Carer’s allowance claim v rental income

Hi Colette
I was in exactly the same position as yourself for many years.
I was informed that my rental income counted as income rather than a return on investment, but I could still receive the N.I. stamp credit.
This was actually academic as I had long since paid in more than the amount required to receive full state income.
But I still received the N.I. credit as a result of registering as a carer.
The credit still stops at normal retirement age even if you do not actually draw the state pension by the way.
You might also want to consider paying in some additional N.I. contributions voluntarily if this is actually necessary (see my comments below) as my brother is doing having retired at age 62. I am told that he only has to draw his increased state pension for four years from age 66 in order to see his money back.
I think you can go back at least four years and possibly longer but you will have to check this out for yourself with the N.I. people.
Sounds like a pretty simple decision to me.
But additionally, I am very conscious of the fact that women get a “different” deal from men and it is not even a consistent one.
Women born between mid 1953 and mid 1955 get the worst deal of all I understand.
However when the pension minister of the day announced the “new” state pension, one promise that he made was delivered on.
The old pension system, at least for men, required only 30 years of full N.I. payments.
The new system required 35 years of full N.I. payments.
So a man my age (67 this month), would receive the higher of the two pension calculations which I was told, for myself was under the old 30 years N.I. payment system.
But it seems to me that if you have already paid in the full N.I. contribution for 47 years, then you are already more than paid up.
Again this may be different for women but a phone call to the N.I people will clarify.
Lastly I understand that any years where a full N.I. contribution was not made has a significant impact on the pension that a woman can draw but from what you say, this will not impact on you.

Hi Collette.

What I found from my experience of carers allowance is the following..

- Properties in a limited company are not counted (as long as you dont draw a salary from the company above the threshold) as they are a separate legal entity. (Dividends and interest income dont count so you can use that to get money from the company)

- If you hold property in your own name then it all depends on how those properties were acquired. You are allowed one property that was bought as a rental property, if you rent out previously live in property or you rent out property that has been left to you after a death then these are not counted as they think you were not trying to create a business and you are an 'accidental landlord'.

It seems really strange you could have 50 properties that were your previous residence and your fine as you are an accidental landlord, or 50 properties in a ltd company and your fine, yet 2 properties in your own name bought specifically as rentals and nope you don't qualify. Its a very grey area as you could maybe argue if a property was bought to live in but a job fell through so you rented it, or you bought the property for a family member to live in but they passed away before moving in. For them its about your intent, if you have more than 1 property in your name you are seen as trying to earn a living as a landlord so you don't qualify, if you are an accidental landlord and with no other earned income then you are not trying to earn a living as a landlord.

They have what is called Decision makers guides... Goggle "Volume 3, Chapter 15, entitled 'Earnings for non-income-related benefits':"

I retired early with a small injury pension. This was classed as income and I couldn't claim unemployment benefit or carers allowance as my pension income was £1 over the limit allowed

Reply to the comment left by steve p at 19/05/2021 - 10:20
Steve
From what you have said, I should have qualified for carer's allowance for many years. I was very clearly misinformed by the staff than are responsible for administering the system.
Too late to sort this now I suppose as my mother died last year.
Thanks for sharing.

Reply to the comment left by Paul Shears at 19/05/2021 - 11:36
if you were misinformed by dwp for anything and have evidence of it then take it up with dwp and then your MP. The fact your mother died last year does not matter as you can back claim if you can prove they gave you incorrect information and it turns out you were in fact entitled to the allowance.

I drew my state pension last Dec aged 66. despite having 36 paid years. I received less than the full state pension. I challenged it and got an explanation which I read once and filed away to be revisited. It was so complex I did not understand it clearly. Apparently from my recall, when the new rules were introduced it stipulated that a proportion of credits had to be paid as Nics since that time. I sought advice in 2012 and was told I had more than enough credits 36 v the necessary 30. So I did not pay NICS and my accountants advised the same. It seems that the advice that I received in 2012 was correct at the time, but because of the rule changes about which I was never notified or warned, I do not now get a full pension. I have also paid a fortune over the years in class 4 self employed units and these are not qualifying units, they are just a tax on high earners to supplement the system. My suggestion is that you get chapter and verse from the DWP and I.R. and keep a vigilant eye on it annually.
In my case it is not cost effective to pay added units at the class 3 rate. So I feel a bit conned by the system. I had to work this our for myself, and it was not easy to get accurate timely information.
I still hope my BTLs will supplement, despite all the government and rental police can chuck my way. Good luck.

I don't see why this affects your pension entitlement.
The full state pension requires a minimum of 35 years of NI contributions, so if you already have 47 years a few extra won't increase your pension.
If you're unsure you can view your HMRC's record of your contributions and state pension entitlement online at gov.uk.

Reply to the comment left by Chris Novice Shark Bait at 19/05/2021 - 12:38
Chris.
This is absolutely outrageous!
My heart goes out to you in this increasingly dystopian state.
As a reference point, I have 47.5 qualifying years of full N.I. payments (I lost six months worth whilst working abroad decades ago) and my state pension is around £11K. Yes really!
Exactly how they work that out is beyond me.
I am 67 this month.

Reply to the comment left by Simon M at 19/05/2021 - 12:52
By the way, the HMRC's record of your contributions and state pension entitlement online at gov.uk. is not updated once you go past whatever your state pension age is. It has to be calculated manually and it takes around six weeks to do so.
Having drawn a state pension, you can "un-retire" just once if your circumstances improve and you think that the approx 5.5% compound growth is worth it.
This is purely a personal decision and the usual mathematical view is that it is not financially optimizing to do so if you expect a "standard" UK life length.
I note that the old state guaranteed compound growth of around 10.2% was reduced to approx 5.5% many years ago with virtually no comment in the public media or anywhere else.

Actual quote from a pensions minister that I read in the Times or the Telegraph.
"The UK pension system is so complicated that I cannot understand it".
Clearly he was a very frustrated man to have expressed this publicly and must have been making a point that this mess needs sorting.
An Office of Pensions simplification required here like the Office of Tax Simplification?
Ermmm...... Oh no I have that wrong come to think of it considering the way tax as become increasingly complicated.