Money expert Martin Lewis has hit out at government figures revealing that hundreds of thousands of pensioners continue to miss out on vital financial support.
Around 900,000 individuals are not claiming pension credit despite being eligible for it, data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows.
The benefit is designed to support pensioners whose weekly income is below a certain amount. It will top up their incomes up to £238.00 a week if they’re single or £363.25 jointly a week for partners.
Mr Lewis said on X: “Even after all the shenanigans linking the Winter Fuel Payment to Pension Credit, there are, according to the govt's own figures still 900,000 of the very poorest pensioners (out of 2.3m eligible) missing out on the crucial Pension Credit income top up! It's not good enough”
The take up of Pension Credit increased slightly following Labour’s now-reversed decision to link the benefit to the Winter Fuel Payment for the first time in 2024.
The department also says it is consulting on ways to get the benefit to those who need it, with plans to jointly administer Housing Benefit and Pension Credit set to come into force ‘as soon as possible’.
The department describes pension credit as a ‘passport’ benefit, opening the door to more financial help than just the top-up. This includes housing benefit, support with mortgages, a free TV licence and, most recently, the winter fuel payment. In April, pension credit was uprated by September’s inflation rate of 3.8 per cent.
The latest DWP statistics show that as many as 910,000 eligible pensioners were not claiming pension credit, and research by Policy in Practice shows that this makes up just a small portion of the £24bn worth of benefits going unclaimed every year.
A DWP spokesperson said: “The Government wants all pensioners to get the support they are rightly entitled to and thanks to our biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign, we have seen an additional 33,500 pension credit awards in 2025 compared with the previous year.
“Given the increases in Pension Credit rates, some people who were not previously eligible may now be entitled and we encourage pensioners to check whether they can claim Pension Credit.”
