Money knowledgeable Martin Lewis has hit out at authorities figures revealing that tons of of hundreds of pensioners proceed to miss out on important monetary support.
Around 900,000 people are not claiming pension credit regardless of being eligible for it, knowledge from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reveals.
The profit is designed to support pensioners whose weekly revenue is under a specific amount. It will high up their incomes up to £238.00 every week in the event that they’re single or £363.25 collectively every week for companions.
Mr Lewis mentioned on X: “Even after all the shenanigans linking the Winter Fuel Payment to Pension Credit, there are, according to the govt’s own figures still 900,000 of the very poorest pensioners (out of 2.3m eligible) missing out on the crucial Pension Credit income top up! It’s not good enough”
The take up of Pension Credit elevated barely following Labour’s now-reversed determination to hyperlink the profit to the Winter Fuel Payment for the primary time in 2024.
The division additionally says it’s consulting on methods to get the profit to those that want it, with plans to collectively administer Housing Benefit and Pension Credit set to come into power ‘as soon as possible’.
The division describes pension credit score as a ‘passport’ profit, opening the door to extra monetary assist than simply the top-up. This consists of housing profit, support with mortgages, a free TV licence and, most just lately, the winter gas cost. In April, pension credit score was uprated by September’s inflation price of three.8 per cent.
The newest DWP statistics present that as many as 910,000 eligible pensioners weren’t claiming pension credit score, and analysis by Policy in Practice reveals that this makes up only a small portion of the £24bn worth of benefits going unclaimed every year.
A DWP spokesperson mentioned: “The Government wants all pensioners to get the support they are rightly entitled to and thanks to our biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign, we have seen an additional 33,500 pension credit awards in 2025 compared with the previous year.
“Given the increases in Pension Credit rates, some people who were not previously eligible may now be entitled and we encourage pensioners to check whether they can claim Pension Credit.”
