The maximum basic state pension you can qualify if you’re a single person is £84.25 a week, or if you’re a couple, £134.75 a week. However, this is below the minimum level the government thinks pensioners should live on. This is called the minimum guarantee. The minimum guarantee in 2006-7 is £114.05 a week for a single person and £174.05 for a couple. If your income is lower than that you can claim pension credit to bring your income up to that minimum level.
Pension Credit is a tax-free entitlement for people aged 60. You do not need to have paid National Insurance contributions to be eligible.
There are two parts to Pension Credit: the guarantee credit and the savings credit.
From 2010, the age from which people can get Pension Credit will change in line with the change to women’s State Pension age.
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