ESA or Pension Credit?

I am trying to work out if a client would be better off claiming PC or remaining on ESA but getting myself confused on what can be included in the means tested amount for ESA.

Client = pension age
Partner = working age
Client currently receiving main phase (cont) ESA @ £106.50 per week in support group
= £71.70 + £34.80

Couple now looking to claim together but are they better off on ESA or PC?

Initial calculation we awarded
£112.55 (prescribed amt for couple)
£74.70 (pensioner premium - support group comp for couple)
£21.75 (EP as in Supp grp)
= ESA £209.00

Compared this to PC which for a couple - £222.05

but then used a benefit calculator to do a check and the calculator awarded
£112.55 (prescribed amt for couple)
£74.70 (pensioner premium - support group comp for couple)
£34.80 (support group comp)
£21.75 (EP as in Supp grp)
= ESA £243.80

So does a couple, where one is a pensioner, get both the pensioner premium support group component AND the support group component?

Have we found the answer?

The pensioner premium (£74.70) is reduced by the amount of the support group comp(£34.80) taking it down to £39.90 and giving a total applicable amount of £209 - making pension credit the benefit to claim.

Would welcome others comments.

For ESA(IR) the rate of PP varies so that PP plus the component(if any) add up to £109.50(couple) or 73.70(single).

So I think the comparison should be

PC Minimum Guarantee : £222.05

ESA(IR) App Amount   : £222.05 = £112.55(Couple) +£74.70 (Pensioner Premium)+£34.80 (Support Comp)

(If there’s a PP then there’s no EDP - schedule 4 para 3 ESA regs)

Thanks Jon.

We did get to the same award for ESA and PC eventually but we were still then adding the EDP so getting the higher amount for ESA - which seemed wrong. We completely missed that PP and EDP not awarded together.

As an aside even though the applicable amounts are the same, there are often other advantages to to being on Pension Credit - e.g. reg 5(2) of the HB (persons who have reached qualifying age for state pension credit) regs 2006 excludes claimants who have reached qualifyng age but who are (or who have a partner) in receipt of IS, IR ESA, or IR JSA from this version of the regs. As such if they happen to be under occupying in social housing they are not exempt from underoccupancy penalties.

Similarly the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) 2012 define a ‘pensioner’ (and thus in general entitled to benefit as the same level as old Council tax Benefit) in reg 3(a) in similar terms. So they are pension age, but if on IR ESA will not be a ‘pensioner’ for the purposes of Council Tax rebate schemes

A mixed-age couple claiming a working-age benefit will fall under the working-age HB regs but I think they’d still be exempt from the bedroom tax ( HB Reg A13(2)(d) ).

Thanks Jon, I’d missed that exclusion in the regs (we haven’t actually had this as an issue). The council tax reduction scheme can be an issue I think (we’ve had this a couple of times early on this year which initially caused a bit of head scratching and resolved by getting the claimant in question onto Pension Credit rather than income related ESA).