2nd August 2022
Could you be owed money from the Government?
One of the most underclaimed sources of support is Pension Credit.
So, are you eligible?
How can you claim?
What support is available to you? To see how keep reading …
What is Pension Credit?
Pension Credit gives you extra money to help with your living costs if you’re over State Pension age and on a low income. Pension Credit also acts as a “gateway” to other benefits. If you receive it you can also claim Housing Benefit, Support for mortgage interest, Council tax discount and some other sources of help we won’t go into here. If you receive pension Credit you could qualify for cost of living payments.
Pension Credit is separate from your State Pension.
You can get Pension Credit even if you have other income, savings or own your own home. The idea is that Pension credit “Tops up” your income to a reasonable standard.
Are you Eligible?
There are quite a few rules around Pension credit, but to keep it simple, you are eligible if:
- your weekly income is less than £218.15 if you’re single
- your joint weekly income is less than £332.95 if you have a partner and you have both reached pension age.
It can get a bit more complicated depending on the type of income you have as things like private pensions, earnings, and social security benefits (like carers allowance) are also counted as Income. If you have over £10,000 of savings this may reduce the Pension credit you do receive, but do not let that stop you from claiming, as we mentioned before, it can be a “gateway” to other benefits, even if you only receive a small amount.
How much will I get?
How much you will get will depend on your circumstances. You may get extra amounts if you have other responsibilities and costs.
There could be extra payments for severe disability, if you care for another adult, if you’re responsible for children or young person and help with housing costs (such as ground rent, service charges etc) you will also automatically get cold weather payments, to help with heating costs during cold months (this is separate to Warm home Payments) there is an online calculator to see what you should get, so it’s well worth the time to check for you or a loved one whose struggling https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator
Sounds good! So how do I claim?
You can apply online at https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit/how-to-claim, or over the phone on 0800 99 1234 and by post, you will need the forms here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-claim-form–2 and to send it off to The Pension Service 8, Post Handling Site B, Wolverhampton, WV99 1AN
You will need to have details of:
- National Insurance number
- information about any income, savings and investments you have
- information about your income, savings and investments on the date you want to backdate your application to (usually 3 months ago or the date you reached State Pension age)