Pension Credit claimants are being encouraged to review their finances as they may be entitled to less than they anticipate. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit boosts a person’s weekly income, up to £218.15 for single people and up to £332.95 for couples.
When calculating your income and potential top-up amount, one factor taken into account is your savings. You can have up to £10,000 in savings without it affecting your income, but for every £500 above this, it counts as £1 a week income. This means if you have £15,000 in savings, it would count as £10 a week income, reducing your potential Pension Credit top-up by £520 annually.
According to the Government website, there are four elements that count towards your income when calculating your Pension Credit entitlement:
- State pension
- Other pensions income
- Earnings from employment and self-employment
- Some social security benefits, such as Carer’s Allowance.
However, these benefit payments are not considered part of your income:
- Christmas Bonus
- Personal Independence Payment
- Child Benefit
- Council tax reduction
- Attendance Allowance
- Housing Benefit
- Social fund payments like Winter Fuel Payment
- Pension Age Disability Payment
- Adult Disability Payment
- Disability Living Allowance.
If your income exceeds the Pension Credit income top-up, it may still be worth applying as you may still qualify for the benefit. This is because there are additional payments towards the income top-up depending on your situation. For instance, you can receive an extra £45.60 a week if you care for another adult and an additional £81.50 if you have a severe disability.
Claimants responsible for a child or young person can also get an extra £66.29 a week for each child, or £76.79 for the first child if they were born before April 6, 2017. A typical Pension Credit claim provides more than £2,900 a year in support.
Claiming the benefit also grants access to other Government support, such as a free TV licence for over 75s and help with NHS costs. The Government website features a calculator tool to determine how much Pension Credit you can claim.
The weekly income supplement is referred to as the ‘Guarantee Credit’ part of an individual’s claim. There’s also a separate ‘Savings Credit’ component, which offers a payment if you’ve saved money for your retirement, like in a personal or workplace pension.
Single claimants can receive an additional £17.01 per week, while couples can get £19.04 per week. However, this is only accessible to older claimants who reached state pension age before April 6, 2016.