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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Benefits for older people  →  Thread

Pension credit - is this likely to be counted as a voluntary payment?

JAS1
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Advice Worker, Gaddum Centre

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Hello,

The charity I work for runs workshops for carers. We can sometimes pay the carers who attend money so they can then in turn pay someone else to look after the person they usually care for while they are away, allowing them to attend.

I’ve been asked if this money would affect someone’s pension credit. Is this likely to be classed as a voluntary/charity payment and thus disregarded? I can’t see what else it would fall under, it’s not earnings surely as there is no employment and if it isn’t listed as a type of income that is counted can we assume it is ignored?

Bonus if any one knows if this will also count the same (i.e. a charity payment) for UC

Cheers

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Information and advice resources - Age UK

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I would hope this would be fine for both PC and UC. See CPAG p.128 and p.481.

JAS1
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Cheers Paul!

Just wanted to check as I guess technically there are two transactions, us paying the carer and then the carer paying another person. I wondered if it would be seen as a transactional relationship (i.e. giving money and receiving a service) rather than a voluntary payment and so be treated differently. Also these payments could potentially be for a few weeks in a row at times rather than just one off.

Doesn’t seem to fit any of their listed types of income though so sounds like it would be ok.

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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JAS1 - 15 January 2020 01:57 PM

Cheers Paul!

Just wanted to check as I guess technically there are two transactions, us paying the carer and then the carer paying another person. I wondered if it would be seen as a transactional relationship (i.e. giving money and receiving a service) rather than a voluntary payment and so be treated differently. Also these payments could potentially be for a few weeks in a row at times rather than just one off.

Doesn’t seem to fit any of their listed types of income though so sounds like it would be ok.

Ah yes, I see your point. In essence, there is no obligation on the person receiving the first voluntary payment to pass it over, so in doing so, that should also count as a voluntarily made payment I would have thought. As you note with PC, it’s only the prescribed income that can be taken into account so that should be fine.

Jon (CANY)
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Welfare benefits - Craven CAB, North Yorkshire

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If there actually is an obligation, i.e. the money is expressly advanced for that specific purpose and you would expect it to be returned if wasn’t spent on it, then I guess you could explore whether there is a resulting trust (see the various threads here on Quistclose trusts). Hopefully that sort of thing shouldn’t be necessary though, UC is like PC (and unlike working age legacy benefits), in that anything that isn’t prescribed as income can be ignored (UC reg 66).

JAS1
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Thanks both :)