DWP admits thousands of Pension Credit claims 'outstanding' after sign-up drive

More than 50,000 pension-age Brits have still not received their Winter Fuel Payment, despite getting their applications for Pension Credit in by a government-imposed deadline. Labour made the decision to means-test the help with heating costs to just those claiming the benefit almost seven months ago, causing a huge 145 per cent increase in claims.

Due to this surge in applications, partially driven by a large sign-up campaign, officials at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were left with weeks to process more than 150,000 applications by the December 21 cutoff for the Winter Fuel Payment. It emerged last week that over 92,000 claims (60%) had not been reviewed by this date.

With thousands of older people waiting to hear back on their claims for the benefit, which tops your State Pension income up to a minimum level, backbench Labour MP Jon Trickett asked the DWP just how many Pension Credit claims were still outstanding.

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This revealed that officials had managed to review over 30,000 more claims in just the past three weeks - meaning 41 per cent of all claims since the Chancellor's announcement are still outstanding.

Responding to the written question, newly-minted DWP Under-Secretary for Pensions Torsten Bell MP said: "61,866 claims made before December 22 remained outstanding as of 19 January 2025. This includes 6,712 advanced claims."

While these advanced claims were submitted by people yet to reach State Pension age and are therefore ineligible for the £200 to £300 cash assistance with heating bills, 55,154 claimants are still waiting to hear back on their Pension Credit application.

Guidance from the DWP