Average weekly Pension Credit amount updated to over £75

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) updated its Pension Credit toolkit on 4 December 2023, stating that the average weekly amount of Pension Credit has risen from over £67 to over £75¹. The toolkit is a collection of materials for people who work with pensioners, intended to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit¹.

The same update log records that the average weekly amount was previously changed from £65 to over £67 on 29 September 2023¹. The toolkit page carries a publication date of 16 August 2013 and a last updated date of 6 April 2026, when benefit and pension figures were updated for 2026 to 2027 in English and Welsh¹.

The toolkit sets out income levels used to illustrate who might still qualify. It states that someone over 65 who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 could still qualify for Pension Credit if their weekly income is less than £240.90 if single, or £351.45 if a couple¹. Those figures were added to the toolkit on 10 May 2023¹.

The page also records a change to the estimated number of pensioner households entitled to Pension Credit but not claiming it, revised from 850,000 to 760,000 on 20 November 2024¹. On 14 July 2025 the stakeholder guidance was updated to remove mention of Winter Fuel Payment and add mention of heating costs under the section headed "They'd get so little it's not worth claiming"¹. The update states that entitlement to Winter Fuel Payment no longer depends on entitlement to Pension Credit, and that entitlement to Pension Credit can help with support with heating costs¹.

Why it matters for households

Pension Credit is a means-tested benefit for people over State Pension age on a low income, and the toolkit's headline figure is the average weekly amount received by claimants, not a rate anyone is guaranteed. The change from over £67 to over £75 is a statement about the average award across the caseload, published on 4 December 2023¹.

The practical effect for households is in the income thresholds the toolkit uses to illustrate eligibility. A single person over 65 who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 with weekly income below £240.90, or a couple with weekly income below £351.45, is described in the toolkit as potentially still qualifying¹. Those figures date from 10 May 2023 and are the ones carried in the toolkit¹.

The DWP's own estimate of pensioner households entitled to Pension Credit but not claiming it stands at 760,000, down from 850,000, as recorded on 20 November 2024¹. That figure describes households the department believes are missing out, not the number receiving the benefit.

Pension Credit also acts as a passport to other support. The toolkit records that entitlement to Pension Credit can help with support with heating costs, and that Winter Fuel Payment entitlement no longer depends on Pension Credit¹. More detail on what the benefit covers and what it unlocks is set out in the guide to Pension Credit, and on benefits more generally. For mixed age couples, see Pension Credit vs Universal Credit for Mixed Age Couples.

What happens next

The toolkit page records that benefit and pension figures were updated for 2026 to 2027 on 6 April 2026, in English and Welsh, with the stakeholder guidance and the disabled people guidance updated and new posters and YouTube videos added¹. No further dated changes are set out on the page beyond that entry¹.