Pension Credit Calculator 2026/27 – How Much Could You Get Each Week?

Hundreds of thousands of pensioners who qualify for Pension Credit never claim it. For 2026/27, Guarantee Credit tops a single person’s income up to £238.00 a week — £363.25 for a couple — and extra amounts for severe disability and caring can lift that line far higher. Enter your income and savings for an honest estimate in seconds.

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Your household and income

Who is claiming
Pension Credit treats you as a couple if you are married, in a civil partnership, or living together as a couple.
Your income
State Pension, private and workplace pensions, and earnings — for a couple, both partners’ income added together. Disability benefits such as Attendance Allowance and PIP are NOT counted, so leave them out.
Pension Credit is worked out weekly. Monthly amounts are converted at ×12 ÷ 52, yearly at ÷ 52.
Bank accounts, shares and other savings. The first £10,000 is ignored completely — there is no upper limit. The home you live in is never counted.
Advanced options — disability and carer extras, and the Savings Credit question
Extra amounts
Worth £86.05 a week (£172.10 if both partners qualify). It usually needs a disability benefit such as Attendance Allowance or PIP daily living, and no one being paid Carer’s Allowance for looking after you. Worth checking carefully — a missing severe disability amount is a common reason claims are underpaid.
£48.15 a week for each of you who gets Carer’s Allowance, or has an underlying entitlement to it — even if it is not actually paid because a State Pension overlaps it.
Savings Credit (older group)
Savings Credit closed to everyone who reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016. If that is you, leave this on No — almost everyone claiming for the first time today is in the No group.

The advanced options are already included in the result with their default values — open Advanced options to change them.

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Your estimate

Estimated Pension Credit
£58.00 a week
An estimated £3,016.00 a year — usually paid every 4 weeks, so £232.00 each payment
Guarantee Credit
£58.00
a week, topping your £180.00 up to your £238.00 guarantee level
Savings Credit
—
Only for people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016
Your guarantee level
£238.00
a week — the standard minimum guarantee for a single person
How the estimate is builtPer week
Weekly income you entered£180.00
Deemed income from savings£0.00
Your assessed income£180.00
Standard minimum guarantee£238.00
Your guarantee level£238.00
Guarantee Credit£58.00
Savings Credit—
Estimated Pension Credit£58.00
That is worth, over a year£3,016.00

Even a small award matters: getting Pension Credit can also open the door to Council Tax Reduction, free NHS dental treatment, Cold Weather Payments and more — see below. This is an estimate on the standard rules; extra amounts for housing costs can raise the guarantee level further.

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How your savings are counted

Pension Credit has no savings cut-off — instead, only savings above £10,000 are treated as if they earn you £1 a week for every £500 (or part of £500). This bar follows the savings figure you entered above.

Your savings
£8,000
Ignored
£8,000
Counted
£0
Deemed income
£0.00/wk

All of your £8,000 sits inside the £10,000 ignore zone, so it adds nothing to your assessed income. Try entering £20,000: the counted half adds £20.00 a week of deemed income.

Key Takeaways
  • Everyone starts with the standard minimum guarantee — £238.00 a week single, £363.25 for a couple in 2026/27.
  • Extra amounts for severe disability and for carers raise that personal line.
  • Savings count as deemed income: nothing on the first £10,000, then £1 a week for every £500 above it; Attendance Allowance and PIP never count.

Pension money, from the other angles

Pension Credit sits on top of the pension itself — these tools work out the layers beneath it.

How it works

Three steps: a personal income line, everything you have coming in, and the gap between them.

1

Set your guarantee level

Everyone starts with the standard minimum guarantee — £238.00 a week single, £363.25 for a couple in 2026/27. Extra amounts for severe disability (£86.05, or £172.10 if both partners qualify) and for carers (£48.15 each) raise that personal line.

2

Count your assessed income

Your weekly pensions and earnings, converted to weekly if you entered them monthly or yearly — plus deemed income from savings: nothing on the first £10,000, then £1 a week for every £500 above it. Some income never counts at all, including Attendance Allowance and PIP.

3

The gap is your Guarantee Credit

If your assessed income falls below your guarantee level, Guarantee Credit pays the difference, every week. The pre-2016 group can also get Savings Credit on top — 60p for each £1 of income above their threshold, withdrawn at 40p in the £1 once income passes the guarantee level.

The math behind the default example

Guarantee Credit = your guarantee level − your assessed income (never below £0)

Step 1 — the guarantee level. A single person with no extra amounts has the standard line: £238.00 a week.

Step 2 — assessed income. £180.00 a week of pension income. Savings of £8,000 sit entirely inside the £10,000 ignore zone, so deemed income is £0.00. Assessed income: £180.00.

Step 3 — the gap. £238.00 − £180.00 = £58.00 a week. Over a full year that is £58.00 × 52 = £3,016.00 — and Pension Credit is usually paid every 4 weeks, so each payment would be £232.00.

And for the pre-2016 group: the same person on £230.00 a week would get £8.00 of Guarantee Credit plus Savings Credit of 60% × (£230.00 − £208.07) = £13.16 — £21.16 a week in total.

Two things most Pension Credit pages skip

The extra amounts that quietly move the line, and the legacy payment that is slowly closing.

The £238.00 line is only the starting point. Consider someone receiving the full new State Pension — £241.30 a week in 2026/27, already above the single line, so on pension income alone they would get nothing. Now give them the severe disability extra: their guarantee level rises to £238.00 + £86.05 = £324.05, and the same State Pension is topped up by £82.75 a week — £4,303.00 a year.

The carer extra works the same way at £48.15 a week, and the two can stack: a couple where both partners qualify for the severe disability extra (£172.10) and one is a carer (£48.15) has a guarantee level of £363.25 + £172.10 + £48.15 = £583.50 a week. Extra amounts can also be added for certain housing costs, such as ground rent and service charges, which this estimator leaves out — one more reason the real award can be higher than the estimate.

Savings Credit was designed to reward people who had saved modestly for retirement. It closed to new State Pensioners on 6 April 2016, but everyone who reached State Pension age before that date keeps it. The mechanics: for every £1 of weekly income above the threshold (£208.07 single, £329.75 couple), you get 60p — up to a maximum of £17.96 a week single or £20.10 for a couple. Once income passes the guarantee level, the award is then withdrawn at 40p for every extra £1.

Worked example: a single person in the pre-2016 group with £260.00 a week has no Guarantee Credit — they are £22.00 above the £238.00 line. Their Savings Credit starts at the £17.96 maximum (60% of the £51.93 above their threshold would be more, so the cap bites), then loses 40% × £22.00 = £8.80, leaving £9.16 a week. Small — but as the passport section below shows, even a small award can be worth far more than its face value.

The 2026/27 Pension Credit rates

Every figure this calculator uses, from the official DWP benefit and pension rates for 2026 to 2027.

Weekly amountsSingleCouple
Standard minimum guarantee£238.00£363.25
Severe disability extra£86.05£86.05 (one) · £172.10 (both)
Carer extra (per carer)£48.15£48.15
Savings Credit threshold£208.07£329.75
Savings Credit maximum£17.96£20.10
Savings ruleFirst £10,000 ignored · £1 a week per £500 above · no upper limit

Could you claim? A quick eligibility check

The estimate above assumes these basics — run through them before you rely on the number.

✅ State Pension age: you (and for most new couple claims, your partner too) must have reached it — 66 now, rising to 67 between 2026 and 2028. You can check your exact date on GOV.UK.
✅ Where you live: you must live in England, Scotland or Wales to claim through the Pension Service. Northern Ireland runs its own claim service for the same benefit.
⚠️ Mixed-age couples: if your partner is under State Pension age, since May 2019 most couples must claim Universal Credit instead. Some people are protected by earlier claims — if this is you, check before assuming either way.
✅ Savings are not a barrier: there is no upper savings limit, and owning your home never counts against you. Only savings above £10,000 add deemed income, at £1 a week per £500.

What even a small award can unlock

DWP calls Pension Credit a “gateway” benefit for a reason — the top-up itself is often the smaller prize.

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Council Tax Reduction

Getting Guarantee Credit can mean your council tax bill is covered in full, depending on your council’s scheme.

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Free NHS dental care

In England, Guarantee Credit brings free NHS dental treatment and help with other health costs such as glasses and travel to appointments.

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Cold Weather Payments

Automatic payments when your area is recorded or forecast to be freezing for a week — no separate claim needed.

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Free TV licence at 75+

If you are 75 or over and get Pension Credit, your TV licence is free.

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Winter Fuel Payment

Pension Credit is one of the benefits that qualifies you for help with winter heating costs.

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Help with rent

Pension Credit can passport you to Housing Benefit if you rent your home.

The guarantee level, built up from its parts

£238.00 a week is a starting point, not a single figure. Extra amounts stack on top of it, and each one has its own test.

Every Pension Credit calculation starts with the standard minimum guarantee: £238.00 a week for a single person and £363.25 for a couple in 2026/27. That figure is the income level the state guarantees, before any extra amounts, and Guarantee Credit is simply the gap between that level and the person’s assessed income, never below zero. On the calculator’s default — a single person with £180.00 a week of pension income and £8,000 of savings, all of it inside the £10,000 ignored amount — assessed income is £180.00, the guarantee level is £238.00, and Guarantee Credit is £58.00 a week, or £3,016.00 a year, usually paid every four weeks as £232.00. Raise the income to £200.00 and the credit falls to £38.00 a week, or £1,976.00 a year, paid as £152.00 every four weeks. Every pound of assessed income reduces the credit by a pound, until the credit reaches zero, which is why the calculation is exact and why small income changes move the result pound for pound.

Extra amounts raise the guarantee level, and they are where many calculations go wrong by omission. The severe disability extra is £86.05 a week, or £172.10 where both partners in a couple qualify, and it applies where the person receives a qualifying disability benefit and meets the living-arrangement conditions, which are detailed and worth checking rather than assuming. The carer extra is £48.15 a week per carer, where the person provides regular care and meets the caring conditions. A single person with the standard guarantee plus the severe disability extra has a guarantee level of £324.05 a week, and the same £180.00 of income then gives £144.05 of Guarantee Credit instead of £58.00 — a difference of £86.05 a week, or £4,474.60 a year, from a single extra amount. A calculation that omits an extra amount the person qualifies for understates the award by exactly that amount, every week, which is why the eligibility check on this page lists the basics and the extra amounts deserve a separate, careful pass.

Housing costs can raise the guarantee level further, though this calculator leaves them out, as its disclaimer states, because they depend on rent, service charges, and local rules that a simple calculator cannot capture. A person paying rent may have an additional amount for housing costs included in the guarantee level, which raises the credit pound for pound, just as the disability and carer extras do. Children, where present in a household, bring further amounts under rules that have changed over time. The simplified calculation on this page is therefore a floor for many people, not a ceiling: if housing costs or other amounts apply, the real award may be higher, and the only body that can state it is the Department for Work and Pensions, on a full claim with all the facts.

Couples face an additional complication, because Pension Credit for a couple is generally assessed jointly, with both partners’ income and capital counted together, and with the couple guarantee level of £363.25 as the starting point. For most new couple claims both partners must have reached State Pension age, which is 66 now and rising to 67 between 2026 and 2028, though transitional rules protect some mixed-age couples who were already claiming. A couple where one partner is above the guarantee level on their own income and the other has little income may still qualify jointly, because the assessment is on the household, not on each person separately, and a couple calculation that assesses each partner alone will be wrong in both directions. Enter the household figures together, as the calculator asks, and treat any single-person figure for a couple household as an illustration only.

The savings rule, worked at three capital levels

There is no savings cut-off. There is a taper, and the taper is gentle until capital grows large.

Pension Credit has no upper savings limit at which entitlement switches off entirely, which surprises people used to benefits with hard capital cut-offs. Instead, only savings above £10,000 count, and they count as deemed income of £1 a week for every £500, or part of £500, above that threshold. The part-of-£500 rule matters: £10,001 of savings counts as £1 a week of deemed income, because the £1 over the threshold is part of a £500 block, and £10,500 counts as £1, £10,501 as £2. The deemed income is then added to other assessed income, and the credit falls pound for pound with the total, exactly as real income does.

SavingsIgnoredCountedDeemed income per weekAssessed income per weekGuarantee Credit per week
£8,000£8,000£0£0.00£180.00£58.00
£15,000£10,000£5,000£10.00£190.00£48.00
£25,000£10,000£15,000£30.00£210.00£28.00

The table shows why the rule is gentle. At £15,000 of savings, deemed income is £10.00 a week, and the credit falls from £58.00 to £48.00. At £25,000, deemed income is £30.00 a week, and the credit is £28.00. Even at £50,000 of savings, deemed income is £80.00 a week, and the credit on £180.00 of other income would be zero, because £180.00 plus £80.00 exceeds the £238.00 guarantee level by £22.00 — but that is the point at which the credit runs out for this income level, not a point at which savings disqualify the claim in principle. A person with lower other income would still qualify at £50,000 of savings, because the deemed income plus their lower income might still fall below the guarantee level. The rule tapers entitlement away. It does not cut it off, and a calculation that treats £10,000, or any other figure, as a cut-off will wrongly discourage claims from people with modest savings who still qualify.

What counts as capital is broader than a bank balance, and it is worth listing, because people understate it and then face overpayment recovery. Savings accounts, current accounts, cash, shares, unit trusts, investment bonds, and property other than the main home generally count, at their current value, with some disregards for specific items that a full claim will apply. The main home itself does not count, which is why the page’s FAQ correctly says owning a home does not stop a claim. Joint accounts are generally counted in full or apportioned under rules that depend on the circumstances, and money given away to reduce capital can be treated as still held, under deprivation rules, if the disposal was made to obtain benefit. Capital is therefore a figure to assemble carefully, from statements, before entering it, and to update if it changes, because an award based on understated capital can be revised and overpaid amounts recovered.

Small earnings disregards sit alongside the savings rule, and this calculator leaves them out, as its disclaimer notes: £5, £10, or £20 a week depending on circumstances, disregarded from earnings before assessed income is calculated. Those amounts are small, but for a person with a small part-time income they can be the difference between qualifying and not, and they should be mentioned in a real claim even though a simple calculator omits them. The pattern across the whole calculation is the same: the simplified version on this page is accurate for the inputs it takes, and the full DWP assessment takes more inputs, each of which can only raise the award or preserve it, never reduce it below the simplified figure for the same core facts, except where capital or income was understated.

Savings Credit: a closing chapter, explained carefully

Savings Credit is closed to new claims in most cases, and it rewards a narrow group. Here is who, and how much.

Savings Credit is the second part of Pension Credit, and it is payable only to people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, and to their partners in a continuing claim. Anyone reaching State Pension age on or after that date cannot newly qualify for Savings Credit, however much they have saved, which is why the calculator shows a dash for Savings Credit on the default, and why younger pensioners should not expect it. The policy reason is that Savings Credit was designed to reward modest saving among the pensioner generation of its time, and the government closed it to new entrants as part of the move to the new State Pension, whose full rate, £241.30 a week in 2026/27, is itself higher than the old basic pension it replaced.

For those who do qualify, Savings Credit is calculated from a threshold and a maximum, not from the guarantee level directly. The threshold is £208.07 a week for a single person and £329.75 for a couple in 2026/27, and the maximum is £17.96 a week single and £20.10 a week for a couple. The amount is 60 pence in the pound on qualifying income above the threshold, up to the maximum, reduced by 40 pence in the pound on income above the guarantee level, under a formula that rewards saving without rewarding high income. A person with income just above the threshold and below the guarantee level receives the full 60 percent taper amount, while a person above the guarantee level receives a reduced amount, because Guarantee Credit already tops them up. The interaction between the two credits is the reason the calculator shows them separately: Guarantee Credit fills the gap to the line, Savings Credit rewards income above the threshold, and the total is the sum, subject to the maximum.

The practical consequence is that Savings Credit, where it applies, is a small but real addition — at most £17.96 a week, or £933.92 a year, for a single person — and it is worth claiming where it applies, because it is paid automatically as part of Pension Credit where the claim establishes it, not as a separate application. A person who reached State Pension age before April 2016 and who has modest pension income above the threshold should check that Savings Credit has been included in any award, because an award calculated on Guarantee Credit alone may omit it. A person who reached State Pension age after that date should not expect it, and should instead look to the new State Pension rate and to Guarantee Credit, which remains open and is the main support for low-income pensioners of every generation.

One more closing-chapter point matters. Because Savings Credit is closed to new claims, its caseload shrinks every year as its qualifying generation ages, and its rules are sometimes misdescribed as if they still applied generally. Guides that describe Savings Credit without its April 2016 cutoff are out of date, and calculators that show it for every user are misleading younger users. This page shows it only where the qualifying condition is met, and the dash on the default is correct for the general case. If the calculator’s Savings Credit line shows a dash for you, and you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, check the inputs and the claim: the dash may reflect the inputs, not the entitlement, and the difference is worth a question to the Pension Service.

Claiming, and what a small award unlocks

The top-up is often the smaller prize. The gateway benefits behind it can be worth more than the award itself.

Claiming Pension Credit starts with the Pension Service, by phone or online, with the facts the calculator asks for and more: income from every source, capital from every account, housing costs, disability and caring circumstances, and household composition. The Department for Work and Pensions decides the claim, and only it can decide, which is why this page is an estimate and not a decision. Claims can be backdated, generally up to three months where the conditions were met during that period, so a person who delays claiming may still recover the earlier period, but delay is still costly, because backdating has limits and because gateway benefits during the delay may also have been missed. If the calculator suggests any entitlement at all, even a few pounds a week, claiming is worth doing, for the gateway reasons below as much as for the top-up itself.

Guarantee Credit is a gateway to a range of other support, and the gateway value often exceeds the top-up. Council Tax Reduction can cover the council tax bill in full, depending on the council’s scheme, which for many pensioners is worth more than the Pension Credit award itself. Free NHS dental treatment, glasses vouchers, and help with travel to NHS treatment follow in England, with devolved equivalents elsewhere. Help with housing costs, cold weather payments, and the Warm Home Discount follow under their own rules, and a television licence concession applies at age 75 for Pension Credit recipients. None of those benefits is automatic in the sense of requiring no application, but entitlement to Guarantee Credit opens the door to each of them, and a small award — even £1 a week — opens it as fully as a large one. That is the reason the page’s section on small awards exists: a £5 weekly top-up that unlocks full Council Tax Reduction is worth far more than £5 a week.

Reporting changes matters as much as claiming, because Pension Credit is means-tested on current circumstances. Income changes, capital changes, household changes, and changes in disability or caring circumstances must be reported, and failure to report can lead to overpayments that must be repaid. Capital is the change most often missed, because a lump sum — an inheritance, a property sale, a matured investment — can move deemed income substantially, and the £1 per £500 taper means a £10,000 lump sum moves the award by £20 a week once it exceeds the ignored amount, or by less if part of it remains within the £10,000 ignore. Keeping the Pension Service informed is not bureaucratic tidiness. It is how the award stays correct, and how overpayment recovery, which is distressing and avoidable, is prevented.

Finally, a note on dignity, because it is the real barrier to claiming. Pension Credit has historically had lower take-up than its entitlement, and the reasons given are usually complexity, stigma, or a belief that savings or a small pension disqualify the claim. The savings rule on this page disproves the last of those: there is no cut-off, and modest savings reduce the award gradually rather than removing it. The complexity is real, but the Pension Service and advice agencies exist to help with it, and the stigma is misplaced, because Pension Credit is an entitlement for people who have contributed through a working life, not a favour. If the calculator shows an entitlement, the next step is a claim, and the gateway benefits alone make that step worth taking even where the top-up looks small.

The £10,000 disregard and the £1-per-£500 tariff, worked

Pension Credit does not count your first £10,000 of capital at all. Above that, every £500 of capital — or part of £500 — is treated as £1 a week of income, and that assumed income reduces the award. The rule is a tariff, not a tax: the capital is not taken, but it is assumed to produce income whether it does or not.

Tariff income = (capital above £10,000) divided by £500, rounded up to whole £500 blocks.

CapitalAbove £10,000Tariff income per week
£10,000£0£0
£15,000£5,000£10
£20,000£10,000£20

There is no upper capital limit for Guarantee Credit, which is the point most often missed: substantial savings reduce the award through the tariff, but they do not by themselves disqualify a claim. If the tariff wipes the award out, the claim fails on income, not on a capital ceiling.

Guarantee Credit vs Savings Credit: who still gets Savings Credit

Guarantee Credit is the main Pension Credit element: it tops weekly income up to the standard minimum guarantee, £238.00 a week for a single pensioner and £363.25 a week for a couple from April 2026. If your income is below the guarantee, Guarantee Credit pays the difference, subject to the tariff and any additional amounts for disability, caring, or housing costs.

Savings Credit is the closing chapter. It is only available to people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, and it rewards modest savings and private pension income above a threshold rather than topping income up to a floor. If you reached State Pension age on or after that date, Savings Credit is not available to you at any savings level, and no savings figure changes that. Claims are still worth making on Guarantee Credit alone, because even a small award unlocks help with council tax, housing costs, and other passported support.

Pension Credit questions, answered

What it is, the savings rule, the full-State-Pension puzzle — and how a real claim works.

What is Pension Credit?

Pension Credit is a means-tested top-up for people over State Pension age on a low income, paid by the Department for Work and Pensions. It has two parts. Guarantee Credit tops your weekly income up to a personal guarantee level — £238.00 for a single person in 2026/27, more if extra amounts for severe disability or caring apply to you. Savings Credit is a smaller extra for people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 and saved modestly. You claim it from the Pension Service, not from your pension provider, and it is separate from the State Pension itself.

How does the £10,000 savings rule work?

The first £10,000 of savings and investments is ignored completely. Above that, every £500 — or part of £500 — counts as £1 a week of income. So £10,500 counts as £1 a week, £10,501 as £2 a week, and £20,000 as £20 a week. There is no upper limit: unlike most benefits, having large savings does not end a Pension Credit claim, it just reduces the top-up pound by pound. The home you live in is never counted as capital.

Does owning my home stop me getting Pension Credit?

No. The home you live in is not counted as savings or capital, whatever it is worth, and homeowners claim Pension Credit on exactly the same basis as renters. What can count is other property you own, such as a second home or a property you rent out. Owning your home can even help in one small way: extra amounts can be added to your guarantee level for certain housing costs, such as ground rent and service charges.

Who can still get Savings Credit?

Only people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 — for a couple, the rules look at both partners. Savings Credit pays 60p for every £1 of weekly income above a threshold of £208.07 (single) or £329.75 (couple), up to a maximum of £17.96 or £20.10 a week, and is then withdrawn at 40p in the £1 once income passes the guarantee level. It closed to newer pensioners in 2016, so most first-time claimants today will only ever see the Guarantee Credit part.

Can I get Pension Credit if I receive the full State Pension?

Sometimes, yes. On its own, the full new State Pension for 2026/27 is £241.30 a week — just above the £238.00 single guarantee level, so by itself it leaves nothing to top up. But extra amounts change the picture: with the severe disability extra, the guarantee level rises to £324.05, so the same full State Pension could be topped up by £82.75 a week. And anyone on the older basic State Pension — full rate £184.90 a week — is well below the line, and could get up to £53.10 a week if that is their only income. Never assume a full State Pension ends the question.

How do I actually claim Pension Credit?

You claim from the Pension Service: online on GOV.UK, by phone, or by post with a paper form. A claim can be backdated by up to three months if you were entitled during that time, so a late claim is still worth making — but every month of delay beyond that is money lost. You will need National Insurance numbers, details of income and savings, and bank details for payment. If you are unsure whether you qualify, claim anyway: hundreds of thousands of eligible households are estimated to be missing out, and a claim costs nothing but a little time.

Is there a savings limit for Pension Credit?

No hard cut-off exists. The first £10,000 of savings is ignored entirely, and savings above that are treated as deemed income of £1 a week for every £500, or part of £500, above the threshold. So £15,000 of savings adds £10.00 a week of deemed income, and £25,000 adds £30.00, reducing Guarantee Credit pound for pound. A person with substantial savings can still qualify if their other income is low enough that the total assessed income stays below the guarantee level. Savings reduce the award gradually. They do not disqualify a claim on their own.

Can I get Pension Credit if I own my home?

Yes. The main home does not count as capital for Pension Credit, so owning a home, outright or with a mortgage, does not stop a claim. What counts is income and other capital: savings, investments, and property other than the main home. A homeowner with low pension income and modest savings can qualify exactly as a tenant can, and housing costs, where they apply, can raise the guarantee level further. Home ownership is not a test in Pension Credit, and it should never discourage a claim.

How is Pension Credit paid?

Usually every four weeks, in arrears, into a bank account. On the calculator’s default, £58.00 a week is £3,016.00 a year, paid as £232.00 every four weeks. The four-weekly figure is simply the weekly figure times four, and the annual figure is the weekly figure times 52, so the three presentations always reconcile. Payment is made by the Department for Work and Pensions, and the award letter states the weekly rate, the four-weekly amount, and the period it covers. Changes in circumstances must be reported, because the award is based on current income and capital.

Can a claim be backdated?

Generally up to three months, where the conditions for entitlement were met during that period. Backdating can recover the top-up for the earlier period, and it can also affect gateway benefits for that period, depending on their own rules. Delay still costs, because backdating has limits and because some linked benefits may not be recoverable for the full period. If this calculator suggests any entitlement, claiming promptly is worth doing, and mentioning the earlier date when claiming allows the backdating question to be considered on the facts.

How does Pension Credit treat my savings?

The first £10,000 of capital is disregarded. Above that, every £500 or part of £500 counts as £1 a week of tariff income, which reduces the award. There is no upper capital limit for Guarantee Credit itself.

What is the standard minimum guarantee for 2026/27?

From April 2026 it is £238.00 a week for a single pensioner and £363.25 a week for a couple, as announced in the DWP's statutory review of benefit rates for 2026/27. Additional amounts may apply for disability, caring, or housing costs.

Can I still get Savings Credit?

Only if you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. If you reached it on or after that date, Savings Credit is not available, whatever your savings. Guarantee Credit is unaffected and remains the main element.

More pension and retirement tools

Plan the pension this benefit sits on top of.

An estimate, not a decision: only the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can decide a real Pension Credit claim. This calculator uses a simplified version of the standard 2026/27 rules. It leaves out extra amounts for housing costs and for children, the small earnings disregards (£5, £10 or £20 a week depending on your circumstances), and some detailed rules — for example, disability benefits such as Attendance Allowance, PIP and DLA are not counted as income at all, and couples where one partner is under State Pension age face extra restrictions. Rates are the official figures for the tax year 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 and will change in future years. Nothing here is financial or benefits advice. For a free personal check, use the official calculator on GOV.UK or talk to Citizens Advice before making any decision.
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