The number of households with claimants aged over 75 claiming pension credit continued to fall in 2019, following the trend seen since 2015.

As of August 2019, 926,494 households where the main claimant was over 75 were receiving pension credit.

This represents a fall of 25,035, or 2.63 per cent, in comparison to the 926,494 claimants in August 2018.

The number of over-75s claiming the benefit has been gradually falling since 2015, when 1.1 million over-75s were in receipt of pension credit.

This then fell to 1.03m in 2016 before declining to 993,031 in 2017.

In response to a parliamentary question, Pensions Minister Guy Opperman highlighted that there were 1.7 million claimants over in 2017/18, receiving a total of around £5.1bn.

He stated: “The government wants to make sure that all pensioners eligible can claim the pension credit to which they are entitled.

“That is why on the 10 February we launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of pension credit.

“The aim of the campaign is to encourage those over state pension age to check whether they’re eligible.

“We want to make it clear that having savings, a pension or owning a home are not automatic barriers to receiving pnsion credit; as well as explaining that even a small award of pension credit can provide access to a range of other benefits such as help with rent, council tax reduction schemes and heating costs.”

Statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions recently revealed that over a third (40 per cent) of those entitled to pension credit have failed to claim, with up to £2.5bn remaining unclaimed.

Share Story: