when to apply for pension credit

My hubby turned 60 in November 2010, I am only 55
Today we received a letter from Jobcentreplus about our income support.

The letter states that hubby is "approaching the age where you are no longer entitled to Income Support and therefore should apply for Pension Credit etc..."
We currently receive more than the £202 couple rate for pension credit.

We both receive DLA at HRM and MRC.
I believe hubby is not entitled to claim his pension until he reaches 65 which is 2015.
We also have the option to change the IS claim to my name, seeing as I am only 55.

So do we apply for pension credit? Or do we ignore the letter? We did ring JCP and they advised to claim PC

Unfortunately, pension credit isn't one of the benefits that we advise on here.

When you get IS or PC, there are various premiums you can get which affect the overall amount. I would strongly advise you to see a welfare adviser face-to-face for a better-off calculation.

I would recommend that you don't simply go by what you have been told by the jobcentre on the phone as they may not have all the facts and may not have been able to do a full calculation for you.

Four years ago my husband turned 60, we received a letter from Income Support saying,you are no longer entitled to IS, you may be entitled to Pension Credit.

So they stopped the IS and said no to the PC, but that was then, you may be luckier, I do hope so.

Thanks for the replies, looks like I will have to make an appointment with Welfare Rights Officer.

Just an update, I phoned Welfare Rights office and was advised to claim Pension Credit.
Apparently hubby is entitled to claim PC from May 2011, when he will be 60 yrs and 6 months old.
PC claim has been submitted and awaiting reply.

I'm glad you were able to get advice on this. I hope all goes smoothly with the claim.