There is no single Pension Credit income limit: it tops income up to £238 a week (single) or £363.25 (couple) in 2026/27, and extra amounts raise that.

So the cap that matters is the level that applies to your household, and it shifts with your circumstances. Which income counts towards it, and which is left out, decides whether you fall short and get a top-up. That comparison with £238 draws on your pensions, pay and benefits, so each item matters. Send the form on this page, then ask the FCA-authorised adviser who calls to add yours up with you; it costs nothing. The Pension Service helpline is the official route for a claim itself.

Is there an income limit for Pension Credit?

No fixed one. Pension Credit works as a top-up, not a ceiling. GOV.UK says it tops up "your weekly income to £238 if you're single" and "your joint weekly income to £363.25 if you have a partner" (2026/27 rates).

The same guide says a higher income "might" still qualify where disability, caring, savings or housing costs come into it. Savings can bring in Savings Credit (below); for the other three, DWP adds extra amounts to the level you are topped up to:

  • Severe disability: an extra £86.05 a week for someone who gets Attendance Allowance, the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment, or one of the other listed disability benefits.
  • Caring for another adult: an extra £48.15 a week where you get Carer's Allowance or Carer Support Payment, or have claimed Carer's Allowance but are not paid it because another benefit pays more.
  • Children and young people: extra amounts for each one you are responsible for who lives with you.
  • Housing costs: ground rent on a leasehold, some service charges and site rents, in an amount that depends on those costs.

These are all part of what DWP calls Guarantee Credit. How they are added together is in how much Pension Credit you could get, and the age, residence and savings tests are in who gets Pension Credit.

A comparison shows why the standard figure alone can mislead. At £241.30 a week in 2026/27, the full new State Pension sits above the £238 single figure, whereas the full basic State Pension (£184.90) sits below it, on DWP's rates for the same year. Whether either of them gets a top-up therefore depends on extra amounts, a partner and what else counts as income.

Pension Credit has a second part, Savings Credit, open only where your State Pension age came before 6 April 2016 and you built up retirement savings of your own, a workplace or personal pension for example. It uses its own income thresholds, £208.07 for a single person and £329.75 for a couple in 2026/27; eligibility and the maximum payment are covered in the Pension Credit amounts guide.

Which income counts for Pension Credit, and which does not?

Income takes in your State Pension, any other pension (private and workplace ones included), pay from a job or from self-employment, and most social security benefits, according to GOV.UK, which gives Carer's Allowance as its example. The State Pension Credit Regulations 2002 also name maintenance paid by a spouse, civil partner, former spouse or former civil partner, and regular payments made under an equity release scheme.

Not every benefit is counted. GOV.UK names these as left out:

  • Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance, with Adult Disability Payment, Pension Age Disability Payment and Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance
  • Child Benefit and the Christmas Bonus
  • Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction
  • social fund payments, with Winter Fuel Payment given as the example

That matters because the benefits left out are often the ones that unlock an extra amount, as in the severe disability sum above. The disability side is covered in Pension Credit and PIP, and carers are in Pension Credit and Carer's Allowance.

Where a pension or benefit is paid after a deduction, the regulations take the amount before the deduction, apart from a short list of adjustments. The figure DWP uses can therefore be higher than what reaches your bank account.

How does money from work count?

Earnings count. The rules do not bar you from working and claiming. The regulations define an employee's earnings broadly, taking in bonus, commission, holiday pay and statutory sick pay. They also disregard half of what you pay into a workplace or personal pension from your earnings.

Part of your pay is ignored. Schedule 6 to the Regulations disregards £5 of earnings for a single person and £10 for a couple, or £20 instead in listed cases: a lone parent, someone getting one of the listed disability benefits, part-time firefighters and lifeboat crew, and carers. For carers it reads: "If the claimant or one of the partners is a carer, or both partners are carers, £20 of any earnings received from his or their employment."

Pay that arrives monthly is turned into a weekly figure: multiplied by 12 and divided by 52. Irregular work is averaged over a cycle or recent payments, set out in the same Regulations. How self-employed profits are measured is a separate calculation, and for those, ask the adviser who phones you after the form to explain it free. For wider limits on earning, see how much you can earn while receiving the State Pension.

What if I have not claimed a pension, or I gave money away?

Income you could have but have not claimed is counted as if you had it. GOV.UK puts it this way: "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." A deferred State Pension is treated the same way, and the guide adds that deferring earns no extra amounts for as long as either of you receives Pension Credit. The reasons to defer are in the deferral guide.

The Regulations go further for defined contribution pots. Where someone who has reached the qualifying age defers or fails to take income from a money purchase pension or personal pension, the income foregone is treated as theirs from the date it could be expected if they applied. That foregone income is set at the rate of the annuity the fund could have bought, as DWP works it out. Drawing from a pot is covered in the drawdown guide.

Giving things away can also count. The Regulations treat a claimant as having income they deprived themselves of "for the purpose of securing entitlement to state pension credit or increasing the amount of that benefit", and the same idea applies to capital. For capital, using it to pay off a debt, or to buy goods or services where the spending was reasonable in your circumstances, is not treated as deprivation. Nobody should arrange their affairs to qualify, and the rule is explained in the deprivation guide.

If you hold a pension you have not yet drawn, or have made large gifts, those are exactly the facts DWP looks at under these rules. Pension types differ in how they are counted, so the adviser who phones after you submit the short form can go through your own mix at no charge.

How do savings turn into weekly income?

Savings feed into income too. With £10,000 or less in savings and investments, Pension Credit is not affected. Above that, GOV.UK says "every £500 over £10,000 counts as £1 income a week", and gives £11,000 as counting as £2 a week. The Regulations add £1 for any part-£500 excess. DWP's deemed income rule for savings is set out in the guide to Pension Credit amounts.

How are couples assessed?

As one household. GOV.UK says "If you have a partner, your income is calculated together," and the top-up is measured against the joint figure of £363.25. You must include your partner on the claim. Your partner is the spouse or civil partner you live with, or the person you live with as a couple though unmarried. So a partner's pension and pay count too, whichever of you holds the money. Who counts as a partner, and the rule when only one of you has reached State Pension age, are in the eligibility guide.

More questions about Pension Credit income

Do I have to report a change in my income?

GOV.UK tells claimants to "Contact the Pension Service helpline if your circumstances change." See why Pension Credit goes down or stops for what a change can do.

Could the Winter Fuel Payment take me over the limit?

It should not. GOV.UK lists social fund payments like Winter Fuel Payment among the things that are not counted as income.

Is Pension Credit itself taxable income?

No. See is Pension Credit taxable.

Does Pension Credit count as income for other benefits?

That depends on the benefit doing the counting. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction are covered in Pension Credit, Council Tax and Housing Benefit. Each benefit has its own counting rules, so put that question to the adviser when they phone you back after the form; explaining it is part of the free call.

Income is one test of several, and the adviser who phones after your form can cover the others as well, at no charge to you.