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PolicyBench audit: Pension Credit appears to ignore property income and residential property capital #1683

@MaxGhenis

Description

@MaxGhenis

Found by the PolicyBench cell-deviation audit in /Users/maxghenis/PolicyEngine/policybench/results/local/cell_deviation_audits_20260522_171809.

Case

uk:scenario_001:pension_credit

Audit classification: reference_error.

The reference appears to treat the household as having no income/capital for Pension Credit, despite listed property income, savings interest, and other residential property capital.

Packet facts / audit evidence

  • Scenario lists GBP 10,476 of annual property/savings-interest income.
  • Scenario lists other residential property value of GBP 55,370 and savings of GBP 455.
  • Reference explanation says income is approximately zero and awards full Pension Credit.
  • Reference value is GBP 15,022.3984375.
  • No parsed model matches the reference; most predict zero or a reduced positive award.

Audit arithmetic:

listed income = 10,476
capital if other residential property counts = 55,370 + 455 = 55,825
capital above 10,000 = 45,825
annual tariff income if counted = about 4,784
assessed income if tariff counted = about 15,260
reference value = 15,022.3984375

If the other residential property and/or property income are intentionally disregarded, the model/reference explanation should expose that. As written, the reference looks like it ignores material income/capital.

Suggested check

Add a direct Pension Credit test with:

  • property income
  • savings interest
  • other residential property capital
  • no other income

The test should assert whether each component counts toward Pension Credit income/capital, and the explanation path should make any disregard explicit.

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