Pension Credit

How much is pension credit?

Pension credit comes in two parts. The first part is a guaranteed top up for all. How much you'll get for the second part will depend on how much you have in savings.

1. Guarantee credit

   For single pensioners with weekly income (including pension) below £163, pension credit will top you up to £163.

   If you have a partner and your joint weekly income is below £248.80, it'll top you up to £248.80.

   When you apply for guarantee credit, the Government looks at all of your income. This includes both your basic and additional state pension, any income from other pensions, income from any jobs or social security benefits you have and any savings above £10,000.

   
   

2. Savings credit (for those 65 and over)

   The savings credit is a reward for those with a modest income who have saved for retirement. After all, if saving means you end up with little more than those who don't save, it'd discourage people from providing for themselves.

   Most people who reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2016 won’t be eligible for savings credit. But you can continue to get it if you’re in a couple and one of you reached state pension age before 6 April 2016, or you were getting savings credit up to 6 April 2016. If you stop being eligible for savings credit for any reason from 6 April 2016, you won’t be able to get it again.

   To qualify you have to have a minimum income of £140.67 a week if you're single, and £223.82 a week if you're in a couple.

   The way it's calculated works like this: for every £1 by which your income exceeds the savings credit threshold (£140.67 for a single person and £223.82 for a couple), you'd get 60p of savings credit.

   The maximum you can get per week is £13.40 for a single person and £14.99 for couples.

   Example:

If your income is less than or equal to the savings credit threshold, you won't qualify for this benefit.

If you pay mortgage interest or have other housing costs, or if you've caring responsibilities, or you're responsible for a child, or are severely disabled, you may be entitled to even more pension credit.

How much can you have in savings before it affects pension credit?

Any income from work is, of course, treated normally, so if you earn £10,000 a year, that's what is recorded on your pension file as your income.

When it comes to savings and investments the situation is a bit more complex. This means any money saved or invested in your name, or investment properties (excluding your home).

• The first £10,000 doesn't count

  You're allowed to have that sum saved without it affecting your pension credit at all. This is a big boon as the majority of claimants have little more than this saved.

• Above £10,000

  Here, it's assumed you earn £1 a week per £500 of saving, which works out at 10.4% interest. This is completely unachievable in any savings account now, and virtually unachievable at any point in recent memory. If it were an investment, it would need to be doing seriously well.

  It can only be presumed an assumption of a gradual use of capital has been factored into this calculation, plus the initial 'free' £10,000....

Example:

To check your full entitlement it's best to call the Pension Credit claim line on 0800 99 1234 or use the online tool to find out how much you could get.

Quick question