Succession star Brian Cox is leading a celebrity campaign urging hard-up pensioners to claim pension credit and keep their Winter Fuel Payment.
‘In a compassionate and just society, no one should have to worry about not being able to turn the heating on,’ says the actor, who played tycoon Logan Roy in the hit TV series.
Film and TV actor Jane Asher and Sue Holderness, who played Marlene in sitcom Only Fools and Horses, are joining Cox to promote take-up of the benefit that supports the poorest pensioners.
The campaign, run by national charity Independent Age, aims to get older people to check if they are eligible for pension credit and submit an application by the key cut-off date of 21 December.
The Government announced in the summer that pensioners must now claim pension credit or another eligible benefit to keep receiving the Winter Fuel Payment, which is worth from £100 to £300 a year.
> Claiming pension credit: Find out how to top up your weekly income below
Celebrity campaign: From left, Sue Holderness, Jane Asher and Brian Cox urge older people to check if they can claim pension credit.
If you submit a pension credit application by the December deadline that is successful, your payments will be backdated by up to three months, and you will qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment.
Some 850,000 older people are eligible for but not claiming pension credit, while an estimated 130,000 miss out because they are just £500 over the income threshold, according to social policy data firm Policy in Practice.
In England and Wales, you can get a Winter Fuel Payment for 2024/25 if:
– You were born before 23 September 1958;
– You were living in the UK during the ‘qualifying week’ between 16 and 22 September 2024;
– You were entitled to get pension credit (or certain other means-tested benefits) during that qualifying week, which is covered by the three-month retrospective period from 21 December.
Brian Cox says: ‘Currently, 150,000 pensioners in Scotland live in poverty. Yet we know that around 90,000 older people are missing out on pension credit they are entitled to in Scotland.
‘It has never been more important to ensure that everyone eligible for pension credit receives it.’
In Scotland, a new Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will eventually replace the Winter Fuel Payment.
But for this winter, people over state pension age who qualify will receive a payment in line with the Winter Fuel Payment, and this will be means-tested. Check here if you live in Scotland and here for Northern Ireland.
Jane Asher says ‘I was astonished to read that almost one million eligible older people, living on low incomes, may miss out on this year’s Winter Fuel Payment simply because they don’t know how to access it.
‘To receive this payment is their right and would prevent them making dangerous cutbacks.
‘But support is at hand: Independent Age can help them to apply for pension credit and secure the Winter Fuel Payment they need and deserve this year.’
Sue Holderness says: ‘As we head into winter, it is vital that older people on a low income receive all the support they are entitled to, including pension credit which provides access to the Winter Fuel Payment.
‘Speak to Independent Age to ensure you meet the deadline to apply.’
Independent Age boss Joanna Elson says: ‘Thank you to Brian, Jane and Sue for shining a light on pension credit, an extremely important entitlement that supports older people in financial hardship.
‘The number of eligible people missing out is far too high.
‘We are very concerned about the winter ahead. The people we speak to are already planning to make cutbacks on heating and eating, and going to drastic lengths such as visiting public places to stay warm.
‘This shouldn’t be happening, so it’s vital more older people on a low income start receiving pension credit before the cut-off date, so they can top up their income and not miss out on the next Winter Fuel Payment.’
Brian Cox: ‘It has never been more important to ensure that everyone eligible for pension credit receives it’
How to apply for pension credit and where to get help with claims
If you are elderly and not well off, pension credit tops up weekly income to a minimum of £218.15 for single people and £332.95 for couples.
On average it is worth around £4,000 a year on its own, but pension credit also opens the door to a lot of additional help with household bills.
You can gain thousands of pounds on top including help with housing costs, heating, council tax, TV licences if you are over 75, and other bills.
Find out more about pension credit here and about the rules on who is eligible here.
You can apply yourself by phone on 0800 99 1234, claim pension credit online or get a form to do it by post.
A friend or family member can apply on behalf of an elderly person.
Independent Age, a charity focused on improving the lives of older people in financial hardship, offers help on its free phoneline 0800 319 6789.
Advisers from the charity carry out welfare benefit checks to ensure callers are accessing all available support, including pension credit and the Winter Fuel Payment.
Age UK staff provide help with applications. Any older person struggling with bills, or friends and family who are concerned about them, can call 0800 169 6565.
This line is open every day of the year between 8am and 7pm, or you can visit Age UK’s help page here.
It also has a free, anonymous benefits calculator which can provide an estimate of what you could be entitled to if you want to find out this information privately.
Age UK says the three groups likely to be hardest hit by means-testing of the Winter Fuel Payment are those whose incomes are slightly too high to get pension credit, people who could claim it but do not – usually a third of those eligible – and ill or disabled people with high energy needs.
What does the DWP say?
‘We want to ensure all pensioners get the support they’re entitled to, which is why we are deploying over 500 extra staff to process the expected increase in claims,’ says a spokesperson.
‘Our pension credit campaign has also been successful in boosting applications by 152 per cent.
‘Successful claims for pension credit can be backdated by three months, so all eligible claims made by 21 December would also receive a Winter Fuel Payment as well as arrears of pension credit.
‘We continue to urge anyone who thinks they may be entitled to pension credit to check now.’
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