Martin Lewis has urged state pensioners to apply for Pension Credit to boost their weekly income and to secure a one-off £300 cost of living payment.
He told listeners to this BBC podcast this week: “There’s an urgent deadline for the 800,000 state pensioners entitled to Pension Credit who aren’t claiming it.
“If you claim it by this Friday [December 8] on the phone or by this Sunday online [December 10], you can get the backdated cost of living payment, an extra £300. So if you’re a lower income pensioner, you need to look into that one pretty quickly.”
Pension Credit can be backdated up to three months so if a person gets their application in by Sunday, they will still meet the qualifying dates to get the second instalment of the £900 cost of living payment, worth £300.
A person has to have claimed a qualifying means-tested benefits to get the £300 payment, between the dates of August 18 and September 17.
People on these benefits will qualify to receive the cost of living payments, if they were claiming the benefits on the relevant qualifying dates:
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
- Child Tax Credit
- Working Tax Credit.
A third and final instalment of the cost of living payment, worth £299, will be going out in spring 2024. The Government has yet to announce the exact dates for when the payment will be made and the qualifying dates.
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Pension Credit plays an important role in topping up the incomes of the poorest pensioners and yet it remains hugely underclaimed.
“On top of the income top up and the cost-of-living payment it opens the doorway to a host of other support such as help with NHS costs, heating bills and council tax.
“Claiming today could make an enormous impact to many people’s lives as we head into the winter months so it’s important to put in a claim if you think you or a loved one may be eligible.”
Pension Credit tops up a person’s income, increasing a single claimants income to £201.05 a week while topping up a couple’s income to £306.85 a week.
Benefits payment rates are increasing 8.5 percent next year, meaning the top up will go up to £218.15 a week for single people and up to £332.95 a week for couples.
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