It also acts as a 'passport' to additional help with housing costs, council tax and heating bills
The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that a staggering 850,000 older people may be missing out on a means-tested payment which would significantly boost their retirement income. Pension credit is a means-tested benefit worth more than £3,500 each year in financial support.Older people - or friends and family - can quickly check their eligibility and get an estimate of what they may receive by using the online pension credit calculator on GOV.UK here.
The retirement expert has previously warned that many older people do not receive anywhere near the full amount of state pension - there are currently 1.8m people receiving less than £100 per week - with the vast majority of those being women who have accrued large gaps in their National Insurance contribution history due to time taken away from the workforce to care for their family.
Data taken from Hargreaves Lansdown’s savings and resilience barometer models the percentage of households on track for a moderate retirement income - this equates to around £23,000 per year for a single person according to calculations from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association. However, only around 42 per cent are currently on track to meet this goal.
The next cost of living payment due this Autumn is for £300 and will be paid to those on income-related benefits, including Pension Credit. Pension credit in a nutshell Pension credit gives people extra money to help with their living costs if they are over state pension age and on a low income. It 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.
Mixed aged older couples and pension credit In May 2019, the law changed so a ‘mixed age couple’ - a couple where one partner is of state pension age and the other is under it - are considered to be a ‘working age’ couple when checking entitlement to means-tested benefits.
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