Pension Credit trial offers life-changing hope to poorer pensioners
17th July 2023 11:46
by Alice Guy from interactive investor
But more needs to be done, argues our head of pensions and savings Alice Guy.
Commenting, Alice Guy, Head of Pensions and Savings, interactive investor says: “This is great news for poorer pensioners who are currently struggling to make ends meet and could be eligible for more help from the government.
“This trial, which invites 2,000 pensioners on housing benefit to apply for Pension Credit, is a great step in the right direction to raise awareness of the Pension Credit. Up to 850,000 pensioners are currently missing out on Pension Credit unnecessarily, when they could be owed an income boost.
“But this is only the first step, and more needs to be done to raise awareness as many pensioners are currently living unnecessarily in poverty due to a lack of awareness of the pension credit system.
“Pension Credit works by topping up your pension income to £201 each week for single pensioners and £307 for couples.
“The average pension credit award is £3,500 each year, which is a life-changing amount for poorer pensioners.
“It’s worth applying even if you’ll only get a small amount as it opens the door to other valuable benefits that could make a big difference to your retirement income.”
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