The number of pensions credit claims made to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) more than doubled in the most recent tax year.

Pension credit is a benefit that is provided by the state which often tends to go unclaimed by lower income retirees. In 2023/24, if you are over the state pension age, single and your income is less than £201.05 a week, pension credit will top you up to that amount. For a couple, the combined income figure is £306.85.

In a freedom of information (FOI) request, it was revealed by the DWP that almost a quarter of pension credit claims were made in 2022/23, compared to approximately 111,000 in the previous tax year.

Of these 250,000 claims, 143,000 claims were successful, compared to just under 82,000 in 2021/22. However, 95,000 claims were refused by the DWP, compared to around 29,000 in 2021/22.

The DWP has previously estimated that up to 850,000 eligible households fail to claim pension credit every year, with pension credit being worth around £3,500 a year on average to those who claim it.

Head of retirement policy at AJ Bell, Tom Selby, said: “Pension credit has historically been chronically underclaimed by those who are eligible, with hundreds of thousands of households potentially missing out on thousands of pounds of valuable extra income per year. This is particularly tragic because those who are eligible for pension credit are likely to be among the poorest households in the UK.

“The rising cost of living has brought greater urgency to the issue, in particular because a successful pension credit application automatically triggers cost of living payments worth hundreds of pounds, as well as acting as a gateway to other benefits like free TV licenses and help with heating costs.

“In this context, the fact pension credit claims have more than doubled in the space of a year is both heartening and depressing. Heartening because it means over 60,000 more people received pension credit and the benefits that go with it in 2022/23, but depressing because it shows just how much retirees are struggling as a result of price rises.

“The fact almost 100,000 pension credit claims were turned down in 2022/23 is also deeply worrying, as these households may have been relying on receiving the benefit – not to mention the £600 of cost-of-living payments still to be distributed this year – to make ends meet. If your pension credit claim has been turned down you may still be entitled to other benefits, so it’s worth checking to see if you are eligible for other forms of financial help.”

Share Story: