You may be eligible for Guarantee Pension Credit if you’ve reached State Pension age. You can check this on Gov.uk: www.gov.uk/state-pension-age.

If you’ve reached the qualifying age, you can make a claim if your income is less than £182.60 a week (for a single person) or less than £278.70 a week (for a couple). These are the 2022/23 amounts set by the government. You may still qualify if you have a higher income and you’re a carer, disabled or have certain housing costs. 

Income taken into account for Guarantee Pension Credit includes your earnings, some benefits (including Carer’s Allowance), tax credits, State Pension and private pensions. Some income is disregarded, including any disability benefits you receive, Child Benefit and child maintenance.

You can still get Guarantee Pension Credit if you have savings, although anything over £10,000 will reduce the amount you get.

If you’re a couple, both of you must be over State Pension age to claim. If only one of you is over State Pension age, you will need to claim Universal Credit instead.

Savings Pension Credit is being phased out, so not many new claimants can get it. You may be eligible if you or your partner reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. It rewards people with a small amount of extra money each week if they have saved towards their retirement. Working out how much you could get is complicated, so contact the Carers UK Helpline for advice.

Guarantee Pension Credit tops up your income to a guaranteed minimum amount. In 2023/24, this is £201.05 a week for a single person and £306.85 for a couple. There are also additional amounts that can be added to this depending on your circumstances.

If you’re a carer

If you’re entitled to Carer’s Allowance, you can get a Carer’s Addition of £42.75 a week added to your minimum amount.

If you’re disabled

You can get a Severe Disability Addition of £76.40 added to your minimum amount if all the following apply:

• you claim one of the following disability benefits: the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment, the middle or higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance or Armed Forces Independence Payment
• no-one gets Carer’s Allowance or the carer element of Universal Credit for looking after you
• you live alone (there are some exceptions to this, for example if you just live with your partner and they also claim a disability benefit).

If someone has an ‘underlying entitlement’ to Carer’s Allowance for looking after you, you can still receive a Severe Disability Addition. An underlying entitlement means they are entitled to Carer’s Allowance for looking after you, but can’t be paid it because they receive another benefit that overlaps with it.

If you have housing costs

If you own your home and pay costs such as service charges or ground rent, you may be able to get help with these through Guarantee Pension Credit.

If you’re responsible for a child

If you’re responsible for a child or young person who normally lives with you, you may get a ‘child addition’ added to your minimum amount. This could be an extra £56.35 per week for each child you're responsible for.

Even if you’re only entitled to a small amount of Pension Credit, it’s worth claiming as it means you qualify for other benefits and concessions. For example, you could get:

• your rent and Council Tax paid in full, depending on your circumstances
• free NHS dental treatment and sight tests
• help with the cost of glasses or contact lenses
• help with travel costs to hospital for NHS treatment
• a Cold Weather Payment of £25 when the temperature is 0C or below for a week
• money off your electricity bill through the Warm Home Discount Scheme
• a free TV licence if you’re 75 or over.
  
  

In England, Wales and Scotland, you can call the Pension Credit claim line on 0800 99 1234. The person you speak to will fill in the form over the phone with you and send it to you to check. You can also currently apply online, although this may change in future.

To apply by post, you can download and print out a claim form from Gov.uk, or call the claim line for a form.

You can ask for Pension Credit to be backdated for up to three months.

If your personal circumstances or your income or savings change, you must report this as it could affect your eligibility for Pension Credit.

In England, Wales and Scotland, call the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469. 

Start by asking for a mandatory reconsideration. This means the decision maker has to look again at the decision they made. If you still disagree with the outcome after this, you can make an appeal. Find out more in our guide to challenging a benefits decision.