It's National Pension Day and we wanted to highlight some key facts and benefits that someone may be entitled to at pension age if they have a diagnosis or care for someone:

Attendance Allowance

Attendance Allowance is a weekly benefit for people of State Pension age who have a long-term physical or mental disability that means they need extra help. This includes people with dementia. It is paid directly to the person with the disability and is available in England, Scotland and Wales.

You can find more info here. 

Pension Credit, more specifically Guarantee Credit- You may be eligible for Guarantee Credit if:

  • You have reached State Pension age or if you are a couple, you have both reached State Pension age. This is now the same for men and women (66) and will increase to 67 by 2028. You can check your qualifying age using the UK Government's State Pension age calculator. 
  • Your weekly income (from April 2022) is less than £182.60 if you  are single, or £278.70 for couples.
  •  If your income is higher than this, you may still get some Pension Credit if you have a severe disability, are a carer or you have certain housing costs.
  • You have capital of £10,000 or less as this will be ignored. (There is no savings limit for Pension Credit but if you have capital over £10,000, the amount you get will be reduced). 

You can find more info here on Pension Credit. 

 Claiming Pension Credit also opens up other State benefits.

  •  Free NHS dental treatment
  •  Help towards the cost of glasses
  •  Help with hospital travel costs
  •  A Cold Weather Payment of £25 when the temperature is 0°C or below for seven days in a row.

For your home:

  •  Lower or no Council Tax if you live alone
  • Your rent paid in full by Housing Benefit
  • Help with mortgage interest, ground rent and service charges.If you’re a carer:
  •  A Carer Premium worth up to £69.704 a week.

Inflation and the State Pension

The State Pension increases by at least 2.5% a year. But if prices (as currently measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI)) or earnings (the average percentage growth in UK wages) go up more than this then your pension will go up in line with the highest. This is known as ‘The Triple Lock’.


You can find more info on benefits and pension rates here.

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