Asked by: Grant Shapps (Conservative - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment claimants lost their enhanced mobility rate in the last two years after previously receiving indefinite or lifetime awards.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Grant Shapps (Conservative - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the pension status is of women who were widowed but later remarried; and how much state pension they are entitled to relative to the level of their late husband's national insurance contributions.
Answered by Damian Hinds
A widow’s entitlement to State Pension based on her late husband’s National Insurance contributions, and the amount she may receive if entitled, depends on a number of factors. These include whether she reached State Pension age under the old or new State Pension system (and if the former, how much State Pension she is entitled to in her own right); and when her late husband reached or would have reached State Pension age.
If she has remarried prior to State Pension age, she will not be eligible for any State Pension based on her previous husband’s National Insurance contributions as she has ceased to be a widow by the time her entitlement to State Pension begins.
Asked by: Grant Shapps (Conservative - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a widow who later remarries is eligible to claim pension credit to top up her income; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Pension Credit is an income-related benefit for people who have reached the minimum qualifying age and live in Great Britain. It targets help at the poorest pensioners who have been unable to provide for their retirement. It works by topping up someone’s other income to a standard minimum level. The amount of Pension Credit a person gets depends on how much money they have coming in each week and how much capital they hold (e.g. savings and investments).
Where someone has a partner, their claim will be treated as a couple and their income & capital will be added together when their entitlement is calculated. Therefore, where someone who has been widowed becomes a member of a couple, it is the income (which includes any State Pension) and capital of the couple that will be taken into account in the Pension Credit claim.
Asked by: Grant Shapps (Conservative - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received on trends in the number of inaccurate state pension forecasts sent to people nearing retirement age; and whether he plans to take steps to assist those affected by errors in such forecasts.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
State Pension statements explain that they represent an estimate and not a guarantee of an individual’s State Pension. Around 4.6% of customers contact DWP each month querying the amounts shown in their State Pension statement. These are investigated and if appropriate a revised statement is issued or can be viewed online.