Pension Credit Week of Action (2-6 September)

This week (2-6 September) is Pension Credit Week of Action, a national campaign by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility for Pension Credit.

With as many as 880,000 pensioners missing out, the Week of Action aims to spread awareness and increase claims for Pension Credit. Receiving this benefit will boost your income and means you automatically qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment and other benefits.

Check if you’re eligible

If you are a state pensioner over 66 years of age and on a low income, you could qualify for Pension Credit.

If your weekly income is below £218.15 per week for a single person or £332.95 for a couple, you should apply.

Check if you’re eligible at GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/pension-credit

Pension credit can be backdated 3 months if your circumstances were the same for the whole of that time.

If you are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) this entitles you to a disability premium so you may be entitled to more money through Pension Credit as this income is ignored.

If you qualify for Pension Credit, you may also be eligible for other benefits.

Winter Fuel Payment

If you receive Pension Credit and were born before 23 September 1958, you can get a Winter Fuel Payment to help pay your heating bills for Winter 2024 to 2025.

If you are eligible, you’ll normally get the Winter Fuel Payment automatically.

Housing Benefit

You could get help with your Council Tax and rent through Housing Benefit if you rent your home and receive Pension Credit.

To apply for Council Tax/Housing Benefit, visit our Benefits pages.

Attendance Allowance

Attendance Allowance is worth £72.65 or £108.55 per week if you are of pension age and need support to care for yourself.

To check if you’re eligible, visit GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance

If you are awarded this benefit, you could get extra Pension Credit, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction.

This income is not means tested and is disregarded for other benefits. It’s up to you what you spend the money on.

TV Licence

If you are over 75 years old and receive Pension Credit, you can apply for a free TV licence.

Universal Credit

All existing legacy benefits are moving over to Universal Credit.

The benefits that will cease are:

• Child Tax Credit (CTC)
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support (IS)
• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) income based
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) income related (IR)
• Working Tax Credit (WTC)

Everyone in receipt of these benefits will be invited to claim Universal Credit instead.

Most of the migration will take place by December 2024 but the DWP anticipate that some cases are more complex (for example, Employment Support Allowance) and they expect those to be completed by December 2025 as they may qualify for transitional protection if they would be worse off.

After that date Housing Benefit will only be available for pensioners and temporary or supported accommodation. All other housing costs will be paid for through Universal Credit.

Claimants are being contacted already to advise them of the change.

Where some pensioners are claiming working or child tax credit they are being directed to claim Pension Credit already.