Pensioners can get extra payments for housing costs – are you eligible for state support? | Personal Finance | Finance
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Pension Credit tops up income levels where retirees are on low incomes. On top of these boosted payments, claimants may also get support for certain lifestyle costs.
Pension Credit claimants could also get an extra £54.60 a week for each child or young person they’re responsible for. This increases to £65.10 a week for the first child if they were born before April 6, 2017.
Where children being cared for are disabled, additional funds could be awarded.
Claimants with their own severe disabilities may also get an extra £67.30 a week if they receive other relevant benefits. This includes Attendance Allowance, the daily living component of PIP or the Armed Forces Independence Payment.
Pension Credit claimants of all circumstances will also automatically qualify for cold weather payments when they’re issued.
How to claim Pension Credit
Pension Credit claims can be made up to four months before a person reaches their state pension age. Applications can be made any time after reaching the state pension age but claims can only be backdated by three months.
Claims can be made online through the Government’s website, over the phone or through the post.
Before applying, claimants will need to have certain information at the ready. This includes their National Insurance number and data on income and savings.
Following a claim, if a claimant is unhappy with a decision made by the DWP, they’ll be able to challenge it under mandatory reconsideration rules.
To see if one would be eligible for Pension Credit, a free-to-use calculator can be found on the Government’s website. To use the Pension Credit calculator, users will need details of their earnings, benefits, pensions, savings and investments.
Additionally, general benefit calculators are offered by a number of organisations. These tools allow users to find how many forms of state support they’d be eligible for.
The Government does not provide these kinds of calculators itself but it does highlight the following providers:
- Turn2us – for information on income-related benefits, tax credits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit and how your benefits will be affected if you start work or change your working hours
- Policy in Practice – for information on income-related benefits, tax credits, contribution-based benefits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit, how these are calculated and how your benefits will be affected if you start work or change your working hours
- entitledto – for information on income-related benefits, tax credits, contribution-based benefits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit and how your benefits will be affected if you start work
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