Pension Credit

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What you'll get

Pension Credit tops up:

  • your weekly income to £218.15 if you’re single
  • your joint weekly income to £332.95 if you have a partner

You may get extra amounts if you have other responsibilities and costs.

The top up and extra amounts are known as ‘Guarantee Credit’.

If you have a severe disability

You could get an extra £81.50 a week if you get any of the following:

  • Attendance Allowance
  • the middle or highest rate from the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
  • the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
  • Armed Forces Independence Payment
  • the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment (ADP) at the standard or enhanced rate

If you care for another adult

You could get an extra £45.60 a week if:

  • you get Carer’s Allowance
  • you get Carer Support Payment
  • you’ve claimed Carer’s Allowance but are not being paid because you already get another benefit paying a higher amount

If you and your partner have both claimed or are getting Carer’s Allowance, you can both get this extra amount.

If you’re responsible for children or young people

You could get an extra £66.29 a week for each child or young person you’re responsible for. This is increased to £76.79 a week for the first child if they were born before 6 April 2017.

The child or young person must normally live with you and be under the age of 20.

If they’re 16 or over and under 20, they must be in (or accepted for):

  • approved training, such as Foundation Apprenticeships
  • a course of non-advanced education (for example, they’re studying for GCSEs or A levels)

If they’re in education, it must be for more than 12 hours a week on average.

If you get Tax Credits, you cannot get this extra amount of Pension Credit for caring for a child. But you might be eligible for Child Tax Credits.

If the child or young person is disabled

If the child or young person is disabled, you could also get an extra amount of either:

  • £35.93 a week if they get DLA, PIP or ADP
  • £112.21 a week if they’re blind or they get the highest rate care component of DLA or CDP, or the enhanced daily living component of PIP or ADP

If you have housing costs

You could get an extra amount to cover your housing costs, such as:

  • ground rent if your property is a leasehold
  • some service charges
  • charges for tents and site rents

The amount you could get depends on your housing costs.

If you get Pension Credit, you could also be eligible for:

If you have savings or a second pension

You could get the ‘Savings Credit’ part of Pension Credit if both of the following apply:

  • you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016
  • you saved some money for retirement, for example a personal or workplace pension

You’ll get up to £17.01 Savings Credit a week if you’re single. If you have a partner, you’ll get up to £19.04 a week.

You might still get some Savings Credit even if you do not get the Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit.

Other help if you get Pension Credit

If you get Pension Credit you’ll automatically get cold weather payments.

You’ll also be eligible to:

NHS costs can include things such as prescriptions, dental treatment, glasses and transport costs for hospital appointments.

Find out how much you could get

Use the Pension Credit calculator to work out how much you might get.

Contact the Pension Service helpline if you’re not sure whether you’re eligible for extra amounts.

Pension Service helpline
Telephone: 0800 731 0469
Textphone: 0800 169 0133
Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 731 0469
British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service if you’re on a computer - find out how to use the service on mobile or tablet
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm (except public holidays)
Find out about call charges

How you’re paid

All benefits, pensions and allowances are usually paid into an account, for example a bank account.

View a printable version of the whole guide

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