Those on a state pension will receive an extra £290 in April, adding up to £5.50 a week to those who retired after 2016, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed. This comes after the Government announced last year that the triple lock will be suspended for a year. Many had anticipated an 8.3 percent rise, but the Government’s policy now means the payments will only increase by 3.1 percent – in line with September’s inflation figure. However, some experts have warned that this will represent a real term cut to the state pension because of soaring inflation in the UK.
Economists have also warned that the cost of living crisis could worsen, with inflation surpassing seven percent by April.
As those reliant on the state pension brace for a challenging 2022, Helen Morrissey of Hargreaves Lansdown tells Express.co.uk that taking advantage of Pension Credit could be one way of easing the pressure.
Per the Government website, Pension Credit gives you extra money to help with your living costs if you’re over the state pension age and on a low income.
You might get extra help if you’re a carer, severely disabled, or responsible for a child or young person.
Ms Morrissey said: “With regards to those who are dependent on the state pension, a really important thing to consider is Pension Credit.
“It’s there to top up the income of the poorest pensioners and it also acts as a gateway to other benefits.
“You can get help with NHS treatment, if you are over 75 you can get a free TV licence, there’s various other things which can have a massive impact over a long period of time.
“The thing with Pension Credit is that it is a really under-claimed benefit, a lot of people don’t recognise that they are eligible for it — only something like six in 10 people who could claim it actually do.
“That’s something that anyone who is eligible should look at because it could make a massive difference for them.”
The cost of living crisis has left people reliant on the state pension in extremely challenging circumstances.
One expert suggested to the i newspaper that the Government will need to offer some extra benefits to savers to help them through the financially difficult time.
READ MORE: State pension age ‘to soar past 70 as axe falls on triple lock’
Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon, said: “Today’s further increase will put even more pressure on the Government to offer some respite to the millions of households facing a cost-of-living squeeze.
“With inflation now approaching double [3.1 percent] at 5.4 percent, it could be a case of one step forward but two steps back as state pensioners and those on benefits may see the coming April increase wiped out twice over in terms of their purchasing power.”
The campaign group Silver Voices has also called for an emergency increase of £500 per annum on state pensions “to compensate for the suspension of the triple lock and to help pensioners cope with the cost-of-living crisis”.
In November, former pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann told Express.co.uk that the cost of living crisis could “cost lives”.
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She said: “We already know that pensioners were struggling to make ends meet if they only had the state pension payments, and given the rise of prices is affecting basic goods like food and energy, [people] will increasingly this winter have to choose between keeping warm and keeping fed.
“It could well cost lives.
“The fact is the Government have taken money off the poorest people in the country, and I don’t believe that is fair.
“I believe that is an absolute betrayal, I really do feel this was a very wrong decision.
“I hope the fuss we make this year will mean that this doesn’t happen again.”
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