Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to (a) raise awareness of Pension Credit and (b) make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the time period for claiming backdated Pension Credit from three months.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive some £5 billion in Pension Credit which tops up their retirement income and is a passport to other financial help such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75.
We continue to use every opportunity to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim. For example, on 16 June as part of a media day of action on Pension Credit, DWP joined forces with Age UK as well as the BBC to help reach, via national and local media, older people who may be reticent about claiming it. More recently, on 7 September, I met the BBC Director General to discuss other opportunities to work together to get information about Pension Credit to pensioners and their family members. We have also set up a working group including organisations such as Age UK, Independent Age, the BBC and British Telecom to explore innovative ways to reach eligible pensioners. The most recent meeting of the working group took place on 19 October.
Earlier this year, over 11 million pensioners in Great Britain received information about Pension Credit in the leaflet accompanying their annual State Pension up-rating letter. They will do so again next year.
There are no plans to review the existing Pension Credit backdating rules.