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Pension Credit Overview & What you’ll get
1 Overview
Pension Credit gives you extra money to help with your living costs if you’re over State Pension age and on a low income. Pension Credit can also help with housing costs such as ground rent or service charges.
Pension Credit tops up your weekly income to £306.85 if you have a partner or £201.05 if you’re single.
If your income is higher, you might still be eligible for Pension Credit if you have a disability, you care for someone, you have savings or you have housing costs. See below for further information on who is eligible for these additional amounts
You don’t pay tax on Pension Credit.
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2 What You’ll Get
Pension Credit per week
Single people top up to £201.05
Couples top up to £306.85
You might get more if you’re a carer, severely disabled or have certain housing costs.
You might be eligible for other benefits when you get Pension Credit – like Housing Benefit, help with Council Tax, Cold Weather Payments and NHS dental treatment.
If you have a severe disability
You could get an extra £76.40 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 £42.75 a week if:
- you get Carer’s Allowance
- 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 £61.88 a week for each child or young person you’re responsible for. This is increased to £72.31 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.
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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:
- £33.67 a week if they get DLA, PIP or ADP
- £104.86 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 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 £15.94 Savings Credit a week if you’re single. If you have a partner, you’ll get up to £17.84 a week.
How you’re paid
All benefits, pensions and allowances are paid into an account, e.g. a bank account.
Other Help If You Get Pension Credit
If you get Pension Credit you can also get other help, such as:
- Housing Benefit if you rent the property you live in
- Support for Mortgage Interest if you own the property you live in
- a Council Tax discount
- a free TV licence if you’re aged 75 or over
- help with NHS dental treatment, glasses and transport costs for hospital appointments, if you get a certain type of Pension Credit
- help with your heating costs through the Warm Home Discount Scheme
- a discount on the Royal Mail redirection service if you’re moving house
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