If you are aged 60 or more you may qualify for the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit. Guarantee credit is extra money each week to bring your income up to the minimum amount the Government considers you need to live on.

You can normally get guarantee credit if your weekly income is less than:

•  £124.05 if you are single; or 
  
•  £189.35 between you if you are married or live as a couple. That includes two men or two women who live together as a couple.

Guarantee credit should bring your income up to these amounts.

For example, a single person with a weekly income of £100 will get a guarantee credit of £24.05 a week to make £124.05 altogether. And a couple living on £150 a week will get an extra £39.35 to make £189.35.

If you are severely disabled, a carer or a home owner with a mortgage, you may get more guarantee credit. If your savings are more than £6,000 you will get less. There is no upper limit to the amount of savings you can have. But if your savings are very high – in the tens of thousands of pounds – that will mean you get much less Pension Credit, maybe none at all. However, it is always worth applying.