16 November 2023
New Freedom of Information data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), gathered by Quilter, the wealth manager and financial adviser, has found that the number of people claiming Pension Credits increased by 75% last year.
The number of Pension Credit claims awarded 143,031 in the 2022/23 tax year compared to just 81,519 in 21/22.
Pension Credits are a weekly benefit to boost your income and is based on how much money you have coming in. The benefit tops up a person’s income to a minimum of £201.05 per week for single pensioners and to £306.85 for couples – or more if a person has a disability or caring responsibilities. A pension credit is worth over £3,500 a year on average.
Although the data is incomplete for 2023/24 the number of Pension Credit claims looks set to be higher than average this year too, as between April and September 2023 71,590 claims have been awarded.
The increase in the number of people claiming Pension Credit comes after a government campaign to encourage pensioners to check eligibility to not only take advantage of the increase in income but also to access a wide range of other benefits such as help with housing costs, council tax or heating bills. More recently those in receipt of a Pension Credit also became eligible for a cost-of-living payment.
It was estimated 850,000 eligible households are not claiming Pension Credit, with up to £1.7 billion of available Pension Credit going unclaimed.
|
23/24 (April 23-Sept 23) |
22/23 |
21/22 |
20/21 |
19/20 |
18/19 |
|
|
PC Claims awarded |
71,590 |
143,031 |
81,519 |
95,001 |
84,164 |
81,838 |
|
Claims refused |
46,593 |
95,515 |
28,834 |
32,646 |
10,370 |
9,797 |
|
PC claims mandatory reconsiderations |
332 |
687 |
530 |
220 |
923 |
1,721 |
|
PC claims received by Telephone |
13,481 |
30,745 |
32,530 |
26,811 |
26,110 |
22,254 |
|
PC claims received by post |
31,166 |
52,523 |
38,217 |
46,414 |
81,858 |
77,296 |
|
Total PC Claims made online |
83,093 |
187,040 |
78,131 |
70,513 |
- |
- |
The campaign has also increased the number of claims the government has refused with a 231% spike in 2022/23 tax year when 95,515 claims were refused.
You can ask the Pension Service to look at your claim again if you think a decision about your Pension Credit is wrong. Asking them to change their decision is called a ‘mandatory reconsideration’. It’s free to do and you don’t need a solicitor or any other legal help.
Some of the reasons for a claim being refused include having too much income, not being a UK resident, failure to provide all requested information to support a claim, not claiming on time or not being the right age.
The most popular way of applying for pension credit is online followed by postal applications with a total of 187,040 and 52,523 people applying by those methods respectively.
Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter:
“It is very encouraging to see so many more people being awarded with Pension Credits and especially at times like these as any increases to a pensioner’s income can be transformational to their quality of life.
“Unfortunately, so many people are either unaware of these credits or simply don’t realise they would be eligible for them and despite this increase in the number of awards there will still be hundreds of thousands of pensioners able to claim but not doing so.
“What is clear is that major government-backed campaigns like the one mounted over the past couple of years can have a huge impact on awareness, but risk being forgotten over time. A system of automatically awarding benefits, based on other data the DWP holds, would appear to be a simple answer but in practicality is unrealistic given the data for some benefits isn’t the same as used for others. That said, existing data could help target those who may be more likely to be entitled who could then be subject to a more targeted approach.”
