and help them to complete the claim form if they qualify. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find a local adviser.

If one or both of your neighbours do qualify for Attendance Allowance, then they could also be entitled to an additional 'severe disability' amount as part of their Pension Credit of up to £110.60 per week if they don't have someone receiving Carer's Allowance to look after them.

Independent Age Casework Team: We recommend that they get in touch with the Adult Social Care team at their local council (link opens in a new window) and request a community care assessment (this is also known as a needs assessment in some areas). Councils have a duty to help those people that meet their criteria for help and this couple may be eligible for carers and/or equipment to improve their day-to-day life. If the couple are eligible for help, they may be offered direct payments rather than have carers supplied. These payments allow people to manage their own care and needs and to employ the people they want to help them at home. Direct payments are independent of all other benefits and will not be considered as income when benefits are calculated.

To see if they are entitled to additional benefits, such as Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance (or the Underlying Entitlement to Carer’s Allowance); they should get in contact with their local Citizens Advice Bureau or Age UK for a full benefits check and help to apply. These branches should also be able to put them in touch with local services that could help them at home. You can use the Turn2us Find an Adviser tool to find a local adviser.

If either or both of the couple have mobility problems, they may wish to apply for a Blue Badge to enable them to use disabled parking facilities when out and about. The Blue Badge can only have one 'named holder', so if both have mobility problems, they will both need one in order to travel separately. The Blue Badge can be used in friends' and family member’s cars if it is being used by the badge holder at the time.

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Carer's Allowance for older carers

• My mother who is 75, has been my Uncles full-time carer for the last 5years.
  He suffers from C.O.P.D, and Prostate Cancer, and is unable to walk more than 200yards.
  He receives a disability allowance, but the question I want to ask is, is my mother entitled to a Carer's Allowance. (Lindsey)

Karen Holmes: We were asked a similar question during our Ask an Expert session for Carers in June. You may want to take a look at this page to see if any of the other information would be of use for your mother in her role as a carer.

It seems that if your mother is caring for your uncle for 35 hours or more per week, and he is getting Disability Living Allowance (though this must be at the middle or higher care rate), then she would be eligible for Carer’s Allowance. However, this benefit falls within what are known as “overlapping benefit” rules. This means that even though your mother might be eligible for the benefit, she won't receive a payment of Carer’s Allowance if she already receives certain other benefits, one of which is the State Pension, at a rate which is the same amount or higher than Carer's Allowance.

For some people, it can still be worth claiming Carer's Allowance, even if they won't receive a payment, as it can lead to 'premiums' or additional amounts being added to other benefits, such as Pension Credit. However, if your mother claimed Carer's Allowance, it could affect the benefits that your uncle receives. Because of this you should seek specialist advice before making any decisions. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find a local adviser.

Depending on the amount of your mother's income and capital, there are a number of other benefits that she may be entitled to. You can use the Turn2us Benefit Checker to see if she is in receipt of all the relevant benefits for her circumstances.

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Paying for care

Treatment of assets

• What counts as assets when working out if you have to fund your own care? And how much can I have?

Philip Spiers: Normally all capital will count as assets in the means test for care, including bank account balances, savings, investments and property. As regards the value of your home, this is taken into account if you move into a care home unless it continues to be occupied by your partner; a relative who is aged over 60 years or is incapacitated; or a lone parent whom you have to maintain. At the discretion of the council, it can also be disregarded if occupied by someone who gave up their previous residence to be your carer. The capital threshold at which you would be regarded as having to fully fund your care is £23,250.

Jointly owned property

• I bought a house with my sister 30 years ago. We are both in our 80s now and my sister might have to go into a home because I’m struggling to do everything for her now like I have been doing. It would be a big change for me to live on my own but I’d like to stay in our house. Will I be allowed to or does it have to be sold because my sister has no other way to pay for going into a home?

Philip Spiers: No you definitely do not have to sell your home. Because you are related to your sister and aged over 60 years, the value of her share of the property is completely ignored as long as you continue to occupy it. If you were to sell it and move elsewhere, her share of the proceeds could be taken into account at that time.

Top-up fees

• I’m paying a top-up for my mother’s care home fees but am at risk of being made redundant. I’m worried I won’t be able to cover it if this happens and I’m unemployed. What would happen?

Philip Spiers: Unless the care home reduced its fees to the amount the local authority pays, you would have to find a top-up from elsewhere, perhaps a benevolent fund for example. Failing that it may mean your mother having to move to less expensive accommodation that will accept the local authority rate. But before going down this route insist on your mother's needs being reassessed by the local authority and them taking into account her emotional needs in that assessment, which could include remaining in the care home she has become accustomed to. The local authority does have the discretion to pay more for care home places in certain circumstances, although at these times of cut backs that is unlikely

Karen Holmes: If you would like to search for benevolent funds which may be able to assist towards the care home fees, you could use the Turn2us Grants Search tool which helps you search over 3000 different charitable funds.

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Further help

• Energy Saving Trust (link opens in a new window)

• Directgov information on Britons living aborad (link opens in a new window)

• Directgov information on Pensions and retirement planning (link opens in a new window)

• The FirstStop Guide to Choosing and Paying for a Care Home (link opens in a new window)

• Turn2us Useful Links: Older People, Carers, Care Homes and Water and Energy

• Turn2us Information and Resources: Benefits for People aged 60+

• Don't forget that for UK Older People's Day there will be a wide range of local events for people to go along to, on or around the 1 October. Go to the Directgov website (link opens in a new window) to find out what is happening near you.

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Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed are those of the expert only. The answers and associated material are for general information only and do not constitute financial, legal or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information as an alternative to financial, legal or professional advice from a qualified professional for your own particular situation. The answers are given in response to specific questions submitted by other users. You should not rely on this information alone to make (or refrain from making) any decisions.

Whilst effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information, Turn2us does not accept any liability for this information. It is the responsibility of users to check the accuracy of relevant facts and opinions given as part of any answer before entering into any commitment based upon the information given.

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Date of publication:23 September 2011