Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a widow who later remarries is eligible to claim pension credit to top up her income; and if he will make a statement.

Pension Credit is an income-related benefit for people who have reached the minimum qualifying age and live in Great Britain. It targets help at the poorest pensioners who have been unable to provide for their retirement. It works by topping up someone’s other income to a standard minimum level. The amount of Pension Credit a person gets depends on how much money they have coming in each week and how much capital they hold (e.g. savings and investments).

Where someone has a partner, their claim will be treated as a couple and their income & capital will be added together when their entitlement is calculated. Therefore, where someone who has been widowed becomes a member of a couple, it is the income (which includes any State Pension) and capital of the couple that will be taken into account in the Pension Credit claim.