Council assuming dad is receiving pension credit when he isn't

[Shambler]

Hi all, dad has been in a care home since October and the council are charging him a portion of the care home bill because they say he is eligible for pension credit.

I applied for pension credit for him back in November but I'm not getting anywhere. Every time I ring up the pension dept. they say they will contact me about it in 10 working days but they never do and so I call again and I get the same 'we'll call you in 10 working days'. They have no estimate of when he will receive it and I've not even had confirmation that he is actually eligible because the person you get to talk to on the telephone doesn't seem to know the status of the claim.

Is it right for the council to be charging him more money than he is actually receiving? I have informed them he isn't actually getting pension credit yet so his savings are being depleted.

His savings are now below £18,000

 

[HarrietD]

Hi @Shambler and welcome to the community. That sounds like a really frustrating situation for you. I just want to reassure you that you've come to the right place, and I'm sure others will be along soon to offer suggestions on this.

 

[nitram]

@Shambler
What do any of these calculators say about your eligibility?

 

[teacosy]

That sounds a very long time.
When you say pension dept do you mean you are calling pension credit helpline?
Pension Credit claim line
Telephone: 0800 99 1234

Other ideas:
You could try and contact/google your local DWP ( department for work and pensions) partnership manager and ask them to escalate your case or try your local citizens advice who may be able to help you find out whats going on.