Pensioners providing unpaid care for a family member or friend could be missing out on vital financial support and access to Winter Fuel Payments due to complex rules around Pension Credit.
Charity Carers UK is encouraging pensioners to check their eligibility for additional support and is sharing information to help carers better understand Pension Credit and the extra top up for unpaid carers: Carer Addition. The charity has produced an infographic for pensioners and their families to help navigate the complex process.
Unpaid carers eligible for the carer top-up to Pension Credit could receive up to an extra £2,370 a year and access additional help including Winter Fuel Payments, housing benefit and council tax support.
For those who have reached state pension age, claiming Pension Credit allows them to top up their income if it is low to a guaranteed minimum amount set by the Government. Unpaid carers may be eligible for a higher minimum amount because an additional amount of money called the Carers Addition is factored into the Pension Credit calculation.
To receive the carer top-up to Pension Credit, carers must first apply for Carer’s Allowance. To claim this benefit, they must be spending at least 35 hours a week caring for someone with an illness or disability receiving a disability benefit such as Attendance Allowance or Personal Independence Payment at the right levels.
Current benefit rules state that if someone’s State Pension is more than Carer’s Allowance, they are not entitled to be paid Carer’s Allowance. However, carers still need to apply for Carer’s Allowance in order to prove they have an ‘underlying entitlement’ to the benefit, which would increase their chances of being eligible for Pension Credit and would increase the amount of a Pension Credit award.
With the Government tightening entitlement to Winter Fuel Payment, checking eligibility for additional support is especially important as only those receiving Pension Credit or other means-tested benefits will receive this.
Carers UK is concerned that pensioners who are unpaid carers and on low incomes will struggle this winter if they don’t get Pension Credit. Carers often face high social care costs and extra costs, such as travel costs when accompanying the person they care for to appointments. Research shows that 20% of carers aged 65 and over live in poverty, compared to 13% of non-carers.
Just 100,000 unpaid carers who are pensioners get Pension Credit and the Carer Addition. Carers UK is concerned that there could be many more who could be missing out.
To check your eligibility for Pension Credit, use the Government’s Pension Credit Calculator or call the credit claim line on 0800 99 1234. The latest that someone can apply for Pension Credit and still receive a Winter Fuel Payment this winter is 21 December 2024. This would depend on Pension Credit being backdated for 3 months.
People can still claim Pension Credit after this date, but they won’t get this year’s Winter Fuel Payment.
Emily Holzhausen CBE, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, at Carers UK said:
"There's no time to lose to make sure that carers apply for Pension Credit, when we know that so many are struggling in poverty in retirement. With the winter coming, and fuel prices still high, they need every penny they can get.
“For pensioners who are unpaid carers, understanding your entitlements is complicated. We’re worried that many more carers will be missing out, but we just don’t know how many.
“Pensioners who are carers have to apply for Carer’s Allowance. They are very likely to be told it won’t be paid, but it will give them underlying entitlement that then potentially entitles them to Pension Credit and the top up, Carer Addition.
"This shines a light on the urgent need for reform of the system when applying for benefits. We've seen the devastating impact of Carer's Allowance overpayments due to poor systems for working age carers. The mind-boggling complexity of benefits for older carers prevents them from getting the help they are entitled to and could be drastically simplified by Government."