Assessed income period
- How long is the assessed income period?
- What happens when your customer thinks a decision is wrong?
- Changes to pensions and annuity income during an assessed income period
- Changes to capital during an assessed income period
- The end of an assessed income period
If your customer is 65 or over, or if they have a partner and one of them is at least 65 and the other is at least 60, an assessed income period may apply. This means that they do not need to report changes to pensions(we treat payments from the Pension Protection Fund or Financial Assistance Scheme in the same way as a pension), annuities, equity release payments or capital as they happen. Other changes in circumstances still have to be reported.
How long is the assessed income period?
The assessed income period normally lasts for five years. It may be shorter if, for example:
- your customer or their partner will be 65 in the next five years, or
- they expect a second pension or annuity to start or change within the next 12 months (other than because of a normal yearly increase), or
- they expect their capital to change significantly in the next 12 months.
If your customer is aged 80 or over, or will become 80 during their assessed income period, it will not end automatically after 5 years and will only end if one of the circumstances described under When the assessed income period ends early applies.
What happens when your customer thinks a decision is wrong?
The letter your customer gets telling them of the decision about their Pension Credit application will also tell them if an assessed income period applies to them and, if appropriate, what that period is. If they think the decision about the assessed income period is wrong, they can ask for it to be looked at again, or they can appeal.
Information is available on what to do if they disagree with a decision.
Changes to pensions and annuity income during an assessed income period
Your customer does not have to tell us about changes to their pensions, annuity income or equity release payments during the assessed income period. We will estimate the amount of any increase based on information given in the original Pension Credit application. We will send your customer details of how their Pension Credit is worked out. However:
- if the estimated amount of pension, annuity or equity release payment is more than your customer is actually getting, they need to tell us straight away; or
- if your customer’s pension, annuity income or equity release payment goes down, or they stop getting a pension, they can tell us and ask for their Pension Credit to be recalculated. If this happens, we will ask for details of all (non-state) pension and annuity income, any equity release payments and capital at that point. If the total is less than the figure we have been using, their Pension Credit will go up. If the total is the same as, or more than, the figure we have been using, their Pension Credit will stay the same.
Changes to capital during an assessed income period
Your customer does not have to tell us about changes to their capital during the assessed income period. However, if their capital changes and they think they could be entitled to more Pension Credit, they can tell us and ask for their Pension Credit to be recalculated. If this happens, we will ask for details of all (non-state) pension, annuity income, any equity release payments and capital at that point.
If the total is less than the figure we have been using, their Pension Credit will go up. If the total is the same as, or more than, the figure we have been using, their Pension Credit will stay the same.
The end of an assessed income period
When the assessed income period ends early
An assessed income period will end before the planned date if your customer:
- starts to be treated as a member of a couple
- stops being treated as a member of a couple (for example, if their partner dies or goes permanently into a care home or they or their partner go into hospital for more than a year)
- goes permanently into a care home
- temporarily stops getting a pension or annuity, or the amount they get goes down temporarily (for example, payment of a pension from abroad stops because of problems in the country in question) and they ask for their Pension Credit to be recalculated,
- is no longer entitled to Pension Credit.
When the period ends
When an assessed income period ends (other than at the end of Pension Credit entitlement) we may ask for details of all your customer’s circumstances and Pension Credit will be recalculated.
Pension Credit reduces
This may mean your customer’s Pension Credit goes down because their pensions, annuity income, any equity release payments and capital are higher than before.
If this is the case, the new amount will apply from the start of the new assessed income period only.
This does not mean that they have been overpaid Pension Credit during the previous assessed income period, because any increases to private pensions(other than normal yearly increases), annuity income (other than normal yearly increases), equity release payments and capital are ignored until the end of the assessed income period.
If the Pension Credit is lower because your customer had not told us about another type of change, normal overpayment rules apply (Overpayments).
Pension Credit increases
If your customer’s Pension Credit is higher after recalculation at the end of the assessed income period, they may be entitled to some arrears.
Another assessed income period
When your customer’s circumstances have been checked and their Pension Credit recalculated, the decision maker will decide whether or not to set another assessed income period and, if so, how long it should be.
