Pension Credit: guarantee credit, savings credit and what it unlocks

Pension Credit is a means-tested benefit for people who have reached State Pension age and are on a low income. It gives you extra money to help with your living costs, and it is separate from your State Pension: the State Pension is paid first, and Pension Credit tops up what is left to a guaranteed minimum weekly income 1.

In 2026/27 that guaranteed minimum is £238 a week for a single person and £363.25 for a couple 2. Pension Credit is not taxed 3, and you can qualify even if you have other income, savings or own your own home 1.

As well as the weekly top-up, Pension Credit acts as a gateway to other help, including Winter Fuel Payment, Housing Benefit if you rent, Council Tax Reduction, help with NHS costs and the Warm Home Discount Scheme 1. For many households the passported help is worth more than the Pension Credit itself.

What Pension Credit is and who it is for

Pension Credit is a means-tested benefit for people of State Pension age and over 6. The qualifying age is linked to State Pension age and is currently 66; it will increase in line with the rise in State Pension age, which is due to go from 66 to 67 between April 2026 and March 2028 5. You may be eligible if you are on a low income, even if you have saved money for retirement 7.

It comes in two parts. Guarantee Credit tops your income up to a weekly minimum. Savings Credit, an extra amount for people who made some provision for retirement beyond the basic State Pension, is being phased out and is now closed to most newer pensioners, as explained below 2.

Pension Credit is one of the most widely claimed pensioner benefits. Official statistics for March 2026 record 119,000 male and 279,000 female recipients of both Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit 8. The benefit is means-tested, for people who have reached State Pension age and are on a low income, and it tops up a retired person's income to a guaranteed level 1.

The rules described on this page cover England, Scotland and Wales as set out in the GOV.UK guidance 1; Northern Ireland runs the same benefit with its own claim lines and application process, and the differences are flagged throughout.

Guarantee Credit: a top-up to £238 a week for a single person

Guarantee Credit works by comparing your income with a guaranteed minimum. If your income, as the rules count it, is below that minimum, Pension Credit makes up the difference. In 2026/27 the guarantee is £238 a week for a single person and £363.25 a week for a couple 2. Independent sources give the same figures: £238.00 per week for single people, with the couple rate applied where both partners are counted in the assessment 9.

The rates rise each April. For context, the guaranteed minimum for a single person was £201.05 a week in 2023/24 10 and £218.15 a week in 2024/25 11, so the 2026/27 figure of £238 represents a substantial rise over three years. How rates rise each April is covered in the guide to annual increases.

Because it is a top-up, the amount anyone actually receives depends on their other income. A single person whose counted income is below £238 a week receives the difference between that income and the £238 guarantee; a person with no counted income at all receives the full £238. If your counted income is already above the guarantee, you get no Guarantee Credit, though you might still qualify for Savings Credit if you reached State Pension age before the cut-off date 2.

Savings Credit: only for people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016

Savings Credit is an extra payment for people who have made some provision for retirement, such as a workplace or personal pension. It is closed to people who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 5. Only people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 may be eligible to claim it 12, and it is being phased out as that group ages 2.

If you did reach State Pension age before 6 April 2016, you can still get Savings Credit depending on your circumstances, regardless of when you apply 9. The maximum rates in 2026/27 are £17.96 a week for single people 13 and £20.10 a week for a couple 14. Official statistics note the benefit is available only to pensioners aged 65 and over and pays an additional amount to those who have made provision for their retirement 11.

Savings Credit is not a top-up to a guaranteed minimum in the way Guarantee Credit is. It rewards modest retirement saving by adding a small amount for people whose income is above the basic State Pension level but still modest. Someone who reached State Pension age before the cut-off can receive Savings Credit on its own, or together with Guarantee Credit if their income is low enough 12.

Extra amounts for carers, severe disability and children

The weekly guarantee is not the end of the calculation. You might get extra help if you are a carer, severely disabled, or responsible for a child or young person 1.

Carers. As a carer, you may qualify for an additional amount of £48.15 a week in 2026/27 13. This is designed so that being entitled to Carer's Allowance does not leave a pensioner worse off, because Carer's Allowance itself is counted as income against the guarantee. The rules on how Carer's Allowance interacts with the State Pension and other benefits are covered in the guide to Carer's Allowance and your State Pension.

Severe disability. If you have a severe disability, an additional amount for severe disability may be included in your Pension Credit award 12. The qualifying conditions are generally linked to disability benefits such as Attendance Allowance or the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment, which themselves are ignored as income (see the next section). Notably, an extra amount for severe disability paid with Pension Credit can continue if you move into a care home and pay for it yourself 15.

Children. If you are responsible for a child or young person, extra amounts can be added to your guarantee 1. Higher amounts apply for disabled children. Child Benefit itself is ignored when your income is worked out, so receiving it does not reduce your Pension Credit pound for pound 16.

How your income is counted, and what is ignored

When you apply for Pension Credit your income is calculated, and if you have a partner, your income is calculated together 16. The starting point is your taxable income, with the net figure taken into account 17.

Counted income includes:

• your State Pension
• other pensions, such as workplace or personal pensions
• most social security benefits, for example Carer's Allowance
• earnings from employment and self-employment 16

A long list of income is ignored completely. Official guidance lists as wholly disregarded: Housing Benefit, Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment, the Christmas Bonus, Bereavement Support Payment, Child Benefit, Guardian's Allowance, Universal Credit, statutory sick, maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption pay, and the Scotland-only benefits including Pension Age Disability Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Carer's Allowance Supplement and Winter Heating Payment 5. Council Tax Reduction is also disregarded 18.

Two further rules are worth knowing. First, the first £10 a week of income from a War Widow's or Widower's Pension, War Disablement Pension, Guaranteed Income Payments and certain similar payments is ignored 5. Second, there is a "notional income" rule: income you could have but do not take can be treated as if you receive it. This applies where a State Pension is unclaimed, income under a personal pension or retirement annuity contract is untaken, occupational pension payments are deferred, or rights to income are given up in order to get Pension Credit 5. In practice, if you are entitled to a private or workplace pension but have not claimed it, the amount you would expect to get is calculated as income from the date you were able to get it 16. Giving away savings to bring yourself under a limit is treated similarly; see deprivation of capital.

Savings and capital: the first £10,000 does not count

The capital rules for Pension Credit are unusually generous compared with working-age benefits. The first £10,000 of capital is ignored 4, a disregard confirmed in the official benefit rates for 2026/27 14 and in HMRC guidance on share incentive plans 19. Savings and investments of £10,000 or less do not affect your Pension Credit at all 16.

Above £10,000, the claimant is treated as having a "deemed income" of £1 a week for every £500 of capital above that amount 4. For every £500, or part of £500, over the limit, £1 a week is added to your assumed income 20. So £11,000 of savings adds £2 a week of deemed income, and £12,000 adds £4 a week.

There is no upper capital limit: savings above £10,000 reduce the award gradually rather than stopping it 10. You can still get Guarantee Credit with savings, although anything over £10,000 will reduce the amount 2.

The home you live in does not count as capital, so you can still get Pension Credit if you own your own home 16. Homeowners can get Pension Credit on exactly the same terms as renters, and the official guidance is explicit that owning your home does not bar you from claiming 1.

Couples and mixed-age couples

If you live with a partner, you will only be able to claim Pension Credit now if you have both reached State Pension age 21. This is the "mixed-age couple rule", which blocks Pension Credit to couples where the younger partner is below pension age 22. A couple with one partner over State Pension age and one under must claim Universal Credit instead until the younger partner also reaches State Pension age. The trade-offs between the two benefits for such couples are set out in Pension Credit vs Universal Credit for mixed age couples.

When both partners are over State Pension age, the claim is made jointly and the couple's income is calculated together against the couple's guarantee of £363.25 a week in 2026/27 16. Official statistics for August 2025 record 165,200 pensioner couple households receiving Pension Credit in Great Britain 6.

Living with other family members does not affect your own claim. You can still get Pension Credit if you are living with your family: the Pension Service, or in Northern Ireland the Northern Ireland Pension Centre, looks at your income, not theirs 16.

What Pension Credit unlocks: help with housing, heating and health costs

The weekly top-up is only part of the value of Pension Credit, because an award acts as a passport to other help. The main passported support is:

In Scotland, the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment lists Pension Credit among its qualifying benefits for the higher rate, alongside Universal Credit, income-related ESA, income-based JSA, Income Support and the tax credits 24. The rules for the winter payments are covered in the guides to Winter Fuel Payment and to Pension Age, Child and Winter Heating Payments in Scotland.

Pension Credit can also help with housing costs such as ground rent or service charges 1. The rent and mortgage support schemes are explained in help with rent and Support for Mortgage Interest, and the full range of linked help in passported help: what else a qualifying award unlocks.

How to claim Pension Credit and how far back it can be backdated

You can apply for Pension Credit up to four months before you reach State Pension age, and at any time after 20. There is no deadline after that point, but because backdating is limited, applying promptly matters.

In England, Scotland and Wales you can phone the Pension Credit claim line on 0800 99 1234, use textphone 0800 169 0133, claim online at GOV.UK, or get a claim form from your local Citizens Advice 3. In Northern Ireland, you can call the Pension Credit Application Line on 0808 100 6165, apply online, or download a claim form and send it completed to the Northern Ireland Pension Centre; calls to the application line are free 25. The Northern Ireland Pension Centre can also help you apply for help with housing costs at the same time as your Pension Credit application 25.

A claim can be backdated by up to three months, provided you qualified for Pension Credit for the whole of that period 20. This means you can get up to three months of Pension Credit in your first payment if you were eligible during that time 25. One special case extends this: a surviving partner over State Pension age can have a claim for Pension Credit and/or pension age Housing Benefit backdated to when their Universal Credit award ended, provided this is within three months of the claim and the normal conditions are met 28.

Before applying, many people use the online Pension Credit calculator for an estimate. The calculator cannot be used if you or your partner are deferring your State Pension, own more than one property, are self-employed, or have housing costs which are neither mortgage repayments nor rent covered by Housing Benefit 17. Free, impartial help checking what you could be entitled to is available through entitlement calculators and advisers.

Pension Credit is usually paid every four weeks 27, directly into your bank, building society or post office account 18.

Changes, time abroad, hospital stays and challenging a decision

Once you are receiving Pension Credit, changes in your circumstances can change what you are entitled to, and it is your responsibility to report them. In England, Scotland and Wales, call the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469 to report a change; in Northern Ireland, call the Northern Ireland Pension Centre on 0800 587 0892 2. What counts as a change and how to report it safely is covered in reporting a change of circumstances. One exception: if you have been awarded an Assessed Income Period, you do not need to tell the Northern Ireland Pension Centre about changes to your savings and investments 29.

Time abroad. The maximum period for which Pension Credit and pension age Housing Benefit can be paid during an absence from Great Britain is four weeks in most circumstances 5. If you leave the country temporarily, your Pension Credit can continue to be paid as normal, but not for longer than four weeks 18. The limit is longer for medical treatment: you can continue to get Pension Credit for up to 26 weeks if you are out of the country because you, your partner or your child is receiving medical treatment abroad 18. The wider rules are in going abroad: holidays, moving overseas and claiming from another country.

Care homes and hospital stays. If your move into a residential care or nursing home is temporary, you can continue to claim Pension Credit for up to 52 weeks 26. If the move is permanent and you are claiming as a couple, the claim is made as separate individuals rather than jointly 26. Pension Credit counts as income when your contribution to your residential care or nursing home fees is assessed 26, though the extra amount for severe disability can continue if you pay for the home yourself 15. A move into a home may also affect your Carer's Credit, or the Carer's Credit of someone who looks after you 26. The full picture is in payments when you live in a care home and what happens to payments in hospital or prison.

Challenging a decision. If you are refused Pension Credit or think it has been calculated wrongly, ask the Pension Service, or in Northern Ireland the Northern Ireland Pension Centre, to look at the decision again 16. In Northern Ireland, if you are still unhappy you can appeal to an independent Appeal Tribunal 25. The process for disputing a benefit decision, and the time limits involved, is covered in challenging a decision and appealing to a tribunal.