Do you lose your state pension when you move to a care home?

Many people wonder if they will lose their state pension when they move into a care home.

The rules differ according to your circumstances. It depends on whether you pay all the care home fees yourself or you get help from your local authority, or your partner keeps living in your house.

On this page you will find information about what happens to your state and private pension when you go into a care home, and if you can still get pension credit.

Do you lose your State Pension?

If you have reached State Pension age, you will still be able to receive the State Pension when in a care home. If you are a man born before 6 April 1951, or a woman born before 6 April 1953, you can claim the older basic State Pension, which is £169.50 a week.

People born after these dates will be eligible for the full new State Pension. The new State Pension is £221.20 a week, or or £11,502 annually. The actual amount you get depends on your National Insurance Record.

If you are a self-funder and you are paying for all the care home fees yourself, you simply continue to receive your State Pension as normal.

If you receive state-funded care, as in your local authority is paying some or all of the costs, your State Pension will be counted as income when they work out how much you should contribute.

Your local authority will calculate how much you have to pay for your care through the Financial Assessment. The amount you must pay includes funds you receive from most of your benefits, including State Pension.

How much is the State Pension in 2025?

In April 2025, the new State Pension will rise to £230.30 weekly, or £11,975 annually.

To claim the new State Pension you need 35 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get the full amount.

In April 2025, the basic State Pension will increase to £176.45 weekly, or £9,175 annually.

Personal Expenses Allowance

Your pension will then be used to pay towards the costs of your care home fees. To ensure you still have an income each week, they exclude a set amount from your pension, known as Personal Expenses Allowance (PEA). This amount varies across the UK:

• England: £30.15 per week
• Scotland: £34.50 per week
• Wales: £43.90 per week (in Wales it’s called Minimum Income Amount)
• Northern Ireland: £27.19 per week

Local authorities in England have the power to increase the PEA in special circumstances, such as if they are supporting a spouse.

Video: What happens to your state pension if you go into a care home

How your private pension is affected

Your private pension when in a care home will be affected in a similar way to your State Pension. If you are a self-funder, you will continue to receive the pension as normal at an amount defined by yourself or past employers.

However, as your assets and savings are taken into account during the local authority’s Financial Assessment your private pension will be included.

If you move into permanent residential or nursing care and you have a partner still living at home, you can choose to pass on half your private pension to them. This then means that 50 per cent of your private pension will be disregarded from the Financial Assessment.

This is done to protect one partner from financial hardship following a local authority’s Financial Assessment as there may be significant differences between their incomes.

Do you get Pension Credit in a care home?

Pension Credit is a means tested entitlement based on income and capital. You must have reached State Pension age to claim. It has two parts:

• Guarantee Credit
• Savings Credit

If you move into a care home, your Pension Credit entitlement will be calculated as if you were living at home.

Your eligibility is decided by adding up most forms of income, including any tariff income. Capital up to £10,000 is disregarded and you are treated as having a £1 per week tariff income for every £500 above £10,000. There is no upper capital limit.

If you are a couple and one of you moves into a care home permanently, you are treated as a single person for Pension Credit, whereas you are still treated as a couple during short stays, such as respite stays.

Guarantee Credit

Guarantee Credit tops up your income if it is below the ‘appropriate minimum guarantee’, which is £218.15 a week for a single person and £332.95 for a couple. The amount you get will be the difference between your assessed income, minus any disregarded amounts and the appropriate minimum guarantee.

Savings Credit

Savings Credit is unavailable for people who reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016. It is only available for couples where both partners reached State Pension age before that date, unless one of them were claiming before 6 April 2016 and there has been no breaks in their entitlement.

Savings Credit for single people is up to £17.01 per week and up to £19.04 for couples.

Paying for care can be expensive. Please read our Care home fees advice section for useful tips and guidance to make sure you take full advantage of the benefits and methods available.

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