Why is DWP reviewing Pension Credit claims?

Because it believes a lot of awards are wrong. DWP’s own figures for 2025/26 estimate that 33 in every 100 Pension Credit claims were overpaid - up from 28 in 100 the year before - mainly because savings were under-declared or claimants stayed abroad longer than the rules allow. A programme of case reviews was announced at the Budget in November 2025, costed to save £370 million by 2030-31, and DWP began contacting selected claimants in late August 2026. Reviews also correct underpayments.

Does a Pension Credit review letter mean I have done something wrong?

No. DWP has said that being selected does not mean you have done anything wrong. The reviews check that awards are still correct, because circumstances change over time - an inheritance, a rise in savings, a new pension, or someone moving in. Reviews are not fraud investigations, although DWP can refer a case to its counter-fraud teams if it finds evidence of deliberate deception.

Why is DWP asking for my bank statements?

Statements are the simplest way for DWP to check that the savings, income and time abroad you declared still match reality. Not everyone being reviewed is asked for them. If you are, the letter says which accounts, how many months and the deadline. Include every account in your name and your partner’s, including joint accounts, savings accounts and ISAs, and explain any large or unusual payments.

What happens if I don’t respond to a Pension Credit review?

DWP can suspend your payments if you don’t provide information it has asked for by the deadline, and it can end the award if the information never arrives. Because maximum Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction depend on your Pension Credit, those can be reassessed too. If you need more time - for example to get statements from your bank - ring the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469 before the deadline and ask.

Will I have to pay back an overpayment of Pension Credit?

Only if it was caused by you misrepresenting something or failing to tell DWP about a change you should have reported. If the overpayment was entirely DWP’s mistake and you could not reasonably have known, it generally cannot be recovered. Where it is recoverable, DWP normally takes it back in instalments, often by weekly deductions from your Pension Credit or other benefits, and you can ask for a repayment rate you can afford. You can challenge the overpayment decision with a mandatory reconsideration within one month.

How do I know a Pension Credit review letter is genuine?

Review requests normally come from DWP by letter and refer to your claim. DWP will not ask you to pay a fee, and it does not need your online banking password. If anything about a call, text or email seems off, don’t reply to it - ring the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469, which is listed on GOV.UK, and ask them to confirm.

Can DWP see my bank account?

Not directly. DWP sees what you send it, and it can ask banks and other organisations for information in some circumstances. A separate new power under the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025 lets DWP ask banks to flag accounts of people on Pension Credit, Universal Credit or ESA that appear to break benefit rules, such as time abroad. Banks cannot pass on your transactions, and the power does not apply to the State Pension.

What is an assessed income period?

An assessed income period (AIP) was a period during which you did not have to report changes to your pensions, savings or investments. No new AIPs have been set since 6 April 2016. Some people who were 75 or over when theirs was set still have an indefinite one. It ends if you become part of a couple or stop being part of one, move permanently into a care home, or stop getting Pension Credit - and you must always report other changes, such as going abroad.

DWP Pension Credit review: bank statements and how to respond

What the Pension Credit review is

At the Budget on 26 November 2025, the government announced a new programme of Pension Credit case reviews, starting in 2026 and running until 2029. The Budget costings put the expected saving at £370 million by 2030-31. DWP began contacting selected claimants in late August 2026.

The essentials:

It targets claims DWP thinks are at risk of being wrong. DWP has not said how many people it will contact or how cases are picked.
It works in both directions. Like the Targeted Case Reviews DWP has run on Universal Credit since 2022, the reviews correct underpayments as well as overpayments.
It is not a fraud investigation. DWP stresses that selection does not mean wrongdoing. If a review turns up evidence of deliberate deception, DWP can pass the case to its counter-fraud teams, but that is a separate process.
Some people are asked for bank statements. Others may be asked about their income, savings, investments, property and time spent outside the UK. The letter sets out what it needs and by when.

Why DWP is doing it now

DWP's own error statistics, published in May 2026, show why Pension Credit is in the spotlight. Of the £6.1 billion paid in Pension Credit in 2025/26:

Pension Credit, 2025/26	Share of spending	Amount
Overpaid - total	10.0%	£620m
of which claimant error	4.6%	£280m
of which fraud	3.5%	£210m
of which DWP's own error	2.0%	£120m
Underpaid	1.3%	£80m

Two causes account for more than half of all the money overpaid: savings that were not declared and staying abroad longer than the rules allow. Claimant mistakes over savings alone accounted for £150 million, up from £110 million the year before, and the proportion of claims overpaid jumped to 33 in 100, from 28 in 100. The flip side matters just as much for anyone being reviewed: about 4 in 100 claims were underpaid, mostly because DWP had missed the severe disability amount.

How to respond to a review letter, step by step

Check it is genuine. Review requests normally come by letter from DWP and refer to your claim. DWP will never ask for a fee or your online banking password. If in doubt, ring the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469 - the number on GOV.UK, not one given in a text or email.
Note the deadline. If you cannot meet it - your bank is slow, you are in hospital, you need help - phone before it passes and ask for more time. Keep a note of who you spoke to and when.
Send everything the letter asks for, for every account. That means accounts in your name and your partner's, including joint accounts, savings accounts, ISAs, Premium Bonds and any account abroad. Most banks will print statements or let you download them. Don't black out entries.
Explain anything that might look odd. A short covering note saves a lot of back-and-forth: a large deposit that was a one-off refund or a gift you then passed on, transfers between your own accounts, a new boiler or funeral costs, card payments abroad and the dates you were away.
Own up to anything you missed. If you realise savings went over £10,000, or you spent more than four weeks abroad, say so now. Telling DWP yourself is far better than it finding the change.
Keep copies and proof of posting. Photocopy or photograph everything, and use a tracked or signed-for service if you post originals.

Ask for your award to be checked while they are looking

A review is a chance to fix an underpayment. If you get Attendance Allowance, PIP or DLA care and live alone, or if you care for someone, check your award letter includes the severe disability amount (£86.05) or the carer amount (£48.15). Ground rent and service charges should be included too. Our Pension Credit calculator shows what your award should be.

What can happen after a review

Quick check

Four possible outcomes

1
Everything matches what DWP holds

→ Your award carries on unchanged. Keep the letter with your Pension Credit papers.
2
DWP finds you have been underpaid

→ Your award goes up and you should get arrears. A missed severe disability or carer amount is the commonest reason.
3
Your circumstances changed and the award is now too high

→ Your weekly award is reduced from now on. Whether you must repay the past overpayment depends on why it happened - see below.
4
You don't reply or send what was asked for

→ DWP can suspend your payments and may end the award. Council Tax Reduction and Housing Benefit can then be reassessed too.

Whatever the decision, you can ask for a mandatory reconsideration within one month.

If DWP says you were overpaid

A reduced award going forward is one thing. Being asked to repay past money is another, and the rules for Pension Credit are more protective than many people realise:

It is only recoverable if you caused it by misrepresenting something or by not reporting a change you should have reported. If the overpayment was purely DWP's mistake and you could not reasonably have known, it generally cannot be recovered.
Check the figures. The decision should show the period, the amount and why. Overpayments are often worked out from the wrong date, or ignore money you were owed for the same period.
Repayment is usually by instalments - commonly weekly deductions from your Pension Credit or another benefit. You can ask for a lower rate if the deductions would leave you short, so explain your essential outgoings.
There may be a £50 civil penalty on top if DWP decides you were careless without a reasonable excuse. This is not a criminal matter.
You can challenge it. Ask for a mandatory reconsideration within one month of the decision, then appeal to a tribunal on form SSCS1 within one month of the reconsideration notice if needed. If DWP mentions fraud or invites you to an interview under caution, get advice before you go.

Scenario

Brian

79, single, Pension Credit since 2021

Situation: Brian's sister left him £14,000 in 2024. He put it in a savings account and didn't think to tell DWP, because he understood the first £10,000 of savings was ignored - but he already had £6,000, so his savings went to £20,000.

£20,000 of savings counts as £20 a week of income, so his Pension Credit should have been £20 a week lower from when the money arrived.
Over about two years that is roughly £2,000 overpaid - recoverable, because he should have reported savings going over £10,000.
He keeps Guarantee Credit at the lower rate, so his free TV licence and Council Tax Reduction continue. He agrees to repay at a rate he can afford.
Had he declared it in 2024, he would have lost the same £20 a week but owed nothing.

Bank checks: what the new law does - and doesn't - do

The review programme is separate from a new power in the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025, which became law on 2 December 2025. Its eligibility verification measure lets DWP require banks to look for accounts belonging to people on Pension Credit, Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance that appear to break the benefit rules - for example signs of time abroad beyond what is allowed - and flag them to DWP.

Banks can pass on only limited information, such as account and account-holder details and which indicator was met. They cannot share your transactions.
The State Pension is excluded and cannot be added.
A flag alone does not decide your entitlement: DWP has to consider everything it knows. It can still use its normal powers to ask you for evidence or suspend payment while it checks.
The final code of practice was published in May 2026, so DWP is now able to start using the power. It has said it will begin on a "test and learn" basis.

The same Act also gives DWP a last-resort power to recover some debts directly from bank accounts, aimed mainly at people who no longer receive benefits or wages it can deduct from.

Keeping your claim right - so a review is a non-event

Savings: tell DWP when your savings go over £10,000, and when they change by £500 or more once they are above that. Inheritances, insurance payouts and pension lump sums all count. See Pension Credit and savings for what counts.
Time abroad: Pension Credit normally continues for up to 4 weeks outside Great Britain - 8 weeks if a close relative has died, 26 weeks for medical treatment. Tell DWP before you go, even for a holiday.
Your household: report anyone moving in or out, a partner joining you or dying, going into hospital or a care home, and any new pension or earnings.
Spending and gifts: spending your money on normal things - repairs, a car, a holiday, helping with a funeral - is fine. Giving it away in order to keep or increase Pension Credit is not: DWP can treat you as still having it ("notional capital").
Keep statements for a few years. They are the quickest way to answer any question about a past period.

Changes go to the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469 (Relay UK 18001 then 0800 731 0469), Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm. Not claiming yet? Our guides to applying for Pension Credit and the main Pension Credit rules start from the beginning.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Why is DWP reviewing Pension Credit claims?: Because it believes a lot of awards are wrong. DWP’s own figures for 2025/26 estimate that 33 in every 100 Pension Credit claims were overpaid - up from 28 in 100 the year before - mainly because savings were under-declared or claimants stayed abroad longer than the rules allow. A programme of case reviews was announced at the Budget in November 2025, costed to save £370 million by 2030-31, and DWP began contacting selected claimants in late August 2026. Reviews also correct underpayments.
Does a Pension Credit review letter mean I have done something wrong?: No. DWP has said that being selected does not mean you have done anything wrong. The reviews check that awards are still correct, because circumstances change over time - an inheritance, a rise in savings, a new pension, or someone moving in. Reviews are not fraud investigations, although DWP can refer a case to its counter-fraud teams if it finds evidence of deliberate deception.
Why is DWP asking for my bank statements?: Statements are the simplest way for DWP to check that the savings, income and time abroad you declared still match reality. Not everyone being reviewed is asked for them. If you are, the letter says which accounts, how many months and the deadline. Include every account in your name and your partner’s, including joint accounts, savings accounts and ISAs, and explain any large or unusual payments.
What happens if I don’t respond to a Pension Credit review?: DWP can suspend your payments if you don’t provide information it has asked for by the deadline, and it can end the award if the information never arrives. Because maximum Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction depend on your Pension Credit, those can be reassessed too. If you need more time - for example to get statements from your bank - ring the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469 before the deadline and ask.
Will I have to pay back an overpayment of Pension Credit?: Only if it was caused by you misrepresenting something or failing to tell DWP about a change you should have reported. If the overpayment was entirely DWP’s mistake and you could not reasonably have known, it generally cannot be recovered. Where it is recoverable, DWP normally takes it back in instalments, often by weekly deductions from your Pension Credit or other benefits, and you can ask for a repayment rate you can afford. You can challenge the overpayment decision with a mandatory reconsideration within one month.
How do I know a Pension Credit review letter is genuine?: Review requests normally come from DWP by letter and refer to your claim. DWP will not ask you to pay a fee, and it does not need your online banking password. If anything about a call, text or email seems off, don’t reply to it - ring the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469, which is listed on GOV.UK, and ask them to confirm.
Can DWP see my bank account?: Not directly. DWP sees what you send it, and it can ask banks and other organisations for information in some circumstances. A separate new power under the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025 lets DWP ask banks to flag accounts of people on Pension Credit, Universal Credit or ESA that appear to break benefit rules, such as time abroad. Banks cannot pass on your transactions, and the power does not apply to the State Pension.
What is an assessed income period?: An assessed income period (AIP) was a period during which you did not have to report changes to your pensions, savings or investments. No new AIPs have been set since 6 April 2016. Some people who were 75 or over when theirs was set still have an indefinite one. It ends if you become part of a couple or stop being part of one, move permanently into a care home, or stop getting Pension Credit - and you must always report other changes, such as going abroad.