Pension credit is the primary benefit by which pensioners will receive the winter fuel payment
The number of pension credit applications has surged, with successful claims seeing a 64% rise following the Government’s announcement that winter fuel payments will be subjected to means-testing. According to data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), awards for pension credit claims soared to 117,800 in the period from July 29, 2024, to February 23, 2025.
This represents a substantial increase when compared to the 72,000 claims granted from July 31, 2023, to February 25, 2024. The catalyst for this uptick came on July 29, 2024, when the Government disclosed that starting from winter 2024, eligibility for winter fuel payments would hinge on qualifying for another means-tested benefit. This move was part of the plan to patch up a looming “black hole” in public finances.
This meant the number of pensioners receiving the payment would be reduced by around 10 million, from 11.4 million to 1.5 million. Pension credit is the primary benefit by which pensioners will receive the winter fuel payment.
The credit tops up incomes for poorer pensioners and acts as a gateway to additional support, including the winter fuel payment. The DWP said that the highest recorded level of weekly pension credit claims awarded by the Department was the week commencing January 20 2025, with 7,600 claims awarded.
In addition to the thousands of successful claims, many were rejected. The DWP declined 114,500 pension credit claims from between July 29 2024 and February 23 2025, representing a 133% increase in not awarded figures compared with 49,100 claims rejected between July 31 2023 and February 25 2024.
Joanna Elson, chief executive of Independent Age said that while the jump in successful applications is good news, “it is concerning that there were 114,500 unsuccessful applications. This represents a success rate of 51%. There is a story behind each application, and many people living on a low income would have applied in hope but found out they are just a few pounds above the pension credit threshold, meaning they also lost a vital lifeline in the winter fuel payment.
“The influx of both successful and unsuccessful applications clearly illustrates that many older people were concerned about not having enough money to get through the winter.
“Our helpline received thousands of calls from people in later life that were looking for financial support and making drastic cutbacks just to get by, from going to bed in winter clothing to only having one meal a day. This is unacceptable.
“Linking pension credit to the winter fuel payment so hastily was misguided. Almost one million eligible people do not receive pension credit, meaning they lost the winter fuel payment despite living on a low income.”
The Department cleared 232,200 pension credit claims from July 29 2024 to February 23 2025, representing a 92% increase compared with 121,100 claims being cleared during the comparable 2023/24 period. The figures also show that for the 2024/25 year to date, the DWP has received 300,000 pension credit applications, a significant increase compared to 251,100 applications received during the whole of 2023/24.
The most recent week data is available (the week starting February 17 2025) shows there are 33,700 outstanding pension credit claims still to be processed.
The DWP said that in response to the surge in applications, it deployed 500 additional support staff to process them. It said that in addition to a campaign to boost awareness of pension credit, it is exploring further options to drive up claims, including writing to pensioners who make a new claim for housing benefit and who appear to be entitled to pension credit.
