The government’s own figures estimate that 39% of those entitled to claim pension credit did not claim the benefit. That’s an estimated loss of £2000 per year for up to 1.4 million households (1).
A common misconception about Pension Credit is that you cannot have more than £16,000 in savings. This is not true.
There is no cut off limit although the Department for Work and Pensions do assume that you have an income from your savings by using a tariff income. This is worked out by ignoring the first £10,000. They then assume an income of £1 for every £500 over the £10,000.
So if, for example, a claimant had £20,000, the DWP would assume they had an income of £20 a week from those savings (20,000 – 10,000 = 10,000 / 500 = £20).
If you think you might be entitled to unclaimed Pension Credit, you can find out more at https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit or you can pop along to our Money Advice drop in where our experienced Advisors will be able to assess if you are eligible and help you make a claim. Details of our Money Advice drop in can be found at http://bit.ly/BSMADI.
(1) https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-201516