6. Pensions
[ch 6: page 58]What’s new?
• “Mixed age couples”, where one partner is of working age and the other is above State Pension age, will no longer be able to put in a new claim for Pension Credit after 15 May 2019, potentially missing out on around £7,000 a year;
• disabled pensioners receiving Personal Independence Payments no longer have to go through regular reassessments but will instead move to a “light-touch review” every 10 years.
The right to claim certain benefits changes once you reach State Pension Age (SPA). For example, you cannot claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP), but you can claim Attendance Allowance (a benefit to help with extra costs if you have a disability severe enough that you need someone to help look after you). There is no upper age limit for payment of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), but you cannot claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)(see Chapter 4), although this might be paid for up to a year if you became sick before reaching SPA.