- If you live with a partner, you can usually only make a new Pension Credit claim if you have both reached State Pension age.1
- The exception is a couple where one of you is getting Housing Benefit for people over State Pension age.1 Couples already getting Pension Credit or pension-age Housing Benefit before 15 May 2019 also keep it for as long as they stay entitled.2
- Otherwise a mixed-age couple claims Universal Credit together until the younger partner reaches State Pension age.2
- Once you have both reached it, Pension Credit tops joint income up to £363.25 a week in 2026/27.4
What changed on 15 May 2019?
Before 15 May 2019, a couple could claim Pension Credit as soon as the older partner reached the qualifying age. From that date, new claims from mixed-age couples, where one partner has reached State Pension age and the other has not, go to Universal Credit instead of Pension Credit and pension-age Housing Benefit.2
Couples who were already getting Pension Credit or pension-age Housing Benefit on the day before the change were protected. That protection lasts for as long as the couple remains entitled to either benefit.5 If the award ends, for example because your income rises for a while, you cannot simply restart it: you would have to wait until you are both eligible under the current rules.
How does Universal Credit treat a mixed-age couple?
You make a joint claim. The couple standard allowance is £666.97 a month where either of you is 25 or over, with extra amounts for children, housing costs, caring or a health condition where they apply.3
The older partner's State Pension and any private pension count as unearned income and reduce Universal Credit pound for pound. Only the younger partner's earnings get the work allowance and the 55% taper.
Savings work differently too. Universal Credit ignores the first £6,000, reduces the award by £4.35 a month for each £250 between £6,000 and £16,000, and stops at £16,000.3 Pension Credit has no upper limit. A mixed-age couple with £20,000 in savings would get no Universal Credit, even if they would have qualified for Pension Credit.
The older partner is not asked to look for work. The younger partner may be, depending on their health, caring responsibilities and earnings.
Worked example: what the mixed-age rule costs
Ann is 67 and gets the full new State Pension of £241.30 a week, which is about £1,045.63 a month. Her husband Brian is 62 and has no income. They own their home outright and have £5,000 in savings.
| Universal Credit: couple standard allowance | £666.97/mo |
| Less Ann's State Pension (unearned income) | -£1,045.63/mo |
| Universal Credit payable | £0 |
| If both had reached State Pension age: £363.25 - £241.30 | £121.95/wk |
| Pension Credit they would get, a month (x 52 / 12) | £528.45 |
Under the current rules Ann and Brian get nothing on top of Ann's State Pension until Brian reaches State Pension age, when they can claim Pension Credit as a couple. If they rented, Universal Credit would add a housing element, so it is still worth checking what a joint claim pays.
How can a mixed-age couple plan their Pension Credit claim?
Check Universal Credit anyway, especially if you rent, have children, care for someone, or either of you has a health condition. Those elements can make a joint claim worthwhile even when State Pension is counted against it.
Check benefits that are not means-tested. Attendance Allowance or PIP, Carer's Allowance and new-style Jobseeker's Allowance or ESA for the younger partner (which depend on National Insurance contributions, not household income) can all be paid regardless of the couple's savings.
Plan the date. Find out exactly when the younger partner reaches State Pension age and apply for Pension Credit up to 4 months before. Claims can only be backdated by 3 months, so a missed date costs money.
If you separate, or your partner dies, the partner over State Pension age can claim Pension Credit as a single person straight away.
- New Pension Credit claims need both partners to have reached State Pension age, unless one of you gets pension-age Housing Benefit.1
- The rule applies to new claims made from 15 May 2019; couples already getting Pension Credit or pension-age Housing Benefit then keep it while they remain entitled.25
- Mixed-age couples otherwise claim Universal Credit jointly; the couple standard allowance is £666.97 a month (either partner 25 or over).3
- Pension Credit couple Guarantee Credit is £363.25 a week in 2026/27.4