The short answer
- Pension Credit tops your weekly income up to £238.00 if you are single, or £363.25 for a couple.
- The guarantee is higher if you are disabled, a carer or responsible for a child.
- The first £10,000 of savings is ignored, and there is no upper savings limit.
- Some people who reached State Pension age before April 2016 can also get Savings Credit.
Who can get Pension Credit
- You have reached State Pension age and live in Great Britain.
- If you have a partner, you both must have reached State Pension age, unless you were already getting Pension Credit or Housing Benefit for pensioners as a mixed-age couple before 15 May 2019.
- Your weekly income is below your guarantee, or you qualify for Savings Credit.
A mixed-age couple, where one partner is under State Pension age, claims Universal Credit instead. Owning your home does not stop you getting Pension Credit.
Guarantee Credit
Guarantee Credit makes up the difference between your weekly income and your minimum guarantee. For a single person with a State Pension of £200 a week, that is £38 a week, or £1,976 a year.
The full new State Pension of £241.30 is above the single guarantee, so most people on the full new State Pension get no Pension Credit unless one of the extra amounts below applies.
Extra amounts
| Addition | A week | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| Severe disability (single) | £86.05 | Gets Attendance Allowance, PIP daily living or DLA middle or high care, lives alone, no one paid Carer's Allowance for them |
| Severe disability (couple, both qualify) | £172.10 | As above, for both partners |
| Carer | £48.15 | Entitled to Carer's Allowance, even if not paid |
| Child: eldest born before 6 April 2017 | £81.07 | Each child you are responsible for |
| Child: each other child | £69.98 | Every child counts from April 2026 |
| Disabled child: lower | £37.93 | Child getting DLA or PIP |
| Disabled child: higher | £118.46 | Highest DLA care, enhanced PIP daily living, or blind |
The severe disability addition is the biggest. It can turn a pensioner on the full new State Pension, with no Pension Credit, into someone getting £82.75 a week. “Living alone” ignores some people, such as someone under 18 or a carer provided by a care organisation.
What counts as income
- Pensions
- State Pension, workplace and private pensions
- Earnings
- After tax, NI and half of pension contributions, less a disregard
- Benefits
- Carer's Allowance and most other taxable benefits
- Savings
- Assumed income above £10,000
- Disability
- Attendance Allowance, PIP and DLA
- Winter
- Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payments
- Family
- Child Benefit
- Housing
- Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction
The earnings disregard is £5 a week for a single person and £10 for a couple, rising to £20 for carers and some disabled people. If you have a pension pot you have not started drawing, you may be treated as having the income it could buy.
Savings and capital
The first £10,000 of savings, investments and property other than your home is ignored. Above that, every £500 or part of £500 is treated as £1 a week of income. There is no upper limit, so even large savings do not stop you claiming if your income is low enough.
| Savings | Assumed income a week |
|---|---|
| £10,000 or less | £0 |
| £10,500 | £1 |
| £12,000 | £4 |
| £15,000 | £10 |
| £20,000 | £20 |
| £30,000 | £40 |
A single person with a State Pension of £200 and savings of £14,000 has £8 a week of assumed income, so their Pension Credit is £30 a week instead of £38.
Savings Credit
Savings Credit rewards people who made some provision for retirement. You can only get it if you, or your partner, reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. It pays 60% of your qualifying income above a threshold, up to a maximum, then takes away 40% of your income above the guarantee.
| Single | Couple | |
|---|---|---|
| Threshold a week | £208.07 | £329.75 |
| Maximum a week | £17.96 | £20.10 |
| Income where it stops | £282.90 | £413.50 |
- 60% of income above £208.07Capped at £17.96£17.96
- Less 40% of income above £23840% of £12−£4.80
Worked examples
| Household | Guarantee | Income | Pension Credit a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single, basic State Pension £184.90 plus £30 private pension | £238.00 | £214.90 | £23.10 |
| Couple, State Pensions totalling £300 | £363.25 | £300.00 | £63.25 |
| Single, full new State Pension, severe disability addition | £324.05 | £241.30 | £82.75 |
| Couple, £350 income, one a carer | £411.40 | £350.00 | £61.40 |
| Single, £220 income, caring for a grandchild | £307.98 | £220.00 | £87.98 |
Small weekly amounts add up: £23.10 a week is £1,201.20 a year, before counting the help it unlocks.
What Pension Credit unlocks
- Housing Benefit for all eligible rent, if you get Guarantee Credit.
- Council Tax Reduction, often covering the whole bill.
- A free TV licence if you are 75 or over.
- Cold Weather Payments of £25 for each very cold week.
- The Warm Home Discount on your electricity bill.
- Free NHS dental treatment, vouchers for glasses and help with travel to hospital, with Guarantee Credit.
Worth more than the weekly amount
For many people the extras are worth more than the Pension Credit itself. A free TV licence alone is worth over £170 a year.
Rent, mortgages and service charges
Rent is not paid through Pension Credit. You claim Housing Benefit from your council, and with Guarantee Credit you get the maximum, up to the Local Housing Allowance if you rent privately. Homeowners can add some service charges and ground rent to their guarantee, and can apply for a Support for Mortgage Interest loan.
How to claim and backdating
- Up to 4 months beforeClaim before State Pension age
So payments can start on time.
- Claim dayApply online or by phone
Have bank details, income and savings to hand.
- After claimingBackdating
Up to 3 months if you qualified then.
- A few weeks laterDecision
Paid every week, two weeks or four weeks.
Always ask for backdating. If you qualified three months ago, that can be worth hundreds of pounds, along with the extra help linked to it.
Changes and reviews
Tell the Pension Service about changes in your income, savings, who lives with you, or time abroad. Most awards are reviewed from time to time. Getting Attendance Allowance after you start Pension Credit can increase your award, so report that too.
Why so many people miss out
Government estimates suggest around a third of households who could get Pension Credit do not claim it. Common reasons are thinking that owning a home or having some savings rules you out, or that the amount would be too small to bother with. Neither is true.
If you are unsure, check with this calculator, the GOV.UK calculator, or a free service such as Age UK or Citizens Advice.
Couples and partners
A couple, married or living together, claims Pension Credit together and their incomes and savings are added up. Only one partner makes the claim. If one partner is under State Pension age, the couple usually claims Universal Credit instead until they both reach it.
When a partner dies, Pension Credit is recalculated at the single rate. The single guarantee is lower, but so is the household income, so many widows and widowers qualify for the first time. Claim as soon as possible.
Going abroad
You can keep Pension Credit for up to 4 weeks if you go abroad temporarily, 8 weeks if the absence is because of the death of a close relative, or 26 weeks for medical treatment. Tell the Pension Service before you travel. If you stay away longer, payments stop.
Pension Credit in a care home
You can get Pension Credit in a care home. The council will usually count it, with your other income, when working out what you pay towards your care, though you keep a weekly personal expenses allowance. If you go into a care home and your partner stays at home, you are usually treated as single, which can increase what each of you gets.
Council Tax Reduction
Pensioners’ Council Tax Reduction follows national rules in England. If you get Guarantee Credit, you usually get a reduction of the whole bill, less any deductions for other adults living with you. With Savings Credit only, or no Pension Credit, it is worked out on your income and may still be worth a lot.
What you need to claim
- Your National Insurance number, and your partner’s.
- Details of your State Pension and any other pensions.
- Bank statements and details of savings and investments.
- Details of any earnings, rent, service charges or mortgage.
- Your bank account details for payments.
You can claim without all of this to hand. Start the claim and provide anything missing later.
Old and new State Pension
People who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 get the basic State Pension, with a full rate of £184.90 a week, sometimes topped up by an additional State Pension. On the full basic State Pension alone, a single person is £53.10 a week below the guarantee. This is why many older pensioners, particularly women with gaps in their National Insurance record, qualify for Pension Credit.
The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week, above the single guarantee. People who receive less than the full amount, because of gaps in their record or years contracted out, can still qualify.
Deferring your State Pension
If you put off claiming your State Pension, you may be treated as having it anyway when your Pension Credit is worked out. Deferring usually makes little sense if you would qualify for Pension Credit, because the increase you build up is counted as income later too.