What happens if a customer’s circumstances change
The amount of Pension Credit your customer gets may change if their income, capital or other circumstances change. This section explains the changes we need to know about and how your customer must tell us. It also explains the assessed income period.
Effects on an assessed income period
If your customer is 65 or over (or, if they have a partner, one of them is 65 or over and the other is 60 (an assessed income period may apply. During an assessed income period we do not need to be told about every change in circumstances.
The letter sent to your customer with the Pension Credit decision will tell them if an assessed income period applies to them. They will also be sent an accompanying information sheet titled ‘Pension Credit what you need to tell us about’.
It outlines changes they must report even though they have an assessed income period. If your customer (and their partner) is under 65, or if an assessed income period does not apply for another reason, they must tell us immediately if there are any changes in their circumstances that may affect how much Pension Credit they should get.
If something changes which your customer should have reported and they do not, they might lose money to which they are entitled or they might be overpaid money which would probably have to be repaid. If they are not sure whether or not we need to know about a particular change, they should tell us anyway.
Changes to tell us about
Your customer must tell us as soon as they can if any of the changes below apply to them or their partner.
Changes in earnings
By earnings we mean wages, tips, fees, bonuses, commission, retainers and any other money from an employer.
We need to know if your customer or their partner:
- start to do any paid work
- start to earn more, or less, money
- stop working, or
- earn money occasionally. We need to be told about these earnings when they get them. They must send us a wage slip if they have one.
If your customer or their partner start earning money regularly, they need to tell us:
- how much they earn before tax, NI contributions or anything else has been taken off
- how much tax and NI contributions they pay each week
- what contributions if any they make into a pension scheme each week
- their employer’s name and address in case we need to get in touch with them,
- if they won’t be doing the same amount of work each week but will earn the same amount of money (if, for example, they will be working two weeks out of three or for longer every fourth week).
They must send us wage slips if they have them.
Changes in income
Your customer must tell us if they or their partner:
- start to get a new pension or annuity payment, or if a pension or annuity payment goes up or down (special rules apply during an assessed income period)
- start to get a regular payment from an equity release scheme, or the amount goes up or down (special rules apply during an assessed income period)
- either claim or start to get any social security benefit or allowance
- start to get any other money which is treated as income for Pension Credit purposes or if the amount received goes up or down, or
- stop getting a benefit or other money.
Changes to capital
Your customer must tell us if their, or their partner’s, capital:
- goes over £10,000 (this figure has increased from £6,000 to £10,000 from 2 November 2009), or
- goes up or down if it is already over these amounts.
Special rules apply during an assessed income period (see changes to capital during an assessed income period).
Changes at home
We need to know if your customer or their partner:
- move to a different address
- go into a care home, (your customer should also tell us if their Attendance Allowance stops as a result of them going into a care home)
- decide to buy where they live
- take out a mortgage or loan for repairs or improvements to their home, or
- want to change their bank account for Pension Credit payments.
They must also tell us if:
- the capital balance on their mortgage increases, or
- their mortgage or loan is paid off.
If their Pension Credit includes an extra amount for housing costs, they must tell us if someone:
- comes to live in their home
- living in their home, leaves or goes into hospital
- living in their home, starts or stops work, or
- living in their home, starts to get, or stops getting, Pension Credit.
See Non-dependant deductions from Pension Credit for information about how these changes can affect Pension Credit.
If your customer or their partner are 65 or over, the extra amount for housing costs may not go down immediately if someone comes to live in their home or starts work, but they should still tell us.
Your customer must also tell us if:
- they are getting the extra amount for severe disability and someone comes to live in their home, or
- they are not getting that extra amount because someone has been living in their home and they leave.
Going into, or coming out of, hospital
Your customer must tell us if they or their partner, or someone they are caring for, goes into, or comes out of, hospital.
See People in hospital for information about how this can affect Pension Credit.
Leaving Great Britain
Your customer should tell us if they are planning to go abroad for whatever reason. They should also tell us if they go to Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands. If your customer goes abroad for medical treatment we will pay their Pension Credit for as long as they are receiving the treatment.
In other cases we may be able to pay Pension Credit for up to 13 weeks while they are abroad, as long as their absence from the United Kingdom is temporary.
See People who leave Great Britain temporarily for information about how this can affect Pension Credit.
Family changes
Your customer must tell us if:
- they get married or form a civil partnership
- they start living with someone as if married to them or as if in a civil partnership
- they and their former partner start living together again
- they get divorced or dissolve a civil partnership
- they and their partner separate, or
- they or their partner go to prison or are held in custody.
If someone dies
Someone must tell us if:
- your customer dies
- their partner dies
- someone who was living with them dies, or
- someone they were caring for dies.
