Official Statistics

Pension Credit applications and awards: February 2025

Published 27 February 2025

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Introduction

This statistical release provides data on Pension Credit applications and awards covering the number of weekly; Pension Credit claims received, claims cleared, claims awarded or not awarded, and outstanding Penson Credit claims between 3 April 2023 and 23 February 2025, for Great Britain only.

Main story

For year-to-date 2024 to 2025, DWP has received 300,000 Pension Credit applications, a significant increase compared to 251,100 Pension Credit applications received across the whole of 2023 to 2024 with 5 weeks of 2024 to 2025 remaining.

Comparing the period since the announcement that Winter Fuel Payments (WFP) will be means tested (29 July 2024) with the comparable 2023 to 2024 period, DWP has:

• Received 235,000 Pension Credit claims, an 81% increase or 105,100 extra applications on 2023 to 2024
• Cleared 232,200 Pension Credit claims, a 92% increase or 111,100 extra clearances on 2023 to 2024:
  • of which, 117,800 Pension Credit claims have been awarded, a 64% increase or 45,800 extra awards on 2023 to 2024 (114,500 claims have not been awarded, a 133% increase or 65,400 extra not awarded claims on 2023 to 2024)

Key definitions

• Pension Credit claim applications: an application for Pension Credit made by, or on behalf of, either a single person or a person with a partner in a household
• Pension Credit claims cleared: Pension Credit claims where an outcome decision has been notified to the applicant, recorded in the week it was cleared
• Pension Credit claims cleared – awarded: where the outcome decision resulted in an award
• Pension Credit claims cleared – not awarded: where the outcome decision resulted in no award
• Outstanding Pension Credit claims: Pension Credit claims where an outcome decision is still to be determined:
  • Advanced Pension Credit claims applications have been excluded from outstanding Pension Credit claims figures, as these cannot be processed until the claimant (and their partner if they have one) reaches State Pension age. Advanced claims are where the application can be started up to 4 months before reaching State Pension age

Policy context

On 29 July 2024, the Government announced that from Winter 2024, Winter Fuel Payments (WFP) will now be dependent on receiving another means tested benefit. Pension Credit is the primary benefit by which pensioners will receive the WFP. Since that time, there has been a significant increase in Pension Credit applications.

Results

Applications

DWP received 235,000 Pension Credit claim applications from 29 July 2024 to 23 February 2025, representing an 81% increase in applications compared to 129,900 Pension Credit claim applications for the comparable 2023 to 2024 period (31 July 2023 to 25 February 2024).

DWP received an extra 104,100 Pension Credit claim applications in the past 30 weeks (235,000 claims received) compared to the 30 weeks before the Winter Fuel Payment announcement (130,900 claims received), representing an increase of 79% over the period.

The highest recorded level of weekly Pension Credit claims received by the Department was week commencing 9 September 2024, with 13,400 claims received, 192% higher than the average weekly Pension Credit claim applications recorded between 3 April 2023 and 28 July 2024 (the day before the WFP announcement).

105,100 more Pension Credit applications have been received since the WFP announcement than over a comparable 2023 to 2024 period

Cumulative Pension Credit applications received over a 30-week period starting week commencing 29 July for 2024 to 2025 and week commencing 31 July for 2023 to 2024.

Total claim applications

Clearances

DWP cleared 232,200 Pension Credit claims from 29 July 2024 to 23 February 2025, representing a 92% increase in clearances compared to 121,100 cleared Pension Credit claims for the comparable 2023 to 2024 period (31 July 2023 to 25 February 2024).

DWP cleared an extra 110,000 Pension Credit claims in the past 30 weeks (232,200 claims cleared) compared to the 30 weeks before the Winter Fuel Payment announcement (122,200 claims cleared), representing an increase of 90% over the period.

The highest recorded level of weekly Pension Credit claims cleared by the Department was week commencing 20 January 2025, with 13,400 claims cleared, 194% higher than the average weekly Pension Credit claims cleared between 3 April 2023 and 28 July 2024 (the day before the WFP announcement).

111,100 more Pension Credit applications have been cleared since the WFP announcement than over a comparable 2023 to 2024 period

Cumulative Pension Credit applications received over a 30-week period, starting week commencing 29 July 2024, starting week commencing 31 July 2023.

Total claims cleared

Claims cleared – awarded

DWP awarded 117,800 Pension Credit claims from 29 July 2024 to 23 February 2025, representing a 64% increase in awards compared to 72,000 awarded Pension Credit claims for the comparable 2023 to 2024 period (31 July 2023 to 25 February 2024).

DWP awarded an extra 44,600 Pension Credit claims in the past 30 weeks (117,800 claims awarded) compared to the 30 weeks before the Winter Fuel Payment announcement (73,200 claims awarded), representing an increase of 61% over the period.

The highest recorded level of weekly Pension Credit claims awarded by the Department was week commencing 20 January 2025, with 7,600 claims awarded, 205% higher than the average weekly Pension Credit claims cleared – awarded between 3 April 2023 and 28 July 2024 (the day before the WFP announcement).

45,800 more Pension Credit applications have been awarded since the WFP announcement than over a comparable 2023 to 2024 period

Cumulative Pension Credit applications cleared and awarded over a 30-week period, starting week commencing 29 July 2024, starting week commencing 31 July 2023.

Total cleared – awarded

Claims cleared – not awarded

DWP did not award 114,500 Pension Credit claims from 29 July 2024 to 23 February 2025, representing a 133% increase in not awarded figures compared to 49,100 not awarded Pension Credit claims for the comparable 2023 to 2024 period (31 July 2023 to 25 February 2024).

DWP did not award an extra 65,400 Pension Credit claims in the past 30 weeks (114,500 claims not awarded) compared to the 30 weeks before the Winter Fuel Payment announcement (49,000 claims awarded), representing an increase of 133% over the period.

The highest recorded level of weekly Pension Credit claims not awarded by the Department was week commencing 18 November 202, with 7,600 claims not awarded, 186% higher than the average weekly Pension Credit claims cleared – not awarded between 3 April 2023 and 28 July 2024 (the day before the WFP announcement).

65,400 more Pension Credit applications have not been awarded since the WFP announcement than over a comparable 2023 to 2024 period

Cumulative Pension Credit claim applications cleared and not awarded over a 30-week period, starting week commencing 29 July 2024, starting week commencing 31 July 2023.

Total cleared – not awarded

Outstanding Pension Credit claims

The most recent week data is available (week commencing 17 February 2025) shows there are 33,700 outstanding Pension Credit claims still to be processed. Outstanding Pension Credit claims peaked in week commencing 16 December 2024, at 85,500, 2.5 times (253%) above average weekly outstanding Pension Credit claims of 24,200 between 3 April 2023 and 28 July 2024 (day before the WFP announcement).

As a result of increased Pension Credit claim clearances since week commencing 6 January 2025, and lower levels of weekly Pension Credit claim applications since week commencing 23 December 2024, weekly outstanding Pension Credit claims have fallen by 51,900 or 61% between week commencing 16 December 2024 and week commencing 17 February 2025.

Outstanding Pension Credit applications increased significantly following the WFP announcement, but have since fallen significantly since January 2025

Outstanding Pension Credit claim applications over a 30-week period, starting week commencing 29 July 2024, starting week commencing 31 July 2023.

Weekly outstanding Pension Credit claims

Table 1: Weekly Pension Credit claims received, claims cleared, claims awarded and not awarded, and outstanding claims from 3 April 2023 to 23 February 2025

Week Commencing	Number of Pension Credit claims received	Number of Pension Credit claims cleared	Number of Pension Credit claims cleared - awarded	Number of Pension Credit claims cleared - not awarded	Number of outstanding Pension Credit claims[footnote 1]
03 Apr 23	5,400	5,300	2,900	2,500	25,900
10 Apr 23	5,600	5,500	2,700	2,800	25,800
17 Apr 23	5,500	6,700	3,100	3,600	24,800
24 Apr 23	6,000	6,600	3,000	3,500	24,400
01 May 23	6,500	6,600	2,900	3,700	24,400
08 May 23	9,600	7,800	3,200	4,600	26,900
15 May 23	11,400	8,700	3,700	5,100	29,500
22 May 23	5,900	7,600	3,300	4,200	26,700
29 May 23	3,800	6,200	3,000	3,200	24,700
05 Jun 23	4,400	5,800	2,800	3,000	23,400
12 Jun 23	5,100	6,000	3,000	3,000	22,800
19 Jun 23	4,400	5,800	2,900	2,900	21,300
26 Jun 23	4,000	5,500	2,800	2,700	19,800
03 Jul 23	4,100	4,800	2,300	2,500	19,200
10 Jul 23	4,100	5,000	2,400	2,600	18,300
17 Jul 23	4,100	4,200	2,000	2,200	18,100
24 Jul 23	4,200	4,400	2,000	2,400	18,000
31 Jul 23	3,900	4,300	2,000	2,300	17,600
07 Aug 23	3,400	3,400	2,000	1,400	17,600
14 Aug 23	3,500	3,400	2,000	1,400	17,900
21 Aug 23	3,600	4,000	2,300	1,700	17,500
28 Aug 23	3,200	3,500	2,100	1,300	17,400
04 Sep 23	3,700	3,800	2,300	1,500	17,400
11 Sep 23	4,100	3,600	2,100	1,500	17,900
18 Sep 23	4,800	4,500	2,500	2,000	18,200
25 Sep 23	4,200	4,300	2,400	1,900	18,000
02 Oct 23	4,300	4,000	2,300	1,700	18,400
09 Oct 23	4,200	4,200	2,500	1,700	18,900
16 Oct 23	4,700	4,200	2,400	1,800	19,500
23 Oct 23	4,600	4,200	2,400	1,800	19,900
30 Oct 23	5,200	4,200	2,300	2,000	20,800
06 Nov 23	4,900	4,600	2,600	2,000	20,900
13 Nov 23	4,400	4,500	2,600	1,900	20,700
20 Nov 23	4,200	4,600	2,700	1,900	20,500
27 Nov 23	4,800	4,600	2,500	2,000	20,800
04 Dec 23	6,600	4,800	2,500	2,300	23,100
11 Dec 23	4,500	4,700	2,900	1,700	21,900
18 Dec 23	2,900	4,200	2,700	1,500	20,500
25 Dec 23	1,300	1,300	700	600	20,900
01 Jan 24	3,100	3,400	2,000	1,400	20,800
08 Jan 24	4,600	4,500	2,700	1,800	20,800
15 Jan 24	4,800	3,900	2,700	1,200	21,500
22 Jan 24	4,500	3,900	2,700	1,200	22,300
29 Jan 24	4,400	4,000	2,900	1,100	22,200
05 Feb 24	5,800	4,400	2,900	1,500	23,800
12 Feb 24	5,600	4,200	2,700	1,500	24,900
19 Feb 24	5,800	4,100	2,700	1,300	26,600
26 Feb 24	7,200	3,900	2,500	1,400	29,500
04 Mar 24	6,200	4,400	2,800	1,600	31,200
11 Mar 24	5,100	4,800	2,700	2,100	31,300
18 Mar 24	5,100	5,200	2,800	2,400	31,300
25 Mar 24	3,800	4,500	2,600	1,900	30,800
01 Apr 24	3,900	3,400	2,100	1,300	31,100
08 Apr 24	4,400	4,100	2,200	1,900	31,400
15 Apr 24	4,400	4,400	2,300	2,100	31,700
22 Apr 24	4,200	5,000	2,500	2,500	31,100
29 Apr 24	3,700	4,800	2,400	2,400	30,300
06 May 24	3,400	4,000	2,300	1,700	29,600
13 May 24	4,100	4,000	2,400	1,600	29,800
20 May 24	4,000	3,900	2,300	1,600	29,800
27 May 24	3,300	3,500	2,000	1,500	29,700
03 Jun 24	4,200	3,200	1,900	1,300	30,400
10 Jun 24	4,000	3,900	2,300	1,600	30,500
17 Jun 24	3,400	3,800	2,400	1,500	30,300
24 Jun 24	3,200	4,000	2,400	1,600	29,500
01 Jul 24	3,800	4,200	2,500	1,700	29,200
08 Jul 24	4,100	3,500	2,100	1,400	29,500
15 Jul 24	3,300	3,500	2,100	1,400	29,400
22 Jul 24	3,500	3,900	2,300	1,700	29,000
29 Jul 24	7,900	4,300	2,200	2,100	33,900
05 Aug 24	7,300	4,300	2,200	2,100	35,900
12 Aug 24	5,900	4,100	2,100	2,000	37,500
19 Aug 24	8,400	4,900	2,400	2,500	44,300
26 Aug 24	9,000	4,700	2,000	2,600	45,500
02 Sep 24	10,700	5,400	2,300	3,000	51,200
09 Sep 24	13,400	6,300	2,400	3,900	57,800
16 Sep 24	11,800	6,100	2,400	3,700	63,200
23 Sep 24	9,800	5,600	2,000	3,700	67,000
30 Sep 24	8,300	5,200	1,900	3,300	69,500
07 Oct 24	8,200	6,100	2,300	3,700	71,800
14 Oct 24	9,600	6,600	3,000	3,600	74,800
21 Oct 24	9,000	7,200	3,200	4,000	76,600
28 Oct 24	10,000	6,800	3,200	3,700	80,200
04 Nov 24	9,800	8,400	4,300	4,200	81,500
11 Nov 24	10,600	9,900	4,600	5,300	82,000
18 Nov 24	11,100	11,100	5,200	5,900	81,700
25 Nov 24	8,300	9,200	4,600	4,600	80,500
02 Dec 24	7,600	8,400	4,100	4,300	80,100
09 Dec 24	7,500	8,100	4,300	3,800	80,400
16 Dec 24	11,000	9,600	4,900	4,700	85,500
23 Dec 24	5,300	3,500	1,700	1,800	83,900
30 Dec 24	2,700	6,900	3,800	3,000	80,100
06 Jan 25	4,600	12,300	7,200	5,100	72,300
13 Jan 25	4,700	11,500	6,700	4,800	65,300
20 Jan 25	4,600	13,400	7,600	5,800	57,200
27 Jan 25	4,400	11,600	7,100	4,500	51,100
03 Feb 25	4,700	10,400	6,200	4,200	45,400
10 Feb 25	4,300	12,000	6,700	5,300	38,100
17 Feb 25	4,300	8,600	5,100	3,500	33,700

Source: DWP Management Information

Notes to table 1:

• data is not seasonally adjusted
• due to rounding individual columns may not add exactly to the rounded number of Pension Credit claims cleared
• numbers in thousands have been rounded to the nearest 100
• data records for each week are open to minor, retrospective changes, for example where claims are subsequently allocated to other weeks once reviewed by caseworkers
• Advanced Pension Credit claims are included in claim applications figures but excluded from the number of outstanding Pension Credit claims (as these cannot be processed until an individual – or both individuals if applying as a household – have reached State Pension age). As a result, weekly outstanding claims figures cannot be derived using applications, clearances, and a previous week’s outstanding claims figure

About these statistics

This release is classed official statistics in development. As this is a new series of data that has previously not been published, we will continue to develop collection methodology and quality assurance processes going forward.

The statistics have undergone thorough quality assurance in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. All types of official statistics should comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics which makes sure official statistics are trustworthy, have public value, and are of high quality. The strengths and limitations of these statistics are explained in the Data strength and limitations section below.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly at rs.serviceanalytics@dwp.gov.uk with any comments about how we meet these standards Please note: this inbox is for statistical queries only and cannot be used to check progress of an individual Pension Credit claim.

Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the Office for Statistics Regulation website

This is an update to the series published on 28 November 2024.

Previously published Pension Credit claim applications figures have seen some minor increases of 100 cases in any given week, as a result of further methodology and quality assurance checks of Pension Credit data systems. Many of these increases will be much fewer than 100 cases in each week, as figures are rounded to the nearest 100 cases. Further detail can be found in the Data strength and limitations section below.

Numbers in this publication are not comparable with the DWP benefit statistics published quarterly on gov.uk. This is because this publication relates to Pension Credit applications as opposed to those currently in receipt of Pension Credit. 

Changes and revisions

Changes to underlying data from publication on 28 November 2024

The following table shows the differences between the data published as part of this statistical release, and the previous release on 28 November 2024 (covering 1 Apil 2024 to 17 November 2024). A negative number indicates we have revised a data point down, while a positive number indicates an upward revision.

Table 2: Revisions to previously published Weekly Pension Credit claims received, claims cleared, and claims awarded from 1 April 2024 to 17 November 2024

	Number of Pension Credit claims received	Number of Pension Credit claims cleared	Number of Pension Credit claims cleared - awarded	Number of Pension Credit claims cleared - not awarded
01 Apr 24	0	0	0	0
08 Apr 24	-100	0	0	0
15 Apr 24	-100	100	0	100
22 Apr 24	0	0	0	0
29 Apr 24	-100	100	0	0
06 May 24	0	0	0	0
13 May 24	0	0	0	0
20 May 24	0	0	0	100
27 May 24	0	0	0	0
03 Jun 24	0	0	0	0
10 Jun 24	0	100	0	0
17 Jun 24	0	0	0	0
24 Jun 24	0	100	0	0
01 Jul 24	0	100	0	100
08 Jul 24	0	100	0	0
15 Jul 24	0	0	0	0
22 Jul 24	0	0	0	100
29 Jul 24	-100	0	0	100
05 Aug 24	0	0	0	0
12 Aug 24	0	100	0	0
19 Aug 24	0	0	0	100
26 Aug 24	0	100	0	0
02 Sep 24	0	0	0	0
09 Sep 24	0	0	0	0
16 Sep 24	-100	100	0	0
23 Sep 24	-100	0	0	0
30 Sep 24	0	100	0	0
07 Oct 24	0	100	0	0
14 Oct 24	0	0	0	0
21 Oct 24	0	100	0	0
28 Oct 24	0	0	0	100
04 Nov 24	0	0	0	0
11 Nov 24	0	0	0	0

Source: DWP Management Information

Notes to table 2:

• a negative number indicates we have revised a data point down, while a positive number indicates an upward revision

Additional data released as part of this release

Two additions have been included in this version of the Pension Credit applications and awards statistical release, namely:

1. the inclusion of weekly outstanding Pension Credit claims data, and,
2. extending the series to include data for 2023 to 2024,
   a. an additional week of data from before the publication date (week commencing 17 February 2025) has been included whereas the equivalent week for the November release (week commencing 18 November 2024) was excluded.

Weekly outstanding Pension Credit claims are being published given the public interest in levels of outstanding Pension Credit claims, and DWP’s response to increased Pension Credit applications as result of the Chancellor’s announcement on the 29 July 2024. These figures compliment the data already shared in this and the previous statistical release, increasing transparency of the operational challenges faced by DWP since the announcement, and how the Department has responded. Inclusion of these figures will further help support answering Parliamentary Questions, Freedom of Information requests and other forms of ad hoc enquiry relating to outstanding Pension Credit claims.

Since the November release, continued development of DWP’s internal Pension Credit MI reporting tools has allowed for more trustworthy, quality and timely statistics, and has allowed for the inclusion of data for 2023 to 2024, and addition of the most recent week’s data available (week commencing 17 February 2025) in this release, enabling greater transparency for Pension Credit MI DWP currently holds.

We will continue to develop these methods as this statistical release continues, to ensure we uphold the Office for Statistical Regulation Code of Practice for Statistics to the highest professional standard.

Data strength and limitations

Figures presented in this release are from DWP’s Pension Credit system which has previously been collected for internal departmental operations use only. They provide the best source of application, clearances and outstanding claims data available for Pension Credit.

Changes to operational and data recording processes to address the exceptional increase in Pension Credit applications, alongside further methodology and quality assurance checks, indicates minor volatility in previous weeks operational data is possible. We believe this does not materially change scale and trends presented in this statistical release, however it is possible future Pension Credit MI data publications will include updated data for previous weeks. Where this occurs, the Department will ensure this is clearly highlighted as per OSR guidance.

Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

The Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code) is built around 3 main concepts, or pillars:

• trustworthiness – is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics
• quality – is about using data and methods that produce statistics
• value – is about publishing statistics that support society’s needs

The following explains how we have applied the pillars of the Code in a proportionate way.

Trustworthiness

DWP analysts work to a professional competency framework and Civil Service core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity, and impartiality. The analysis in this release has been scrutinised and received sign off by the expert lead analyst.

We protect the security of our data in order to maintain the privacy of the citizen, fulfil relevant legal obligations and uphold our obligation that no statistics will be produced that are likely to identify an individual, while at the same time taking account of our obligation to obtain maximum value from the data we hold for statistical purposes. All analysts are given security training, and the majority of data accessed by analysts is obfuscated and access is business case controlled based to the minimum data required.

Quality

This publication uses internal management information from DWP’s Pension Credit internal systems and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards. However, engagement has taken place with data owners to ensure this data is fit-for-purpose and of sufficient quality for publication. Multiple rounds of quality assurance have been applied to ensure the data is as accurate and reliable as possible.

Value

These statistics are being published given public interest in Pension Credit claims following the Chancellor’s announcement on the 29 July 2024 that Winter Fuel payments will be limited to those on Pension Credit or other means tested benefits from Winter 2024. The figures add to the wider set of information on those who are claiming Pension Credit. The figures also help support answering Parliamentary Questions, Freedom of Information requests and other forms of ad hoc enquiry.

Contact information

For press enquiries contact DWP Press Office at mailbox newsdesk@dwp.gov.uk

1.   Weekly outstanding Pension Credit claims excludes advanced Pension Credit claims as explained in the key definitions section of this release ↩