Pension Credit

(asked on 21st March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of mixed-age couples claiming (a) pension credit or (b) pension age housing benefit on 14 May who will lose entitlement due to a change in circumstance in each of the next five years.


Answered by
Guy Opperman Portrait
Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This question was answered on 26th March 2019

The mixed age couple policy was legislated for in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and will be implemented now Universal Credit has rolled out nationally for new claims. The commencement order that the mixed age couple policy change will come into force on 15 May 2019, was announced on 14 January 2019. Following the announcement the Government is implementing comprehensive plans to raise awareness of the change among people who may be affected.

The Department has written directly to mixed-age couples who are already in receipt of Pension Credit or Housing Benefit for pensioners to inform them of the changes and encourage them to find out what it could mean for them. Importantly the letters explain that mixed age couples already claiming Pension Credit and/or Housing Benefit for pensioners immediately before 15 May will not be affected for as long as they remain in receipt of either benefit after that date, and that their State Pension will not be affected.

This is in addition to providing information on www.gov.uk and through existing departmental channels. The Department’s staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres are able to provide help and advice about the change, as will staff in local authorities who administer Housing Benefit.

The Department has also worked with relevant organisations, including providing them with a fact sheet to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.

A regional breakdown of the estimated number of mixed age couples who would have been entitled to and claiming Pension Credit and/or Housing Benefit for pensioners is not available.

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