I have just seen a client who had a recent visit from the Pension Service to see if she qualified for Pension Credit.
They took her income details and calculated that she would get savings credit. She asked them if she would have to pay anything towards her Council Tax Benefit because she was getting maximum council tax benefit. They couldn't tell her.
However according to our calculations on the QBC, she would have to pay a small amount of Council Tax.

It gets worse.

Her husband gets low rate Attendance Allowance so she will have an underlying entitlement to Carers Allowance.

That means she will get guarenteed Pension Credit of almost double the amount of the Savings Credit and maximum Council Tax Benefit.

The most Savings Credit they would lose to Council Tax would surely only be 20%, so 80% would be kept.

They will only have underlying Carers Allowance and the Carer Premium if she claims Carers and backdates it three months?

Bill McC

Forgot to say?

Any backdated Savings Credit will be paid in a lump sum and not effect any Council Tax already awarded previously.

So a good result all round!

In our area this would of been picked up by the visiting officer.

So far we cannot fault our local visiting team, just a shame their department has had so many cut backs really.

I feel you need to contact Pension Service, sounds like this VO could do with more training!

I did contact the Pension Service on the same day I saw the client and spoke to the VO concerned. He agreed that he had got it wrong.

So now I've just found out he went back the same day with Pension Credit and Carers Allowance claim forms and was very helpful assisting the client to complete them.

Now I'm waitng to see if they can get all the backdate details correct.

One of many reason for Billion of £'s in unclaimed Benfits each year.

It keeps the likes of us in work.