Over half of Pension Credit claims REJECTED ahead of huge Winter Fuel Payment deadline this week
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OVER half of Pension Credit claims processed in the past nine months have been rejected, new data has revealed. A whopping 92,000 Pension Credit claims were rejected between April and December 2024 while 91,000 were awarded, according to a freedom of information request to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by wealth firm Quilter, shared exclusively with The Sun.
![[Data from the Department for Work and Pensions on Pension Credit claims]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/RW-COMP-pension-credit_91f1e5.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Between April 2023 and March 2024, the number of claims accepted was higher than those rejected at 134,000 and 112,000, respectively, the data showed. The new figures come ahead of a major deadline to apply for Pension Credit in order to get this year's Winter Fuel Payment, with final applications due on December 21 to get the up-to-£300 handout.
The Winter Fuel Payment used to be available to all pensioners, but earlier this year, the government announced that only those claiming Pension Credit and other means-tested benefits would be eligible from winter 2024/25. Pension Credit is a benefit for older people on low incomes that tops up their weekly income to £218.15 if they're single or £332.95 as a couple.
The decision to tie Winter Fuel Payment to Pension Credit was criticised, as as many as 800,000 people who should have still qualified were set to miss out this year because they don't claim Pension Credit. The lack of take-up of the benefit is largely attributed to a lack of awareness that it exists.
