14 June 2022
If you are covering DWP’s 'Pension Credit Day of action’ on Wednesday 15 June, please find commentary below from Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter:
“The cost-of-living crisis is causing everyone to suffer a significant strain on their finances and sadly pensioners may be some of the hardest hit. It is therefore so important that the close to a million eligible pensioners are encouraged to apply for Pension Credits. For so many of these people the additional funds made available by this application could make a huge difference to their ability to weather these troubling financial times.
“Hopefully this action day can go some way to spreading the word about how valuable these credits are. Anyone who thinks they or their family members might be eligible should get online at gov.uk/pension-credit or call the 0800 99 1234 and enquire.
“For those who rely heavily on the state pension, the next year should hopefully be somewhat easier as once the triple lock is reinstated pensioner income will be uprated to match the unique inflationary environment we are living in. Until that happens though pensioner’s income is failing to keep up with inflation and they are suffering one of the worst disparities in their income versus the inflation rate.”
Pension Credit Day of Action – background
The Department for Work and Pension’s ‘Pension Credit Day of Action’ will take place on Wednesday, June 15 and aims to get more older people applying for support to help them manage the rising cost of living.
According to the DWP, up to 850,000 families who were entitled to receive Pension Credit but did not claim the benefit in the financial year 2019 to 2020, which can be worth over £3,300 a year.
Those not claiming may miss out on a new, one-off £650 payment to more than 8 million low-income households on means tested benefits including those claiming Pension Credits.
Currently, over 1.4 million pensioners in Britain receive Pension Credit. However, many are still not claiming this extra financial help and it is estimated up to £1.7bn is being left unclaimed.
There are numerous reasons why pensioners don’t claim their credits including a lack of awareness, feeling like they would not qualify and simply feeling that they do not want to take up the benefit because of a negative attitude to asking for help or feeling like a burden to the state.
Not only can claiming Pension Credit give low-income pensioners additional income and access to the new cost of living payment but can also provide access to a wide range of other benefits – such as help with housing costs, council tax or heating bills. For those over 75, this includes continued entitlement to a free TV licence.
Pension Credit can be claimed both by phone and online. There is also an online Pension Credit calculator, which helps pensioners check if they’re likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive.
