Financial Care Services Newsletter
Volume 11 Edition 3 – 31 March 2021
Financial Care Services, the specialist adviser to seniors in transition to new lifestyles
What if Centrelink pays me more than my entitlements?
Centrelink are obliged to retrieve any money that has been paid out incorrectly.
Centrelink is not a charity or business that could decide to forgive an overpayment to avoid adverse publicity.
Therefore Centrelink must ask for any overpayments to be paid back fast. During Covid, Centrelink deferred its debt collection program while we all focused on survival in lockdown.
But now that we are allowed to go out to work and to shop for non-essentials Centrelink have restarted collecting overpayments.
Once again Centrelink will be arranging to collect any overpayments of Pensions as soon as the overpayment is identified. The simplest repayment method is for your Pension payments to be stopped until the Pension missed totals your earlier Pension overpayments. This approach could be the hardest if you have nothing in your bank account.
Another approach is to negotiate a payment plan with Centrelink. Centrelink could allow this if you have a big overpayment. Your payment plan could spread your repayments over a few months rather than a couple of fortnights of no Pension payments.
For example, each fortnightly Pension payment could be reduced by $50 until you have repaid all of your earlier overpayments.
A better approach is not to incur a debt at Centrelink.
No Centrelink debt means no overpayments to be repaid later.
How could an Age Pensioner be overpaid by Centrelink?
Centrelink use the information that you provide to determine your Age Pension amount, if any. Thus an easy way to be overpaid on your Age Pension is to ‘forget’ to update your data at Centrelink.
For example, if you ‘forgot’ to tell Centrelink that you received a big inheritance payment then your Age Pension could have been overpaid.
Eventually Centrelink are informed of the inheritance. Then Centrelink calculates how much Age Pension you were entitled to receive once that inheritance arrived in your bank account. The difference between what Centrelink did pay you and your proper Age Pension entitlements is the overpayment.
Another source of Centrelink debt can start when a ‘single’ Age Pensioner invites a friend come and stay for a little while. Later when the friend gives up their previous home and lives fulltime with the Age Pensioner, Centrelink could count them as a couple living together.
Once Centrelink are aware of your new ‘personal circumstances’ then your Age Pension reduces from the ‘single’ rate to the ‘partnered’ rate. Remember your wider family could just happen to tell Centrelink that your live in ‘friend’ is now your ‘domestic partner’ and suddenly you have a debt at Centrelink.
Centrelink Pensions increased on 20 March 2021
Effective 20 March 2021, the full rates of Centrelink and DVA Pensions increased by 0.9%.
This percentage increase reflects the increase in the Consumer Price Index, “CPI”, for the year to December 2020.
Remember that the CPI went down in the half year to June 2020 so there was no Pension increase in September 2020.
Single Age Pension $952.70 maximum fortnightly payment
The full single rate of Age Pension was increased by $7.70 to $868.30 per fortnight.
In addition, the Pension Supplement increased by $0.70 per fortnight.
Thus the maximum payment to a single Age Pensioner is now $952.70 per fortnight.
A single Age Pensioner could keep her Pensioner Concession Card and
get one dollar per fortnight of Age Pension plus the Pension Supplements,
if her Income was $1,912.60 per fortnight, $49,700 per year provided that
the Asset Test had not excluded her from any Age Pension.
A single Age Pensioner could have $771,600 of assessable Assets or
$557,100 of assessable Assets together with a home, and
be eligible for one dollar per fortnight of Age Pension plus
the Pension Supplements, provided that
the Income Test had not excluded her from any Age Pension.
Couples Age Pension $718.10 maximum fortnightly payment each
The partnered rate of Age Pension increased by $5.80 per person per fortnight effective 20 March 2021.
The new full partnered rate of Age Pension is $654.50 each per fortnight
together with Pension Supplements of $53.00 each per fortnight.
To retain their Pensioner Concession Cards and
get one dollar per fortnight of Age Pension plus the Pension Supplements, a couple living together
must have a total combined Income not exceeding $2,930 per fortnight, $76,000 per year, and not be excluded by the Asset Test.
A Centrelink couple living together would be excluded from any Age Pension if their total combined assessable Assets exceeded $1,051,000 or they had $837,000 of assessable Assets plus a home.
Help to understand how your situation fits in the Age Pension system
The calculation of your Age Pension amount, if any, can be challenging.
The easy route is to ask for the Age Pension Illustration Personal Data form as a checklist of essential data and then arrange for a ‘$99 Special Age Pension Illustration Short Consultation’ with Christine Hopper of Financial Care Services.
If the Income and/or Assets Tests would exclude you from the Age Pension, Christine could help you check whether you would qualify for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.
Alas holders of the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card do not qualify for the full range of concessions that come with the Pensioner Concession Card.
Christine Hopper of Financial Care Services offers Short Consultations for ‘personal factual financial information’ in the form of an Illustration of the amount of Centrelink Age Pension you could receive today provided that you satisfied the age and residency conditions for a Centrelink Age Pension.
Contact Christine at Financial Care Services to obtain the Age Pension Illustration Personal Data form. You will also receive our Client Services Guide that provides essential information about Christine Hopper of Financial Care Services.
Alternatively you could search through the Centrelink website for clues about Pension rates and means tests then do the sums yourself.
Christine at Financial Care Services your independent adviser
Financial Care Services is an independent advisory service specialising in retirees of modest means and aged care entrants.
Our core values include working with clients in claiming DVA and Centrelink entitlements.
The team at Financial Care Services are here to answer your Age Pension questions and guide your understanding of aged care costs.
Help with Centrelink challenges is available from Christine Hopper at Financial Care Services, the specialist adviser to seniors in transition to new lifestyles.
Christine has neat handwriting just right for inserting your data into small printed spaces. She helps clients complete Centrelink forms.
Christine could help you with collating your supporting documents and then mailing your form to Centrelink.
Assistance with completing Age Pension Claims and the Commonwealth aged care means testing forms is available to clients of Financial Care Services.
Christine charges fees based on the work involved in advising you about pensions and aged care fee solutions.
To make an appointment for confidential, independent and professional advice about aged care, retirement lifestyle costs, granny flat or Age Pension issues please contact Christine Hopper or call +61 3 9808 0338.
______________________________
Christine Hopper
Financial Care Services Pty Ltd
Independent aged care, strategic lifestyle and Social Security advice for seniors in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone – call +61 3 9808 0338
Email – contact info@financialcareservices.com.au
Address – mail to 172 Warrigal Road, Camberwell Victoria 3124
Website – visit financialcareservices.com.au
LinkedIn – connect https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinehopper1
LinkedIn Company – follow https://www.linkedin.com/company/financial-care-services/
Past newsletters – see http://financialcareservices.com.au/newsletters/
Newsletter – subscribe http://eepurl.com/js41T
Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter is of a general nature only and does not constitute “financial advice”.
All eligibility for Commonwealth benefits will be determined by Centrelink or DVA, based on your personal position as documented and the legislation and Regulations in force at that time.
© 2021 Financial Care Services Pty Ltd. All rights reserved