Couple in their 80s on PC (Savings Credit only) since October 2003. AIF included capital of £18,000. Capital actually went down to £14,000 in March 2005 when they spent just under £4,000 on Funeral Plans. Pension Service were not contacted until April 2006 and superseded PC award to take the reduced capital/tariff income into account. Because this was a beneficial change of circs reported more than a month after the change happened PC has only been increased from April 2006.

Couple claim CTB in May 2006 and request the 12 month backdate. They can prove they have had less than £16,000 in capital for the whole of the preceding 12 months (the value of funeral plans are ignored for both PC and HB/CTB) but they are covered by an AIF showing more than £16,000 for 11 months of this 12 month period. My reading of the regs is that the council are bound by the AIF and the relevant dates when the Pension Service superseded the PC award to take the reduced capital into account (i.e. they can only backdate CTB to April 2006). This scenario doesn't seem to fit any situation where they can use their own figures. Can anyone offer a more optimistic outlook?

If there had been no PC award they would have had no problems getting the 12 month CTB backdate because they could have independently verified that they had less than £16,000 in capital with effect from March 2005 (and as luck would have it they are entitled to much more in the way of CTB than they are in PC).

I think you just about have it covered there.

Not my specialty but is there any chance of the Pension Service superceding their decision? It is obviously a change that happenned a long time ago but is worth requesting, with reasons etc. as there is nothing to lose.

As you say without Pc being claimed/awarded this anomoly would likely have not occurred.

Did they really have to request the "backdate" for it to be considered?

Loose terminology on my part. We didn't have to request the backdate but just emphasising the problem related to the past period.

I thought it was going to be the PC we would have to sort out but looking for a shorter cut if possible. Pension Service has been a bit vague about the exact date of the supersession in their notification. Seems to have got bundled up with the April uprating and new entitlement to a Carer's Premium. The change in circs was actually reported March 2006 not April. Will try for extension of time for a late notification of a change of circs.