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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Work capability issues and ESA  →  Thread

ESA cont ( support group)  and private pension lump sum

Prisca
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benefits section (training & accuracy) Bristol city council

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Joined: 20 August 2015

Hello,
Customer’s partner was pension age and they got PCGC - she had died and we are looking at his siole claim now. he isnt pension age and is getting esa cont and is inthe support group.  Searchlight shows an “additional income subtraction of £ 145.40 per week!!  (this is why he isnt getting ESA IR. CIS notes show he had a lump sum payment from a private pension in July 2016 of approx £6000. His bank statements dont show any other regular income apart from his ESA. Im flummoxed as to how this £145 a week has been calculated. I know regular pensions payments can reduce ESA, but i though t it was half the pension amount, over a certain level. 
the deduction of 145 a week would indicate A massive personal pension?
Can anyone help with how lump sum payments from pensions are treated fro ESA cont calculations? he would get ESA IR without this deduction.
Thanks - prisca

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Information and advice resources - Age UK

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One off lump sum payments are disregarded for c-ESA, see p.652 of CPAG.

Further, even if the £6,000 had been taken into account as a weekly amount, that only covers 41 weeks approximately so that can’t account for £145 a week deduction.

Ask DWP what this money is that they’re saying your client has I reckon.

Gareth Morgan
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CEO, Ferret, Cardiff

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Did she have any untaken pension savings that were generating a notional pension income?  Could this just have carried on i error?  It seems unlikely as the savings would probably have been an asset of the estate, but such things have happened.

Chrissum
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WRAMAS, Bristol City Council

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Might be worth exploring whether they have done the age old trick of treating monthly figures as weekly or in some cases annual figures. On the basis of the figures you have provided, his occupational pension would have to be £145 x 2 = £290 + £85 = £375 per week. Not improbable but take a look at his bank statements to see what the figure is and how often it is paid.