Pension credit claim delay?

A_Aardvarkie

Apologies if this isn't in the correct category but .....

I made a claim for pension credit late December and I've still not heard anything. Each time I call they say it's been received and it's being processed and they'll contact me. They don't though. It's almost three months. How long does it normally take?

Lindlou

I understand there are long delays with Pension Credit claims, possibly 5 to 6 months 

Robbie64

The wait time is officially 6 weeks. However, as posted above, there are long delays which publicly the DWP aren't acknowledging.

It might be worth getting your MP involved to see if that helps to get your claim looked at faster.

DeLaSole

Hi A,

For my mum's claim in February 2022, it took 6 months from memory... so, very slow indeed.

Best wishes.

Murphybear

Lindlou said:

I understand there are long delays with Pension Credit claims, possibly 5 to 6 months 

I applied 7 months ago.  I’m still waiting to hear 

Jeanmac58

I applied for PC in November 2023 by phone, checked 2 weeks later and they had no record of my claim so applied on line on 16/11/2023, received an email saying application received.(I reached retirement age on 19/1/2024)It was thrown out as they say I applied for my Pension after applying for PC....(applied for my Pension on 6/11/2023 have email to confirm.)They are not interested and had to start a new claim on the 2/4/2024, (still nothing in writing to say why the first one was cancelled, or even when it was cancelled.) Phoned today to enquire as to what is happening and was told they would get hold of the Pension Department who will contact me in the next 10 days to tell me what is happening.I am really stressed now as my husband and I only have £800 left after using our savings to survive the last 4 months.We have spent more than usual as we moved house and did need some things sorted ASAP.Really do not want to land up borrowing from relatives to get through the month.I have applied for back payment BUT they only back pay 3 months so beginning to wonder if this is how they save money!!As far as I am concerned this is not good enough, taking so long and cancelling an application with nothing in writing.(If I hadn't phoned I wouldn't have known) Any idea if there is anything I can fo to hurry this up as stressing badly.
Thank you

poppy12345

Jeanmac58 said:

I applied for PC in November 2023 by phone, checked 2 weeks later and they had no record of my claim so applied on line on 16/11/2023, received an email saying application received.(I reached retirement age on 19/1/2024)It was thrown out as they say I applied for my Pension after applying for PC....(applied for my Pension on 6/11/2023 have email to confirm.)They are not interested and had to start a new claim on the 2/4/2024, (still nothing in writing to say why the first one was cancelled, or even when it was cancelled.) Phoned today to enquire as to what is happening and was told they would get hold of the Pension Department who will contact me in the next 10 days to tell me what is happening.I am really stressed now as my husband and I only have £800 left after using our savings to survive the last 4 months.We have spent more than usual as we moved house and did need some things sorted ASAP.Really do not want to land up borrowing from relatives to get through the month.I have applied for back payment BUT they only back pay 3 months so beginning to wonder if this is how they save money!!As far as I am concerned this is not good enough, taking so long and cancelling an application with nothing in writing.(If I hadn't phoned I wouldn't have known) Any idea if there is anything I can fo to hurry this up as stressing badly.
Thank you

Is your husband state pension age or above? if so have you checked entitlement to PC? There's a PC calculator here that you can use.pension-credit-calculator

scottleag

Jeanmac58 said:

 BUT they only back pay 3 months 

In January 2023 we received a back payment to the date of claim which covered over four months. 

Lindlou

Backdating a claim is totally different to a payment being paid FROM the date of claim 

scottleag

Lindlou said:

Backdating a claim is totally different to a payment being paid FROM the date of claim 

OP has proof of claim from 16/11/23 and reached retirement age on 19/1/24. If eligible for PC they should receive payment from date of eligibility - either 19/1/24 or (as they did with us for some reason, one week later). That's four months ago, roughly the same time scale as us. 

funny_bones

Backdating is different to backpay from the date of claim. Backdate is if you submit a claim later than the date you are eligible and you want the claim to be backdated to the date of your eligibility. In the above example, eligibility started 19/1/24 but claim not submitted until 19/3/24 then 19/1/24 to 18/3/24 would be the backdate period. 

It’s been over a decade since I worked on PC but back then they had an automatic backdate period.