A question for something which is coming up, I am 66 working more or less full time and therefore I do not have NI deducted from wages, only PAYE Question is I am due in probably late Summer to have a hospitalization and then 6-8 weeks before fit to return, Am I eligible for SSP ? Working Tax credit, should they be informed when off sick ? Should I claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit for a non working period Thanks for your advice

In 1994 my oh was medically retired from work . At the time he had a private pension which had been miss old to him as he had worked in a factory which had a private pension scheme . In 2000 we contested this and won and he was just wrote a few letters really anyhow he got his pension and all was backdated. These new pension reforms had got me thinking and I was sure he was never offered a tax free lump sum and the paperwork is in the least vague . We asked them to send us the pension pot fund figure as we never had it (195,225.88) so not small ! And it confirmed that we never took a tax free lump sum . We were never offered it! What I am wondering is should we have been we do get a good pension but pay tax on it and had we took the lump sum would we have been better off? I would be grateful if anyone had any advice

Hi I am a British born citizen and worked all my life and I have been retired for almost 3 years and emigrated to the Philippines two years ago and married my Filipino fiancee. The initial idea was to spend five or six years in the Philippines until all my step children had finished University and they could start their own life. Things have changed a bit due to me being a Diabetic and maybe needing a bit more medical care than i get know we decided that we would like to return to the UK sooner, however, on reading the rather mixed signals from the official Visa4UK website it seems as though my wife will not be allowed entry as she does not have an income/savings of £18,600 even though my income is just short of £1,950 per month and the costs of the visa application to settle is >£2,000 plus. There are no problems with the language and we have proof that I have known my wife for more than five years (kept all the emails) My wife intends to work albeit self employed and pay the taxes and insurances that are due yo the Government. The children would remain in the Philippines with their Grandmother. Can anyone advise on possibilities please

Hi, I took early retirement in December 2012 and have 4 private pensions as income. I have been getting the same money which does not quite give me my full tax free allowance. Then I started to claim ESA for a disability , which prevents me from working, I have had for almost 2 years. The ESA income takes my money to just over 10.1K Now this where it gets interesting so be warned, lol. From January to September I have been getting the same amounts of private pensions with no change. From Jan 2013 I was claiming Jobseekers allowance, then that stopped in or around March 2013. Then I claimed ESA but that was stopped after about 2 months by the infamous ATOS. I reclaimed again in July 2013 and am getting a reduced amount of £44.34p a week. In Sepember HMRC sent me another tax code saying as I was receiving a further private pension, my main pension tax code was no BR, reduced from 839L, and 20% was taken from my monthly pension payment. After visiting my local tax office and telling them yet again what I was receiving, it was then changed to 358L. I asked about the extra pension I was supposed to be receiving and someone at HMRC had just put it on the system! Anyway, after being told who the company was, I contacted them and it was a mistake on their part and was told they would contact HMRC to put things right. A week or so later I recieved another tax code for my main pension and this was 339L.Up to this point no tax code changes were made to my other 3 private pension incomes. After going to see them, HMRC again, may main pension tax code was then increased to 655L, at last some improvement! They had wrongly assumed that I was getting a further 5K a year in benefits and pensions. On or about 10th November I spoke to a member of HMRC and told them about my incomes from pensions and ESA again, and was told that my new main pension tax code would now be 408L, and there would some changes to my other pension payments. So I have now received another set of tax codes, and my main pension one has gone down again as well as one of the others been different tan what I was told. Now, as the tax free allowance is £9440, and I get 10.1K, that works out at £696 to be taxed at 20%, which equals £139.20p per year. So far I have paid over £200 approx in tax, and this does not seem right. Every time I have spoken to someone on the 0300 number its a different person at a different office and it seems that one office does not know what the other is doing. They tell me one thing but do something different, and I am getting very frustrated with them now. Apart from going to see them at my local office yet again,is there anything else or anyone I can speak to so I can get some satisfaction over my ever changing tax codes.

Hi fellow caggers, It looks like I could have been given duff advice by my union rep and shafted by management I was ill health retired with lump sum although I am appealing for immediate pension. At the only meeting that I had last year with the rep and regional manager I was told that I would have to accept the lump sum deal and then appeal for immediate pension at a later date. I said that I really did not want the money hanging around in my bank which I was unable use and could the company keep it untill the appeal. The whole charade has been strung out and I don't seem to be getting any further. After taking some advice by someone in the know, it appears that in the terms of the ill health retirement agreement that that I could have carried on being employed till the appeal had been heard. Having been paid lump sum (which I can't touch cos they may want it back if appeal is successful) I have been living on the basic ESA contribution rate and am suffering financial hardship as I am unable to clim income support cos there's too much in my bank. It was never brought to my attention that I could have forgon the lump sum. There are so many discrepencies in how I was dismissed that the union have admitted that the rep got it wrong. Also it is clear that my former company have not conducted the procedure correctly either. As such I feel that I have been miss represented. What direction do I take now. Should I contact my home insurance, fortunately I have legal protection on my policy. Management and union have gone very quiet now. Has anyone else been in this predicament Lola xx

Although I am entitled to a motability car, sadly there are none powerful enough to tow a 1800kg caravan so we need to buy a second hand car, however we are both retired. Our current towing car unfortunately needs replacing. Not too sure where to start looking for a loan or HP and who to trust as there are a number of organisations offering loans for retired however we are council tenants, but with excellent credit history. Can any one please advise of any worthwhile organisations that can be contacted? Thanks.