The government is urging older people to check their eligibility for the £3300 a year payment. Currently 850,000 households qualify for the payment but still many have gone unclaimed.
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The Swindon Advertiser reports:
An estimated £1.7 billion in the benefit is being left unclaimed at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is hitting people on low or fixed incomes particularly hard.
Who can claim?
Pension Credit is available to all of those who have reached State Pension age and live in England, Scotland or Wales. The initiative was created to help with day-to-day expenditure and living costsfor people who are on a low income.
The DWP are even encouraging family members to check if their older relatives could be due the income boost worth £3,300 each year.
The payment can be claimed by phone and online. In addition, an online Pension Credit calculator can help pensioners check if they are eligible and provide an estimate of what they may receive.
Many benefits do not count as income - including Adult Disability Payment, Attendance Allowance, Christmas Bonus, Child Benefit, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, social fund payments like Winter Fuel Allowance, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction.
How much?
Pension credit is paid out by the government and can top up your weekly income to £182.60 if you’re single, or to a joint income of £278.70 if you have a partner.
Money saving expert Martin Lewis commented, according to GOV.UK:
My simple rule of thumb is if you (or someone you know) are aged 66 or older, and have total income of under roughly £200 a week, get online or call the Pension Credit claim line to see if you’re due a payment that can be as much as £3,300 a year.
The DWP is also reminding people that a new claim for Pension Credit could be processed in as little as 40 days. This means the extra financial support could arrive by November just in time to pay for the rapidly increasing energy bills.
Sources used:
- MyLondon'DWP: People over 65 could get £3,300-a-year payment 'even if you have savings or your own home'
- Swindon Advertiser'DWP: Deadline for pensioners to claim £3,300 payment'
- GOV.UK 'Eligible pensioners urged to claim Pension Credit to help with cost of living'
- The Daily Post 'DWP thinks thousands of Brits are missing out on £3,300 payment'
Read more:
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⋙ Get a £330 boost in pay this November as tax increase is scrapped
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