CAB Can we get free help with our boiler?
I’m 69 years old and have been on personal independence payment for ten years now.
My health conditions have got worse over the last couple of years and I was thinking about asking them to review my award.
Is that a good idea?
Personal independence payment is a benefit that can be applied for between the ages of 16 up until state pension age.
As you were already in receipt of PIP when you started to receive your state pension your award becomes an “indefinite award”. Although this is called an indefinite award, the DWP will usually review it every ten years or so.
After state pension age, you can’t get the “mobility component” of PIP if you hadn’t already been receiving it. This rule applies even if your medical conditions have got worse.
Therefore, if you already receive the standard rate of the mobility component it’s not possible to increase this to the enhanced rate.
Your current PIP award and details of how your health conditions have changed would help our advisers determine whether asking for your award to be reviewed would be a good idea.
Please get in touch with the bureau by calling 0141 889 2121 to discuss further.
I stopped working when I turned 63. At that point I had worked for 43 years.
I was under the impression that to qualify for the state pension you needed 35 years contributions.
However, when I requested a forecast it said I could pay a further three years contributions to top it up to the“basic rate,”I don’t understand this.
The state pension legislation was changed quite dramatically in 2016.
You are right, the qualifying years required for a “full state pension” is 35 years, however, if during your working life, you were “contracted out” (which means you were paying a lower rate of national insurance or some of your national insurance contributions were going into a private pension scheme) this can affect the rate you will receive.
The rules are complicated, and for a more detailed explanation we would advise contacting the future pension centre on 0800 731 0175. They will also be able to discuss with you the option to make voluntary contributions to top up your state pension before you reach state pension age.
Myself and my husband are pensioners. We own our own home and have lived here around 20 years.
We used to get the boiler serviced but I can no longer afford it so it hasn’t been looked at in about ten years.
Myself and my husband receive pension credit, is there any support available to have it checked?
Most providers offer a free annual gas safety check if you own your own home and claim a “means tested benefit”. As you are both pensioners and receive pension credit you should be eligible. For more information you should speak to your supplier.
If you haven’t recently you should also consider contacting the bureau so we can complete a benefit check to ensure yourself and your husband are receiving all the support you are entitled to.
It is always worth seeing whether there are energy savings measures (which in some cases might even include a new boiler) available to you.
You can check this by speaking to Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282.