Apply for Pension Credit and Housing Benefit amber review

DWP's Apply for Pension Credit and Housing Benefit alpha amber review

Apply for Pension Credit and Housing Benefit

Pension age citizens currently face complex, fragmented journeys when attempting to claim Pension Credit (PC) and Housing Benefit (HB). The benefits are currently administered separately, Pension Credit by DWP and Housing Benefit by Local Authorities. Each uses different systems, application forms, and workflows. In total to claim both benefits, citizens may engage with up to 16 different people or processes across DWP and their Local Authority.

When the financial support is needed, citizens must find information and apply for each benefit separately. Analysis shows that 27% of questions asked in both applications have an obvious overlap. This results in poor experiences and unnecessary effort for citizens, leading to low uptake of the benefits.

Operationally, the system is equally fragmented. Each Local Authority uses its own processing system and own version of the Housing Benefit application form with limited standardisation, meaning data-sharing with the department is inadequate. This causes the same citizen information to be processed independently, creating delays and double handling.

The impact of this fragmentation is significant, with many pension age citizens missing out on vital financial support: up to 100,000 pensioners enter relative poverty each year.

The proposal is a joined-up service that enables pension age citizens to apply for Pension Credit and Housing Benefit together, through a simplified, consistent and standardised experience.

The goal is to ensure users only need to tell us information for both benefits once, regardless of which organisation processes the claim and the channel they use. For now, the service is being developed within existing policy, legal, operational and technical constraints that shape the scope of what can be delivered initially and the future roadmap.