Income, benefits and Pension Credit

Income counted towards Pension Credit

When you apply for Pension Credit your income is calculated. If you have a partner, your income is calculated together.

The term ‘partner’ refers to your husband, wife or civil partner, or the person you live with as if they were your husband, wife or civil partner.

Pension Credit tops up

• your weekly income to £227.10 if you’re single
• your joint weekly income to £346.60 if you have a partner

If your income is higher, you might still be eligible for Pension Credit if you have a disability, you care for someone, you have savings or you have housing costs.

What counts as income

Your income includes

• State Pension 
• other pensions
• most social security benefits for example Carer's Allowance
• earnings from employment and self-employment

Your savings and investments

• If you have £10,000 or less in savings and investments this will not affect your Pension Credit
• If you have more than £10,000, every £500 over £10,000 counts as £1 income a week - for example, if you have £11,000 in savings, this counts as £2 income a week

Private or workplace pension

If you're entitled to a private or workplace pension, the amount you'd expect to get is calculated as income from the date you were able to get it, if you had claimed it.

If you’ve deferred your pension

If you’re entitled to a personal or workplace pension and you have not claimed it yet, the amount you’d expect to get still counts as income.

If you’ve deferred your State Pension, the amount of State Pension you would get is counted as income.

You cannot build up extra amounts for deferring your State Pension if you or your partner are getting Pension Credit.

Income not counted towards Pension Credit

Not all benefits are counted as income. For example, the following are not counted:

• Adult Disability Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Christmas Bonus
• Child Benefit
• Disability Living Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment
• social fund payments like Winter Fuel Allowance
• Housing Benefit

Further information is available at the links below, about the following benefits:

• Attendance Allowance
• Christmas Bonus 
• Disability Living Allowance
• Housing Benefit and Rate Relief for homeowners
• Personal Independence Payment

You can still get Pension Credit if you are living with your family. The Northern Ireland Pension Centre looks at your income, not theirs. You can still get Pension Credit if you own your own home: the home you live in does not count as ‘capital’.

If your circumstances change

If your circumstances change, for example your capital goes up or down, you should contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre. They can look at your claim again to make sure you are getting the right amount of Pension Credit. 

• Northern Ireland Pension Centre

If you disagree with a decision

If you are refused Pension Credit or think it has been calculated wrongly, ask the Northern Ireland Pension Centre to look at the decision again. If you are still unhappy with the outcome, you can appeal to an independent tribunal.

Unclaimed benefits

If you think you're missing out on benefits, contact the 'Make the call' phone line and a benefits adviser will carry out a full assessment of your needs and identify potential entitlement.

Make the call will carry out a needs assessment based on your personal circumstances and look at what benefits, supports and services that may be available to you.

If you are considering a move to Universal Credit from another benefit, you should seek independent advice before making your claim.

You can also use a benefit calculator

Help with claiming benefits

Some people need help with claiming benefits because they can’t manage their own affairs. This could be because they’re mentally incapable or are severely disabled. If so, another person - called an appointee - can be given the legal right to act for them.

Find out about becoming an appointee:

• Becoming an appointee for Social security benefits

Help and advice

For further information and advice on Pension Credit or help with making a claim contact:

• Northern Ireland Pension Centre

More useful links

• Make the Call
• Advice NI
• Northern Ireland Housing Executive