Pension Credit: Are You Missing Out? Check Your Eligibility Now

Pension Credit is, by DWP's own figures, one of the most under-claimed benefits in the country. Government statistics show up to £2.5 billion of Pension Credit went unclaimed in the most recent year reported, with hundreds of thousands of eligible families missing out — an average of around £2,600 a year each. We're building a dedicated Pension Credit application service to help close that gap, and our eligibility checker is available right now.

Why so much goes unclaimed

Pension Credit tops up the weekly income of pensioners on a low income, and the most common reason people never apply is assuming a small workplace or private pension, some modest savings, or owning their own home automatically rules them out. In many cases it doesn't. The calculation looks at your actual weekly income against a guarantee level set each year, and even a partial award is worth applying for — because of everything it can unlock.

The cascade: why one Pension Credit award can unlock more

Pension Credit is a genuine gateway benefit. Being awarded it can unlock Council Tax Reduction, help with Housing Benefit, a free TV licence at 75 or over, help with NHS costs, and cheaper broadband and phone social tariffs. It also works the other way — Attendance Allowance is ignored as income for Pension Credit purposes, and can actually increase a Pension Credit award through the severe disability addition. That's why we already check Pension Credit eligibility automatically for every Attendance Allowance client we work with.

What we're building

• A live eligibility checker that walks through who qualifies, how the income and savings calculation actually works, and the specific circumstances — homeownership, couples, mixed-age households — that most often cause confusion.
• A cascade check that looks at Pension Credit alongside Council Tax Reduction and Housing Benefit in one go, rather than as separate applications people have to remember to make.
• Support gathering the right paperwork and completing the application properly, so a partial entitlement isn't missed because the sums looked discouraging on paper.
• The same success-fee model we use across our other services once the paid service launches: no money upfront, and full transparency on any fee before we do any work.

To be clear about what we are: we're an independent, technology-led guidance and application support service, not the Department for Work and Pensions. Applying for Pension Credit directly through GOV.UK is always free, and checking your eligibility with us is free too — no obligation, no card details.

Coming soon

Our dedicated Pension Credit application service isn't live yet — we're building and testing it properly before we open it up. In the meantime, our eligibility checker is ready now. Register your interest and we'll be in touch the moment the full service is ready.