How to apply for Pension Credit and what you need

To apply for Pension Credit, use GOV.UK online, ring 0800 99 1234 or post a form, with your National Insurance number and bank details to hand.

Anyone who has reached State Pension age and lives in England, Scotland or Wales can apply, and the claim goes to the Pension Service at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). You can make it yourself, with no one's help. Where a second pair of eyes earns its keep is the pension side: DWP counts workplace and personal pensions you have not yet claimed, and a deferred State Pension, when it works out what you are owed. If that sounds like you, an adviser, FCA-authorised and free to speak to, can explain in one conversation how those pensions sit beside a claim, arranged by sending your contact details through this page’s form.

Who can apply for Pension Credit?

GOV.UK sets two basic conditions: "You must live in England, Scotland or Wales and have reached State Pension age to qualify for Pension Credit." Scotland uses the same claim as England and Wales; GOV.UK's guide covers those three nations and points people in Northern Ireland to a separate Pension Credit page. GOV.UK's State Pension age checker gives your Pension Credit qualifying age as well as your State Pension age, and our State Pension age guide has more on how that age is set.

GOV.UK's overview confirms that you can still get Pension Credit with other income, savings or a home you own; the fuller conditions are on who gets Pension Credit. You cannot apply once you are already outside Great Britain, which the abroad rules page follows up.

Couples and mixed-age couples

A partner is a husband, wife or civil partner you live with, or someone you live with as a couple. GOV.UK says "You must include your partner on your application", and that you are eligible if either you and your partner have both reached State Pension age, or one of you is getting Housing Benefit for people over State Pension age. Income is calculated jointly; see couples and Pension Credit.

Mixed-age couples, where one partner is under State Pension age, face extra rules. GOV.UK says you will stop getting Pension Credit if you start living with a partner who is under State Pension age, and can start again when your partner reaches it. If you were living with an under-age partner and getting Pension Credit before 15 May 2019, you keep it unless you stop being eligible. Where a mixed-age couple can claim, DWP's guide says the partner who has reached the qualifying age must be the one who applies. GOV.UK says couples who cannot claim might be entitled to Universal Credit instead, though not both at once.

What do I need to apply for Pension Credit?

GOV.UK lists the information to gather for you and your partner, if you have one: your National Insurance number, details of any income, savings and investments, and the same details as they stood on the date you want a claim backdated to. You also need bank account details, and depending on the route you may be asked for the name of your bank or building society, the sort code and the account number. DWP’s detailed guide to Pension Credit, written for advisers (April 2026 edition), lists what the Pension Service asks for on the phone, and adds:

• what comes in each week, such as a pension from a former employer or a personal pension plan, and how often it is paid;
• the latest balances on bank and savings accounts;
• housing costs such as mortgage interest, service charges or ground rent.

Do not hold back for one missing figure: the same guide says "Customers should not delay applying, even if they do not have everything listed here", and that the Pension Service can arrange to phone you at a time that suits you.

Pensions you have not started to draw

What counts as pension income is not always what reaches your account. GOV.UK says "If you’re entitled to a personal or workplace pension and you have not claimed it yet, the amount you’d expect to get still counts as income." The same goes for a State Pension you have put off: what you would be paid is counted, and no extra State Pension builds up for deferring while you or your partner get Pension Credit (whether deferring is worth it weighs that). Savings of £10,000 or less leave Pension Credit untouched; beyond that, GOV.UK treats each £500 over £10,000 as £1 a week of income (the savings limit).

DWP’s adviser guide also warns that spending, transferring or giving away money taken from a pension pot brings in the usual deprivation of capital rules, under which you may be treated as still holding money you got rid of to get Pension Credit, or more of it. Read deprivation of capital before moving pension money. A pot, a deferral choice and a claim can pull different ways, and an FCA-authorised adviser can talk the counting through free if you request a call on this page’s short form.

Which route to use: the online service, the claim line or a paper form

GOV.UK gives three ways to claim.

• Online. GOV.UK says "You can use the online service if you have already applied for your State Pension." Citizens Advice adds a second condition, that nobody under 16 (or 16 to 19 and in full-time education) lives with you, and warns that you must finish in one sitting, because you cannot save the form and return later. The service is at apply-for-pension-credit.service.gov.uk.
• By phone. The claim line is 0800 99 1234, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Relay UK users dial 18001 then the same number, and Citizens Advice lists a textphone on 0800 169 0133 and says calls are free from mobiles and landlines. The person who answers asks the questions and completes the application over the phone with you.
• By post. Print the claim form from GOV.UK, or call the claim line and ask for one. Send it to Freepost DWP Pensions Service 3, writing nothing else on the envelope. GOV.UK says you do not need a postcode or a stamp.

If you cannot use the phone, a friend or family member can call for you. DWP’s guide for advisers says your identity is checked first and the details are sent back to you to verify before any payment is made, and Citizens Advice says you must be with the person when they ring so you can confirm the answers.

By applying you agree that what you give is complete and correct and that you will report changes promptly. If you are eligible, Citizens Advice says a letter follows your application stating how much you will get and when, and that payments are made every four weeks. See also how Pension Credit is paid, how long a claim takes and changes of circumstances.

When can I apply for Pension Credit, and can it be backdated?

The earliest is four months before State Pension age: "You can start your application up to 4 months before you reach State Pension age." For a couple, DWP’s guide says the earliest is normally four months before the younger partner reaches the qualifying age, except where you already get Housing Benefit for people over State Pension age. You can apply any time after that, but GOV.UK says "your application can only be backdated by 3 months", meaning up to 3 months of Pension Credit in your first payment if you were eligible during that time.

Backdating has to be asked for. DWP’s guide says that if you want Pension Credit to start from a past date you must say so when you apply; online, the earliest date is generated for you and you are asked whether you want your claim considered from it. Have figures for your income, savings and investments on that earlier date ready as well. More is on backdating Pension Credit.

If you are unsure whether you qualify, Age UK says "You have nothing to lose by applying", and that if you have been turned down before you can still make a new claim each year. A refusal can be challenged: GOV.UK calls it asking for mandatory reconsideration. When you are still deciding whether to claim a State Pension or workplace pension now or later, how each choice would be counted for Pension Credit is a sensible thing to put to an adviser (FCA-authorised, with no fee for the call) after a call-back request on this page’s short form.

How much can Pension Credit top up in 2026/27?

Pension Credit has two parts. The Guarantee Credit tops weekly income up to a set level, and GOV.UK adds that this top-up and the extra amounts together are known as Guarantee Credit. Extra amounts for severe disability, caring, children and housing costs are on how much Pension Credit you can get.

The first row is DWP’s standard minimum guarantee for 2026/27; the second is from GOV.UK’s “What you’ll get” page and DWP’s April 2026 guide, which gives them as the rates from April 2026. GOV.UK sets two tests for Savings Credit: a State Pension age reached before 6 April 2016, and money put by for retirement, such as a personal or workplace pension. DWP’s guide says the Savings Credit element "has closed to people who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016", so it is shut to anyone whose State Pension age fell on that date or later. In a couple where the other partner reaches the qualifying age on or after 6 April 2016, the older partner keeps Savings Credit only if it was awarded before that date and they have stayed continuously entitled since. The difference between the parts is on Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit.

Does a Pension Credit claim open the door to other help?

GOV.UK lists several things that can follow, and each has its own rules and its own application route.

Housing Benefit. If you rent, you can ask for it in the same go: GOV.UK says "You can apply for Housing Benefit as part of your Pension Credit application", and the Pension Service sends your council the details. New Housing Benefit claims are open only to people over State Pension age and to those in supported, sheltered or temporary housing. GOV.UK adds that you usually will not get it with more than £16,000 in savings, though that bar does not apply to anyone on Guarantee Credit. The State Pension and Housing Benefit covers how pensions are counted.

Council Tax Reduction. This is run by your local council, which means you apply to it, and each council has its own scheme. GOV.UK says the bill could fall by up to 100%, and that the council looks at household income including savings, pensions and your partner’s income.

Free TV licence. Anyone aged 75 or over qualifies when they, or a partner they live with, receive Pension Credit, and one licence covers the whole household at that address. GOV.UK says you can apply when you are 74 if you already get Pension Credit, though you still pay for the licence up to the end of the month before you turn 75.

Winter Fuel Payment. It does not depend on Pension Credit: eligibility turns on birth date and where you live. For winter 2026 to 2027 GOV.UK says people born on or before 27 June 1960 who usually live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland can qualify for between £100 and £300, with some exceptions. Most eligible people are paid it automatically, and HMRC takes it back where your own total income is over £35,000. In Scotland there is no Winter Fuel Payment, though you might be eligible for Pension Age Winter Heating payment. Pension Credit and tax explains how the clawback works.

Pension income matters to two of these: a council looks at pensions when it sets Council Tax Reduction, and HMRC looks at total income for the £35,000 Winter Fuel Payment clawback. Should your State Pension, any workplace or personal pensions and a possible claim need looking at in the round, a single free phone session, held by an FCA-authorised adviser, covers it; leaving your details on the enquiry form sets that up. The claim itself is still yours to make direct with the Pension Service.

Where can I get free help with the Pension Credit form?

GOV.UK itself says to contact a voluntary organisation like Citizens Advice or Age UK if you need help with the form.

• Age UK. Its free Advice Line is 0800 678 1602, open 8am to 7pm, 365 days a year, and Age UK says it has specialist advisers at over 120 local Age UKs. Its Pension Credit page (last updated 26 August 2026) lists what to have ready.
• Citizens Advice, England and Wales. Adviceline (England) is 0800 144 8848, usually 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and closed on public holidays; Wales has its own Advicelink line, and the Citizens Advice website lets you search by postcode or town for your nearest office in either nation.
• Citizens Advice in Scotland. Call 0800 028 1456, give the first part of your postcode and you are put through to your local bureau.

GOV.UK also has a Pension Credit calculator for estimates.

A few more things people ask when applying

How do I apply for Pension Credit in Scotland?

GOV.UK's guide covers Scotland alongside England and Wales, so the same three routes apply: online, by phone on 0800 99 1234, or by post to the Freepost address.

What if the Pension Service asks for more information?

Citizens Advice says it may ask for proof of identity or more detail about your income, and that you need to send what was asked for within a month; if you need longer, contact the Pension Service and explain why.

Do I have to claim my State Pension first?

Only for the online route, which GOV.UK says is open to you if you have already applied for your State Pension. Otherwise phone the claim line or post the form.

Will a pension I have not started drawing stop me getting it?

Not by itself, but it can reduce the amount: the sum you would expect to get counts as income. Which pensions to take, and when, depends on your wider position, and what counts as income sets out the rules.

Can I apply for Pension Credit from abroad?

GOV.UK says you cannot apply if you are already outside Great Britain, and cannot get Pension Credit if you are moving away permanently. A short trip is different; see Pension Credit abroad rules.

The Pension Service, Age UK and Citizens Advice are the right first stop for the claim itself. When the question is about the pensions behind it, such as a pot, an annuity or when to take the State Pension (the State Pension guide is the place to start), that is when a call-back makes sense, and completing this page’s brief form arranges one; the FCA-authorised adviser who phones makes no charge.