Worth £4,500 a year on average, and a million people are not claiming it
What happened
On 13 October 2026, the Department for Work and Pensions began a push to get more pensioners to claim Pension Credit, as part of its Pension Credit Week of Action. The centrepiece is physical. 660,000 leaflets are being posted through letterboxes in seven areas with large numbers of low-income pensioners: Glasgow, Powys, Stockton-on-Tees, inland Cornwall, Birmingham, East Suffolk and Manchester. The leaflets are deliberately designed to be stuck on a fridge door. They explain how to apply, how to help a family member apply, and they tackle the myths head on - including the widespread belief that you cannot claim if you own your home or have some savings. Alongside that there are print, TV, radio and social media adverts, and a partnership with ITV's The Chase. The numbers behind it are striking. Pension Credit is worth more than £4,500 a year on average. About 1.4 million pensioner households already receive it. Last year's campaign produced an extra 33,500 applications. Torsten Bell, the Minister for Pensions, said: "Pension Credit is worth more than £4,500 a year on average and can make a real difference to people's finances." He urged anyone who thinks they might be eligible to check. The charity Independent Age put the scale of the gap in different terms. Its Director of Policy and Influencing, Morgan Vine, pointed to the charity's analysis showing that in 2023/24, over a million eligible low-income older people did not receive Pension Credit - a combined £2.5 billion in support that went unclaimed.
Why this matters
Pension Credit is a top-up for people over State Pension age on a low income. But its real value is not just the money it pays directly. It is a gateway. Receiving Pension Credit can open the door to other help, including the Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payments. That is why claiming it in October rather than February matters: the thing it unlocks is winter help, and winter is coming. The million-person gap is the uncomfortable part. These are people who are entitled to money and are not getting it. Not because they were refused, but because they never applied. The reasons are well documented and mostly have nothing to do with laziness or pride. People assume owning a home disqualifies them. They assume savings disqualify them. They think £4,500 sounds too good to be a real entitlement for someone like them. Some find the form daunting. Some have been managing quietly for years and never thought to ask. Morgan Vine described "heartbreaking stories" of hardship caused by people simply not knowing they qualify. That is the whole problem in one sentence: this is a hardship caused by missing information, not by missing money. There is also a plain point about social proof here. If 1.4 million households already receive Pension Credit, it is not an unusual thing to claim, and it is not a favour. It is a normal part of the system, used by a very large number of people.
What the evidence actually says
Two different sorts of evidence sit in this announcement, and they deserve different levels of confidence. The £4,500 figure is an average, which means plenty of people get less and plenty get more. It depends on your income, your circumstances, and whether you qualify for additional amounts. Nobody should expect £4,500 as a guaranteed sum, and nobody should decide not to apply because they doubt they would get that much. A smaller award still opens the same doors. The unclaimed-support figure comes from Independent Age's own analysis of 2023/24 data: over a million eligible older people missing out, totalling £2.5 billion. That is a charity's estimate, not an official count, and estimates of unclaimed benefits are inherently approximate - you are measuring people who did not interact with the system. But the direction is not in dispute, and government campaigns like this one exist precisely because the gap is accepted as real. The evidence that campaigns work is more modest than you might expect. Last year's effort produced an extra 33,500 applications. That is a meaningful number of households. Set against a gap of over a million people, it is also a reminder that leafleting moves the needle slowly. One thing the announcement does not include is the eligibility thresholds or a step-by-step guide to claiming. It points people to the leaflet, and to charities including Independent Age and Citizens Advice. So if you want to know whether you qualify, the press release will not tell you - the calculator and the helplines will.
Qurexa perspective
We deliver prescriptions and groceries to people across Lincolnshire, and a good share of our customers are older people living on a fixed income. What we notice is how often the problem is not a lack of entitlement but a lack of someone to ask. People in their eighties who have never claimed anything in their lives often assume the system is not for them. They are usually wrong, and nobody has ever told them so. There is a practical overlap too. Pension Credit can affect eligibility for other kinds of help with health costs, and it sits alongside things like free NHS prescriptions for people over 60 in England. If money is tight enough that you are weighing up a prescription against the heating, a benefits check is worth as much as any advice we could give you about deliveries. So: if you are one of our customers, or you care for one, treat this fortnight as a prompt. Ten minutes with a benefits calculator is a reasonable use of a Tuesday afternoon.
Practical advice
Check even if you are sure you do not qualify. The myths the leaflet exists to correct are the main reason people miss out. Owning your home does not automatically disqualify you. Having savings does not automatically disqualify you. Use a benefits calculator first. It takes a few minutes, it is free, and it gives you an answer before you fill in anything official. Citizens Advice and Independent Age both offer help with this, and the government's own guidance is on GOV.UK. Claim now rather than in the new year. Pension Credit can lead on to winter help including the Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payments. Applying in October is worth more than applying in March. If you are helping a relative, do it with them rather than for them. The leaflet specifically covers how to help a family member claim. Sitting down together with their income details is the fastest route; guessing on their behalf is the slowest. Have the information to hand before you start: State Pension and any other pension income, savings and investments, and your bank details. Having it in front of you turns a daunting form into a short one. Also ask about Attendance Allowance. The announcement mentions it alongside Pension Credit. It is a separate payment for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care, and it is not means-tested - so savings and income do not affect it. If you get a leaflet, keep it. Putting it on the fridge is the actual point. Intentions made in October are forgotten by November unless something is in the way of your eyeline.
What to know
The DWP launched a Pension Credit awareness push on 13 October 2026, posting 660,000 leaflets through letterboxes in Glasgow, Powys, Stockton-on-Tees, inland Cornwall, Birmingham, East Suffolk and Manchester, with adverts and an ITV partnership alongside. Pension Credit is worth more than £4,500 a year on average, and about 1.4 million pensioner households get it. Independent Age's analysis found over a million eligible older people missed out in 2023/24, worth £2.5 billion between them. Last year's campaign generated 33,500 extra applications. It also acts as a gateway to winter help such as the Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payments, so claiming now is worth more than claiming later. Owning your home or having savings does not automatically rule you out - check with a free benefits calculator, or ask Citizens Advice or Independent Age. Sources: GOV.UK / Department for Work and Pensions, "Hundreds of thousands of pensioners urged to check they're not missing out on vital Pension Credit", 13 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hundreds-of-thousands-of-pensioners-urged-to-check-theyre-not-missing-out-on-vital-pension-credit; GOV.UK, "Pension Credit", https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit; Independent Age, https://www.independentage.org/ This article is for general information and is not financial or benefits advice, and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. For a check on what you are entitled to, contact Citizens Advice, Independent Age or the Pension Credit claim line.
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