Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, has warned that despite the 10.1 per cent bumper increase to State Pension payments earlier this year, they still come “nowhere near meeting our retirement income needs”. The full new State Pension is worth around £10,600 and a full Basic State Pension is £8,100 during the 2023/24 financial year.
Alternatively, pensioners can contact the Pension Credit helpline directly to make a claim on 0800 99 1234 - lines are open 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Morrissey continued: “If you are in a couple where you both get a full State Pension then this helps enormously. But if you are single, or still paying significant housing costs then if you don’t have a decent retirement savings, you’ll be struggling to meet anything more than your most basic needs."
Even though no qualifying dates have been announced by the DWP for the £300 or £299 payments, Pension Credit is a retrospective benefit which can be claimed up to three months in arrears. This means a claim made over the summer should fall within the qualifying period. Mixed aged older couples and Pension Credit In May 2019, the law changed so a ‘mixed age couple’ - a couple where one partner is of State Pension age and the other is under it - are considered to be a ‘working age’ couple when checking entitlement to means-tested benefits.