income support

[ellebob]

i would like to find out how much savings you were aloud in the bank before you were refused income support in the year 2003 for a person who was aged 70 yrs old that year

[themas]

You can't get Income Support if you are over 60. Are you referring to Pension Credit?

[ellebob]

the same question but for pension credit, please

[allotment10]

hi ellebob, mr allotment10 will be in touch when you get back on line. :-)

[themas]

This is not simple. The first �6K of savings (or �10K if living permanently in a care home) is ignored. Above that, an income of �1 p wk is assumed for every �500 or part of �500 savings. So if total savings were �8.5K income assumed would be �5 p wk. There is no upper limit on savings amount. These are current figures but I think they applied in 2003.

How much you would have to have saved to be denied Pension Credit depends on your other income (any pensions, work income etc,) and on what the guaranteed income applicable to your circumstances is. For a single person from Apl. 04 (I don't have an 03 figure) the normal guaranteed income was �105.45 p wk so if someone's other income was (say) �75.45 p wk they would have to have �30 p wk assumed income from savings to bring them above the guaranteed income. This gives a savings figure of �15K, plus the �6K ignored = �21K. This is only an example - various factors such as being one of a couple or being disabled affect the result, as do variations in other income.
The above all relates to guaranteed pension credit. There is also a savings credit which some people who are not entitled to the guaranteed credit can get but it is too complex to work out a theoretical example.

[allotment10]

thank you themas, ellebob has unfortunately got problems with her computer at the moment, so have printed out your reply & will pass on all your help & advice to her, (hopefully won't be long before she rejoins us!) & then she can thank you herself.