Pension Credit Guide – Rates

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 is separate from your State Pension.

Pension Credit comes in two parts: Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit. It’s separate from your State Pension.

You can get Pension Credit even if you have other income, savings or own your own home.

Pension Credit is not Taxable.

Updated April 2023

Introduction:

If you have a partner

You must include your partner on your application.

You’ll be eligible if either:

• you and your partner have both reached State Pension age
• one of you is getting Housing Benefit for people over State Pension age

A partner is either:

• your husband, wife or civil partner – if you live with them
• someone you live with as a couple, without being married or in a civil partnership

Your Income

When you apply for Pension Credit your income is calculated. If you have a partner, your income is calculated together.

What you’ll get

Pension Credit tops up:

• your weekly income to £201.05 if you’re single
• your joint weekly income to £306.85 if you have a partner

You may get extra amounts if you have other responsibilities and costs.

The top up and extra amounts are known as ‘Guarantee Credit’

If you have a severe disability

You could get an extra £76.40 a week if you get any of the following:

• Attendance Allowance
• the middle or highest rate from the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment (ADP) at the standard or enhanced rate

If you care for another adult

You could get an extra £42.75 a week if:

• you get Carer’s Allowance
• you’ve claimed Carer’s Allowance but are not being paid because you already get another benefit paying a higher amount

If you and your partner have both claimed or are getting Carer’s Allowance, you can both get this extra amount.

If you’re responsible for children or young people

You could get an extra £61.88 a week for each child or young person you’re responsible for. This is increased to £72.31 a week for the first child if they were born before 6 April 2017.

The child or young person must normally live with you and be under the age of 20.

If they’re 16 or over and under 20, they must be in (or accepted for):

• approved training, such as Foundation Apprenticeships
• a course of non-advanced education (for example, they’re studying for GCSEs or A levels)

If they’re in education, it must be for more than 12 hours a week on average.

If you get Tax Credits, you cannot get this extra amount of Pension Credit for caring for a child. But you might be eligible for Child Tax Credits.

If the child or young person is disabled

If the child or young person is disabled, you could also get an extra amount of either:

• £33.67 a week if they get DLA, PIP or ADP
• £104.86 a week if they’re blind or they get the highest rate care component of DLA or CDP, or the enhanced daily living component of PIP or ADP

If you have housing costs

You could get an extra amount to cover your housing costs, such as:

• ground rent if your property is a leasehold
• some service charges
• charges for tents and site rents

The amount you could get depends on your housing costs.

If you get Pension Credit, you could also be eligible for:

• Council Tax Reduction
• Housing Benefit if you rent the property you live in
• Support for Mortgage Interest if you own the property you live in

Use the Pension Credit calculator to work out how much you might get.

You might be eligible for other benefits when you get Pension Credit – benefits calculator

How you’re paid

All benefits, pensions and allowances are paid into an account, eg a bank account.

If your circumstances change

Changes to your personal circumstances

A change of personal circumstances can include:

• moving to a new address
• starting or stopping living with a partner
• the death of a partner who is named on your claim
• starting or stopping work
• going into hospital or a care home
• people moving in or out of your house
• changing your name
• switching your bank account
• changes to your Post Office card account
• leaving England, Scotland and Wales for any period (for example, going on holiday)
• you start or stop looking after a child or young person under the age of 20
• changes to your immigration status, if you’re not a British citizen

Changes to your financial circumstances

You also need to report if your income or expenses change. This can include changes to:

• housing costs, for example ground rent or service charges
• benefits that anyone living in your home gets – including getting a new benefit or a benefit being stopped
• occupational or personal pensions – including if you start to get a new pension or take a lump sum out of your pension pot
• other income, for example foreign pensions or Working Tax Credits
• savings, investments or property

Call the Pension Credit helpline if you’re not sure if you need to report a change.

Phone the helpline if your circumstances change as this can affect how much you get. For example, if your income or capital goes up or down.

Pension Service helpline
Telephone: 0800 731 0469
Textphone: 0800 169 0133
Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 731 0469
Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 6pm
Find out about call charges

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

Eligibility

You must live in England, Scotland or Wales and have reached State Pension age to qualify for Pension Credit.

Find out about Pension Credit in Northern Ireland.

Working out your income

When you apply for Pension Credit your income is worked out. This includes:

• State Pension
• other pensions
• earnings from employment and self-employment
• most social security benefits, for example Carer’s Allowance

If you’re entitled to a private or workplace pension, the amount you’d expect to get is calculated as income from the date you were able to get it, if you had claimed it.

You won’t get the benefit of deferring your State Pension if you or your partner are on Pension Credit, eg you won’t build up extra State Pension or a lump sum for deferring your State Pension. When working out if you can get Pension Credit, the income you’d get from your State Pension is included whether you’re claiming it or not.

The calculation doesn’t include:

• Adult Disability Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Christmas Bonus
• Child Benefit
• Disability Living Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment
• social fund payments like Winter Fuel Allowance
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Reduction

If you’re registered for Self Assessment, you must tell the Pension Service how much Income Tax you expect to pay for the current tax year – this affects how much Pension Credit you’ll get.

Your savings and investments

If you have £10,000 or less in savings and investments this will not affect your Pension Credit.

If you have more than £10,000, every £500 over £10,000 counts as £1 income a week. For example, if you have £11,000 in savings, this counts as £2 income a week.

Pension Credit if you move abroad

You can’t get Pension Credit if you move abroad permanently.

How to claim

You can start your application up to 4 months before you reach State Pension age.

You can apply any time after you reach State Pension age but your application can only be backdated by 3 months. This means you can get up to 3 months of Pension Credit in your first payment if you were eligible during that time.

Information you’ll need

You’ll need the following information about you and your partner if you have one:

• 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)

You’ll also need your bank account details. Depending on how you apply, you may also be asked for your bank or building society name, sort code and account number.

Apply online here

Apply by phone

A friend or family member can call for you if you cannot use the phone.

Apply by post

To apply by post, print out and fill in the Pension Credit claim form or call the claim line to request a form.

Send the claim form to the Pension Service, or ask someone to do it for you.

Contact a voluntary organisation like Citizens Advice or Age UK if you need help with the form.

Appeal a decision

You can appeal to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal if you disagree with a decision. You must usually ask for ‘mandatory reconsideration’ before you appeal.

Updated April 2023