Pensioners may be able to get state pension top up plus £650 boost and free TV licence | Personal Finance | Finance
Pension Credit is a Government benefit that gives people over the state pension age and on a low income extra money to help with their daily living costs. It tops up a person’s income to a minimum of £182.60 per week or around £9,500 a year for single pensioners. For couples, they receive £278.70 a week or around £14,500 a year. The DWP stated that on average, people get more than £3,300 in Pension Credit a year.
Pension Credit is separate from a person’s state pension and they can get it even if they have other income, savings, or own their own home.
Claiming Pension Credit also allows Britons access to multiple other additional perks.
This includes a free TV Licence if a person is over 75 years old, saving £159 a year.
Britons can also receive a council tax reduction of up to 100 percent in some cases, Cold Weather Payments worth £25 for each seven-day period where temperatures fall below zero degrees, and the Warm Home Discount which is a one-off of £140 rebate on electricity bills between October and April.
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Other additional benefits include free NHS dental treatment, prescription, glasses and transport costs for hospital appointments, housing benefit and support for mortgage interest if a person owns the property they live in.
Pension Credit can also allow a person to claim the £650 cost of living support payment.
This is because Pension Credit is one of the low-income benefits to qualify for the Government support payment.
The cost of living payment is to be paid in two amounts, the first instalment of £326 and the second sum of £324.
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The first instalment began being paid from July 14 until the end of July.
The second payment is to come in the Autumn, but a date has yet to be revealed.
To be eligible for the first payment, people need to have been claiming, or later proved to be eligible to claim, a qualifying benefit for any day in the period April 26, 2022 to May 25, 2022.
As Pension Credit can be backdated by three months, pensioners have until August 18 to make a claim.
If successful, claimants will then be eligible for the full £650 payment.
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If Britons apply too late, they will miss out on the £326 but should be able to get the next instalment later this year.
The DWP says currently over 1.4 million pensioners in Britain receive Pension Credit, however many are still not claiming this extra financial help.
The Government department launched its Pension Credit Day of Action in June which aimed to make more people aware of the pension credit scheme.
Over 10,000 Pension Credit claims were made during the week of June 13 2022 which was almost double the usual claims.
This was an increase of 275 percent compared to that same week in 2021.
The DWP’s campaign included promotions from Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis and Strictly Come Dancing’s Len Goodman.
The former Strictly Come Dancing judge featured in a video which addressed the common myths of Pension Credit and encouraged greater take-up of the support.
The video was posted to social media and has now been viewed over 1.3 million times.
Even with the success of the campaign, the DWP state that around 850,000 are still missing out.
Commenting on the results, Pensions Minister, Guy Opperman, said: “We recognise the challenges some pensioners will be facing with the cost of living which is why promoting Pension Credit is a priority.
“The success of our day of action means more pensioners can get the support they’re entitled to, but we’re not stopping there.
“We’re continuing to get the word out about Pension Credit, calling on everyone with retired family, friends and loved ones to check in with them and see if they can get this extra financial support, which can make a huge difference to people’s lives.”
