Hundreds of thousands of pensioners in seven UK areas are being targeted in a new drive to increase claims for Pension Credit, amid concern that assumptions about home ownership or savings are leaving eligible people without support.

The Department for Work and Pensions is sending 660,000 leaflets to households in Glasgow, Powys, Stockton-on-Tees, inland Cornwall, Birmingham, East Suffolk and Manchester. The campaign is directed at areas with relatively high numbers of low-income pensioners and follows an earlier awareness effort that, the department said, generated 33,500 additional applications.¹

Ministers present the measure as an attempt to correct misconceptions rather than a guarantee of payment. Pension Credit is worth more than £4,500 a year on average, according to Pensions Minister Torsten Bell, who said it can also unlock help with bills and other daily costs. “If you think you might be eligible, it’s worth checking,” he said.² The amount awarded depends on a claimant’s income and circumstances; the scheme can top up weekly income, while eligibility also takes account of pensions, earnings and benefits.²

Independent Age broadly welcomes the push but frames the issue as a persistent shortfall in take-up. Its policy director, Morgan Vine, said the charity’s analysis found that more than one million eligible older people on low incomes did not receive Pension Credit in 2023-24, missing a combined £2.5 billion. “Every day we hear heartbreaking stories of older people enduring financial hardship because they aren’t aware of Pension Credit, or that they qualify,” she said.²

A personal-finance expert offered a similar practical message, while stressing that no single factor settles eligibility. Joe Lytwyn said owning a home, receiving the State Pension or having savings does not automatically disqualify someone. “The important thing is to check your individual circumstances rather than assume you are ineligible,” he said.³ He advised using official guidance and the Pension Credit calculator, with claims available online, by phone or post and potentially backdated by up to three months.³