What is pension credit?
Pension credit is a payment that could mean extra money for you every week if you are 60 or over and living in Britain.
Pension credit makes sure that everyone aged 60 and over has an income of at least
- £114.05 a week if you are single
- £174.05 a week if you have a partner
If you or your partner are 65 or over and have saved for your retirement you may get
- £17.88 if you are single
- £23.58 a week if you have a partner
You may be able to have your payments backdated if you could have claimed sooner.
If you apply for pension credit you must be at least 60 but your partner can be under 60. When we refer to a partner, we mean
-a person you are married to or a person you live with as if you are married to them, or
-a civil partner or a person you live with as if you are civil partners.
Who pays pension credits
Pension credits are provided by the pension service which is part of the Department of Works and Pensions.
How do I apply for pension credits?
Either contact us or visit the pension credit website by following the links on the right hand side of this page.
Can I get pension credits?
To find out if you might get pension credit, you need to add up your weekly net income (after deductions) and savings.
Your income
Only some types of income are counted when your pension credit is worked out. These include
- pensions (including state pension, a work pension or a personal pension)
- certain benefits (for example, carer's allowance and bereavement benefit) and
- earnings from a job.
Types of income that are not counted include
- attendance allowance
- disability living allowance
- housing benefit
- council tax benefit
Your savings
When we work out your pension credit we do not need to know about any interest or dividends you get from your savings. We look at the amount of savings you have and count £1 a week as income for every £500 or part of £500 over £6,000. (This figure is over £10,000 if you live permanently in a care home). The savings and investments we take into account include
- money in a bank, building society or post office account;
- National savings certificates;
- Premium Bonds
- investments like ISAs, PEPs and TESSAs;
- an income bond, capital bond or granny bond;
- shares or unit trusts
- property and land (but not including the place where you normally live).
If you live with your grown up family you may still be able to get pension credit. We look at your income – not theirs.
You can apply if you own your own home. If your application for pension credit is successful you may get help with council tax as well.
Payments from friends, family and charities are ignored when we assess your income.
Even if you are only awarded a small amount it may mean that you can get help with other things such as housing benefit and council tax benefit.