Pension credit on full state pension if on pip

grannygran

The answer is you can claim PC if in receipt of full state pension. I get a small amount to cover a service charge on my apartment.
Its just a few pounds but entitles me to free TV licence and no council tax plus dentistry and money off glasses.

You can't claim PC with the new state pension ( which OP will be claiming) ...guessing you get old state pension

The answer is you can claim PC if in receipt of full state pension. I get a small amount to cover a service charge on my apartment.
Its just a few pounds but entitles me to free TV licence and no council tax plus dentistry and money off glasses.

Ask Age UK or visit a Citizen's Advice centre.

Pension credit is a means tested benefit so any entitlement to it will depend on your state pension amount, any private pensions you have ( you would be expected to access any available to you) and savings over 10k. If you live alone and no-one claims carers allowance for you or if all the other members of the household also receive a disability benefit then you can get the severe disability premium added to your pension credit applicable amount making you more likely to qualify.. Use an online calculator such as the Age Uk one and just change your birthdate as if you are already state pension age.

Thank you everyone for taking the time & posting your replies☺️

Why would you think that? It isn't true. Half the people who receive the new State Pension don't receive the full amount. So if their total income is less than £227.10 pw (including any savings adjustment) they could still claim the guaranteed credit element to bring it up to £227.10.

There's no pension credit with the new state pension i thought?

Gummie

I've latched onto this thread. My pension is reduced because I was contracted out for a very short period. Annoying that for more than 40 years I wasn't contracted out.

But anyhoo. Can I apply for pension credit to bring it up even though I have company pension savings?

If you were contracted out the money you would have paid into the SP will have gone into an occupational one, so you will have additional income that should make you better off than if you got the full SP only, so that will probably mean that you won't qualify for PC.

As others have said though, circumstances vary.

The Turn2Us calculator is very useful for working out what you might be entitled to.

benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/

As beachcomber says, if you have savings over £10,000, every £500 over (or part of £500 over counts as £1 of extra income.

If you total gross weekly income plus any saving adjustment is less than £227.10 then you could make a claim for Pension Credit top top it up to that. That's then a gateway to other benefits such as the Warm Home Discount, help with dental and eye care costs and a free TV licence if over 74.

Also, for anyone who reached pension age before 6 April 2016, they may be entitled to some Savings Credit too up to £17.30 a week.

I've latched onto this thread. My pension is reduced because I was contracted out for a very short period. Annoying that for more than 40 years I wasn't contracted out.

But anyhoo. Can I apply for pension credit to bring it up even though I have company pension savings?

It's also affected by savings you may have. So any savings you may have over £10,000 they calculate that you receive £1 for every £500...so the amount of these 'earnings' are deducted from the amount you may be entitled to.

[Seems you don't qualify anyway though if you are going to get the full pension]. I'm on the low pension but have a nest egg/savings so don't qualify for Pension Credit. Fair enough].

First of all, PIP isn’t means-tested and is not taken into account when determining your State Pension, so should continue.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/before-claiming/getting-pip-after-youve-reached-state-pension-age/

Pension Credit is means-tested. Again PIP is not counted as income when working out your entitlement to Pension Credit.

However, you say you will receive full State Pension so presumably you were able to pay/have been credited with at least 35 full years of NIC.

The full single-tier State Pension is currently £230.25 i.e. £6.58 pw for every full year of NIC. This assumes there are no deductions if you were ever in a workplace pension scheme which was contracted out of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) and it successors.

Pension Credit is for those people of pension age whose total income is less than £227.10 a week. It will top income up to that amount. (That's the rate for a single person.)

In other words if you will have full State Pension of £230.25 you won’t get Pension Credit.

I put your query into Chatgpt and got a very detailed answer, it looks like you might be able to but advise you ask chatgpt if no clued up Gransnetters know the answer.