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UC and as yet unclaimed occupational pension
- YM
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6 months 3 weeks ago #290550 by YM
UC and as yet unclaimed occupational pension was created by YM
After checking the UC legislation, I asked the following question about clarification of UC regulations re an occupational pension to UC on 18/01/2024:
"I am not yet at state pension age (5 years away), but I have been notified by a former employment defined benefits pension scheme that this year is my normal retirement date for their pension (the state pension age for women was different when I left this company back in 1998.) I have been sent a pack with options to either take a pension/lump sum, transfer the pension or defer it. My query is whether, because I am under state pension age, I can safely defer the pension until my state pension retirement age without it affecting my UC, or, if I did defer it, would UC consider it to be unearned notional income and therefore deprivation of income, and deduct an amount for the pension even though I wasn't in receipt of it."
The UC case manager was unable to answer the question and referred it to the Tech Team. I finally received a response to my query on 18/04/2024 (after chasing it up in Feb.):
"I have just received the response from the technical team they are advising this would be considered against UC entitlement as notional income but a decision would be need to be completed by a Decision maker. Regards U.C."
Is it just me, or is this a very vague answer? They still haven't answered my query as to whether I have to take this occupational pension or not - or is that why it would have to be referred to a decision maker for someone to arbitrarily decide?
I previously put the same query to CAB and got 2 completely opposing answers - 1 that it would be deducted from UC regardless of whether I took the pension or not, but the 'proof' they sent for this decision referred to if I was of state pension age. The next advisor told me that I didn't have to access the pension because I'm not of state pension age.
I'm so confused, and the longer I don't access this new pension if I have to, the more overpayment I'll owe to UC and potentially ESA, council tax reduction and water rates reduction! To make matters even more stressful I'm 5 months into awaiting the outcome of my PIP review (and yes, I referred to B&W guidance in completing the review.)
If anyone can shed any light on this and refer me to the relevant legislation/guidance I'd be eternally grateful! I don't even know whether to respond to the UC's 'answer' or not, or if I'm just digging a bigger and bigger hole for myself!
"I am not yet at state pension age (5 years away), but I have been notified by a former employment defined benefits pension scheme that this year is my normal retirement date for their pension (the state pension age for women was different when I left this company back in 1998.) I have been sent a pack with options to either take a pension/lump sum, transfer the pension or defer it. My query is whether, because I am under state pension age, I can safely defer the pension until my state pension retirement age without it affecting my UC, or, if I did defer it, would UC consider it to be unearned notional income and therefore deprivation of income, and deduct an amount for the pension even though I wasn't in receipt of it."
The UC case manager was unable to answer the question and referred it to the Tech Team. I finally received a response to my query on 18/04/2024 (after chasing it up in Feb.):
"I have just received the response from the technical team they are advising this would be considered against UC entitlement as notional income but a decision would be need to be completed by a Decision maker. Regards U.C."
Is it just me, or is this a very vague answer? They still haven't answered my query as to whether I have to take this occupational pension or not - or is that why it would have to be referred to a decision maker for someone to arbitrarily decide?
I previously put the same query to CAB and got 2 completely opposing answers - 1 that it would be deducted from UC regardless of whether I took the pension or not, but the 'proof' they sent for this decision referred to if I was of state pension age. The next advisor told me that I didn't have to access the pension because I'm not of state pension age.
I'm so confused, and the longer I don't access this new pension if I have to, the more overpayment I'll owe to UC and potentially ESA, council tax reduction and water rates reduction! To make matters even more stressful I'm 5 months into awaiting the outcome of my PIP review (and yes, I referred to B&W guidance in completing the review.)
If anyone can shed any light on this and refer me to the relevant legislation/guidance I'd be eternally grateful! I don't even know whether to respond to the UC's 'answer' or not, or if I'm just digging a bigger and bigger hole for myself!
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- Gary
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6 months 3 weeks ago #290577 by Gary
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gary on topic UC and as yet unclaimed occupational pension
Hi YM
Welcome to the forum.
You might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is; www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/faq/forum.
Your question is outside the remit of the forum.
I am no pension expert, if I were to have a guess I would agree with the second advice you received from Citizen Advice as you are below state pension age.
Citizen Advice do have access to a specialist support team who will be able to answer your question. It would be worth talking to CA in person and asking the adviser to seek confirmation from the specialist support unit.
Alternatively seek advice from a welfare rights specialist unit, depending on where you live, Wolverhampton have a very good one, so does Derbyshire and Newcastle, there are others but these three spring to my mind.
Gary
Welcome to the forum.
You might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is; www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/faq/forum.
Your question is outside the remit of the forum.
I am no pension expert, if I were to have a guess I would agree with the second advice you received from Citizen Advice as you are below state pension age.
Citizen Advice do have access to a specialist support team who will be able to answer your question. It would be worth talking to CA in person and asking the adviser to seek confirmation from the specialist support unit.
Alternatively seek advice from a welfare rights specialist unit, depending on where you live, Wolverhampton have a very good one, so does Derbyshire and Newcastle, there are others but these three spring to my mind.
Gary
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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- David
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6 months 3 weeks ago #290628 by David
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by David on topic UC and as yet unclaimed occupational pension
"My query is whether, because I am under state pension age, I can safely defer the pension until my state pension retirement age without it affecting my UC?"
The answer is yes .
DWP rule is ....Any occupational or personal pension fund which the
claimant has ( Is to be Disregarded )
Important Note – the disregard only applies to the
value of pension fund that the claimant and/or his
employer has paid into, this protects investments for
retirement. It does not apply to money drawn out of
the pension fund. Any income payments from a
pension fund or annuity payments will be taken into
account as unearned income and any lump sum
draw-downs from a pension fund will be taken into
account as capital in the Universal Credit assessment
If the person has reached the qualifying age for State
Pension Credit and not purchased an annuity with
their occupational or personal pension, a notional
income will be taken into account when calculating
their Universal Credit.
Quote from this link-
data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files...disregards_V22-0.pdf
There are further examples in ADM H5 - Unearned Income
The answer is yes .
DWP rule is ....Any occupational or personal pension fund which the
claimant has ( Is to be Disregarded )
Important Note – the disregard only applies to the
value of pension fund that the claimant and/or his
employer has paid into, this protects investments for
retirement. It does not apply to money drawn out of
the pension fund. Any income payments from a
pension fund or annuity payments will be taken into
account as unearned income and any lump sum
draw-downs from a pension fund will be taken into
account as capital in the Universal Credit assessment
If the person has reached the qualifying age for State
Pension Credit and not purchased an annuity with
their occupational or personal pension, a notional
income will be taken into account when calculating
their Universal Credit.
Quote from this link-
data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files...disregards_V22-0.pdf
There are further examples in ADM H5 - Unearned Income
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary
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