Pension Credit is an income-related benefit for people in retirement. If you’re on a low income or struggling with your money, you may be eligible for Pension Credit. It comes in two parts and you could get one or both parts.
There isn’t a savings limit for Pension Credit, but if you have over £10,000 this will affect how much you receive if you claiming either Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit.
You may be eligible for Guarantee Credit if you’ve already reached State Pension age. You can check your eligibility using the Government State Pension calculator.
If you’re an eligible age, but your weekly income is higher than the income thresholds, you may still be able to claim Guarantee Credit if you meet one of the following criteria:
If you’ve reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, you are eligible to claim the Savings Credit part of Pension Credit.
If you’re a couple and one of you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, you may be able to claim. Check out the Changes to Pension Credit section to find out how it could affect you.
From the 15 May 2019, there will be changes for mixed-age couples who want to claim Pension Credit. If you’re affected by the changes, hurry up and make a claim for Pension Credit or Housing Benefit now, before the changes come into effect.
From 15 May 2019, if you are in a couple both of you will need to reach State Pension age before you can claim Pension Credit or Housing Benefit. Instead, you will need to apply for Universal Credit. However, because Universal Credit is less than pension-age benefits, you could lose out on quite a bit of money.
If you’re already claiming either of these benefits on 14 May 2019, you shouldn’t be affected. To find out more about the changes, visit the Government’s website. Or AgeUK is a good source of information.
If your circumstances change or you take a break from claiming, you may be asked to claim Universal Credit instead. Things that might affect your claim include:
Check your entitlement to other benefits
If you’re entitled to Pension Credit, you may well be entitled to these other benefits too:
Do I need a bank account?
You will need to have a bank or building society account to collect Universal Credit. Find out which ones are the best and how to open one, click here.