Key facts
- Pensioners will be required to submit bank statements to the government.
- This measure is part of a crackdown on Pension Credit claims by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
- The DWP aims to cut £370 million from the benefits bill by April 2031.
- The policy was originally announced by former chancellor Rachel Reeves.
- The average overpayment per case is estimated at £1,400.
- The proportion of overpaid Pension Credit claims increased to 33% in the 2025/26 tax year.
Pensioners will be required to submit bank statements to the government as part of a broader initiative to curb spending on the benefits system. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is contacting selected recipients of Pension Credit to review their claims, a policy originally announced by former chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The DWP aims to reduce the benefits bill by £370 million by April 2031 through these reviews. The department expects to recover £15 million from these specific reviews alone, potentially reducing the entitlement for approximately 10,700 claimants. The average overpayment is estimated to be £1,400 per case.
Statistics from May indicate that the rate of overpaid Pension Credit claims rose to 33% in the 2025/26 tax year, up from 28% the previous year. The primary reasons cited for these incorrect payments are claimants not fully disclosing their financial assets or spending more time overseas than permitted by benefit rules.
Despite these measures to control overpayments, Pension Credit remains significantly underclaimed by eligible individuals. Policy in Practice estimates that around 761,000 pensioners did not claim the benefit in the last tax year, missing out on a total of £1.6 million in potential support. Pension Credit also acts as a gateway to other benefits, such as free TV licenses and housing support, which can be worth up to £9,665 for those most in need.
In an effort to address the underclaiming issue, the government launched a take-up campaign last October, which resulted in an additional 33,500 pensioners signing up for the benefit.