How to fill in form PC1 — claiming Pension Credit for a parent or relative
PC1 is the paper claim form for Pension Credit — a means-tested benefit that tops up the income of someone who has reached the qualifying age (State Pension age, currently 66) and has a low income or modest savings.
Most of Valoren's own readers meet this form as a helper rather than a claimant: an adult child completing it for a parent, an attorney acting under a DWP-approved Property and Financial Affairs LPA, or a formally appointed DWP appointee for someone who can no longer manage their own affairs.
This walkthrough covers who's actually allowed to sign for someone else, the £10,000 savings threshold that pulls in a second form, the bank-account trap for anyone signing as an attorney or appointee, and the backdating window that decides how much of the first payment reaches back into the past.
✓ Official source checked 23 August 2026 · GOV.UK last revised this form 3 March 2026PC1 on GOV.UK ↗
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United Kingdom·Informational, not legal or financial advice·Official source: GOV.UK
✓Official form · always current
This is the same official PC1 file Department for Work and Pensions publishes on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.
The button gives you Pension Credit claim form (PC1). If that is not your situation, the other official versions are listed underneath.
Current version: March 2026 · confirmed on GOV.UK 23 August 2026
This walkthrough takes PC1 field by field, in plain English. The form itself runs to 224 numbered questions across 24 pages, but the part most families get wrong isn't a question at all — it's whether the person signing actually has DWP's approval to sign for someone else.
The thing most people get wrong
Signing PC1 for a parent without DWP-approved authority to do so.
Holding a registered Property and Financial Affairs LPA isn't enough on its own — the PC1 notes are explicit that DWP must have separately approved that authority before you can sign for someone. If DWP 'has never approved the legal authority', the notes say to phone first so it can be arranged; sending a claim pre-signed by an unapproved attorney risks it being bounced back, or delayed while DWP arranges an appointee visit instead.
The form, in summary
Valoren
PC1·24 pages·224 fields guided
With Valoren40 minutes
Without Valoren2–3 hours
gathering bank, pension and savings detail across a 24-page branching form, plus the original supporting documents it asks you to post
Deadline
3 monthsbackdating limit — apply up to 4mo before age 66
Pension Credit is a means-tested benefit for people who have reached the 'qualifying age' — State Pension age, currently 66 — created by the State Pension Credit Act 2002 and detailed in the State Pension Credit Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/1792).
PC1 is the paper claim route; gov.uk's own quickest routes are online (only available once State Pension has already been claimed) or by phone on 0800 99 1234 — DWP will also post out a paper PC1 on request. Because Pension Credit is a living benefit, not an estate document, the realistic filer inside Valoren's own audience is rarely the claimant working alone: it's usually an adult child or family carer completing it for a parent, someone holding a Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney that DWP has separately approved, or a formally appointed DWP 'appointee' for a claimant who can no longer manage their own affairs.
·Who Files — Primarily the claimant themselves — but within Valoren's own audience, more often an adult child or family carer filling it in for a parent (PC1 has a dedicated block for this at Q221–224), someone holding a Property and Financial Affairs LPA that DWP has separately approved to act, or a formally appointed DWP 'appointee' for a claimant who can no longer manage their own affairs. The PC1 notes booklet is explicit that you should never sign for someone who is mentally able to manage their own affairs, even if they are physically unable to write or hold a pen.
·24 pages · 224 fields guided
·Draws from your Estate File — Personal Record, Financial Accounts, Legal Instruments
Section01
§11
Section 1
Before you start — routes to claim, and who's actually allowed to sign
PC1 is the postal fallback, not the only way in — and if you're filling it in for someone else, DWP's rule on who may sign is narrower than who may help fill it in.
01
Three ways to claim
Online at gov.uk/pension-credit — only available once State Pension has already been claimed — by phone on 0800 99 1234, or by post using PC1. DWP will also post out a paper PC1 if you call and ask for one.
Read the PC1 notes booklet before starting; the form's own cover page says so directly.
02
Who may sign for someone else
The PC1 notes are explicit: you can sign for someone only if the Department has approved your authority to act on their behalf — for example a registered Property and Financial Affairs LPA that DWP has separately recognised, or a formally appointed DWP 'appointee'.
If DWP 'has never approved the legal authority, please contact us so that we can discuss this' — the notes' own wording. Never sign for someone who is mentally able to manage their own affairs, even if they're physically disabled.
03
Appointees are not the same as an LPA attorney
A DWP-appointed appointee is a family member DWP has formally approved to deal with benefits for someone 'not mentally able to act on their own behalf' — a distinct status from holding an LPA, and distinct again from a Court of Protection deputy.
The 'For people filling in this form for someone else' block later in PC1 (Q221–224) is a light-touch contact capture only — it does not itself confer signing authority.
04
Black ink, capital letters
PC1's cover page asks for the form to be completed in black ink and capital letters — a small instruction, but one DWP notes can cause processing delays if ignored.
PC1 is the postal fallback, not the only way in — and if you're filling it in for someone else, DWP's rule on who may sign is narrower than who may help fill it in.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · PC1❦
Section02
§22
Section 2
About you, your partner, and any dependent children
The first run of the form establishes who the household is — the claimant, any partner, and any children or qualifying young people counted within the claim.
01
About you — Q01–13
Title, name, all former or maiden names, date of birth, National Insurance number, home and correspondence addresses, phone number, whether registered blind or severely sight impaired, and a language preference — answering 'English is fine' skips ahead to Q14.
02
About your partner — Q14–24
Whether there's a partner at all, defined broadly to include married, civil partnership, or living together as such; whether they're in a care home or you're separated; whether they consent to a joint claim; then their own name, date of birth, National Insurance number and sight-impairment status.
Answering 'no' at Q14 skips straight to Q25.
03
About any children — Q25–91
The largest single block by volume: a full repeating sub-form for up to two children inline (Child 1 at Q26–58, Child 2 at Q59–91), covering name, date of birth, living arrangements, Child Benefit status, education status for 16–19 year-olds, and disability-benefit entitlement (DLA, Child Disability Payment, PIP, Adult Disability Payment).
For a third child or more, the notes direct you to the free-text 'Other information' box at Q214 rather than trying to force extra children into the numbered blocks.
The first run of the form establishes who the household is — the claimant, any partner, and any children or qualifying young people counted within the claim.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · PC1❦
Section03
§33
Section 3
Housing, savings, pensions, and other income
The financial core of the form — where you live, what you own, and every source of money coming in. This is the section most likely to trigger a second form.
01
About where you live — Q92–104
Care home status and home ownership, who else lives in the household, who's liable for rent or Council Tax, any existing or pending Housing Benefit or Council Tax reduction claim, service charges, ground rent, and mortgage status.
02
The £10,000 savings threshold — Q105–108
Whether you or your partner hold any savings or investments, and the total amount — combined with a partner's, if there is one.
If that total is over £10,000, question 106 requires you to also complete and return the separate 8-page PC1H form in the same envelope. A claim sent back with only PC1 when savings exceed £10,000 is treated as incomplete.
03
Pensions — Q119–138
A repeating 'Pension 1'/'Pension 2' block, each capturing the payer, pension type, amount, payment frequency, receipt date, latest payment date, and whether it rises annually — explicitly excluding State Pension itself, which is asked about separately in the benefits section.
Send the latest pension payslip as proof, not a P60.
04
Work, and other money coming in — Q139–165
Whether you or your partner have left self-employment in the last 3 months, or currently do any paid work.
Then up to four repeating 'money details' blocks for anything else coming in — what it is, the amount, frequency and who receives it — plus a forward-looking question about any lump sum expected within 12 months, such as the proceeds of a house sale.
The financial core of the form — where you live, what you own, and every source of money coming in. This is the section most likely to trigger a second form.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · PC1❦
Section04
§44
Section 4
Residency, hospital and care-home status
A long block, essentially duplicated once for the claimant and again for a partner — worth knowing exists even where most of it won't apply.
01
The claimant block — Q166–188, and the partner block — Q189–211
Hospital inpatient status, a temporary care-home stay, right to reside, nationality, the date and reason for coming to or returning to the UK, an immigration status share code or UKVI account reference where relevant, 'no recourse to public funds' status, sponsorship undertakings, and asylum-application history.
Most UK-resident claimants will answer 'no' through much of this — but a recent house move, hospital stay, or return from time abroad is exactly the kind of thing this block is built to catch.
A long block, essentially duplicated once for the claimant and again for a partner — worth knowing exists even where most of it won't apply.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · PC1❦
Section05
§55
Section 5
The date you're claiming from, and disclosures that go with it
This short section sets the claim's start date — and if that date is in the past, it comes with a duty to disclose things a family helper won't always think to mention unprompted.
01
The qualifying age, or another date — Q212–213
A choice between 'the qualifying age' (State Pension age, currently 66) or 'another date', with a free-text box explaining why that date was chosen.
This is the question that functionally sets the claim's start date — and, via the 3-month backdating rule, how much of the first payment reaches back into the past.
02
If the date you're claiming from is in the past
The PC1 notes list specific things you must disclose in 'Other information' (Q214) if you're backdating at all — including a partner's death or separation 'in the last 3 months', care-home moves, hospital stays, prison periods, or changes to savings since that date.
Many family helpers won't think to volunteer these unprompted; missing one risks either underpayment or a later overpayment clawback once DWP catches up with the real picture.
03
Other information — Q214
One large free-text box, and the designated overflow for anything the numbered sections couldn't hold: a third child, a third pension, property or land detail, an expected lump sum, and every backdating disclosure above.
This short section sets the claim's start date — and if that date is in the past, it comes with a duty to disclose things a family helper won't always think to mention unprompted.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · PC1❦
Section06
§66
Section 6
How you're paid, the declaration, and signing for someone else
The closing pages: where the money goes, the signature that actually releases it, and — for anyone acting on behalf of a claimant — the one detail most likely to be got backwards.
01
How we pay you — Q215–220
Payment frequency, and full bank or building society details — account holder name, bank name, sort code, account number, and roll number for a building society account.
The notes are direct: Pension Credit cannot be paid at all without valid account details.
02
The bank-account trap for an attorney or appointee
If you're signing as an appointee or legal representative, the notes state the account 'should be in your name only' — using the claimant's own account, the intuitive choice, is the wrong answer once you're acting formally on their behalf.
03
Your declaration
A signature and date, next to a warning of prosecution, a financial penalty, reduced or stopped Pension Credit, or being asked to repay overpaid money, for wrong or incomplete information or a change not reported promptly.
04
For people filling in this form for someone else — Q221–224
Whether you, the helper, signed on the claimant's behalf, plus your own contact address, phone number and National Insurance number.
This is contact capture only — it doesn't itself confer appointee or attorney status; that has to come from DWP separately, as covered in section 1.
The closing pages: where the money goes, the signature that actually releases it, and — for anyone acting on behalf of a claimant — the one detail most likely to be got backwards.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · PC1❦
Section07
§77
Section 7
After you send it
What to check before posting, and the ongoing duty that starts once the claim is in.
01
The checklist — 'What to do now'
Confirm the declaration is signed and dated, and every requested original document is enclosed — payslips, and proof of service charges, ground rent, pension or other income, sent as originals rather than photocopies.
DWP undertakes to return them, 'usually within 5 working days but sometimes can take longer'. The posting address printed on the form is 'Freepost DWP Pensions Site 8' — no stamp needed if using the envelope provided.
02
Report changes straight away
Once Pension Credit is in payment, any change to the claimant's or partner's circumstances must be reported immediately by phone — the same warning about prosecution, penalties, and repayment that sits alongside the declaration applies to a late report too.
What to check before posting, and the ongoing duty that starts once the claim is in.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · PC1❦
Many people file PC1 themselves — that is what this walkthrough is for. If the situation behind it has stopped being simple — beyond what a careful person can safely do alone — Signum, Valoren’s own specialist desk, can take it on, and we say so plainly: it starts with a free intake, and if you do not need us, we will tell you. Prefer an independent adviser? STEP and the Chartered Institute of Taxation both keep public member directories, and neither pays Valoren a referral fee.
FAQ
PC1 questions, answered.
PC1 is the paper claim form for Pension Credit — a means-tested benefit that tops up the income of someone who has reached the qualifying age, currently 66, and has a low income or modest savings.
It's one of three co-published documents: PC1 itself, a parallel PC1 notes guidance booklet, and PC1H, a supplementary form used only when savings pass £10,000.
Only someone DWP has recognised: a DWP-approved Property and Financial Affairs LPA attorney, or a formally appointed DWP 'appointee'.
The notes are explicit that you should never sign for someone who is mentally able to manage their own affairs, even if they're physically unable to write — and that an LPA which DWP hasn't separately approved isn't enough on its own; phone DWP first to get it recognised.
Question 106 asks for total savings, investments and money — combined with a partner's, if there is one. If that total is over £10,000, you must also complete and return the separate 8-page PC1H form in the same envelope.
Sending PC1 back with savings over £10,000 but no PC1H attached leaves the claim incomplete.
Per gov.uk's own guidance, an application can only be backdated by 3 months — so up to 3 months of Pension Credit can land in the first payment, if the claimant was eligible for it during that time.
You can also apply up to 4 months before reaching the qualifying age itself.
Normally the claimant's own account. But the PC1 notes are explicit that if you're signing as an appointee or a legal representative, the account should be in your name only, not the claimant's — the intuitive choice is often the wrong one once you're acting formally for someone else.
DWP cannot pay Pension Credit at all without valid account details.
Original supporting documents — pension payslips (not a P60), and proof of service charges, ground rent or other income where they apply — not photocopies.
DWP does return them, 'usually within 5 working days but sometimes can take longer', according to the form's own checklist.
Yes. Gov.uk's quickest routes are online at gov.uk/pension-credit — only available once State Pension has already been claimed — or by phone on 0800 99 1234.
PC1 is the postal fallback; DWP will also post a paper copy out if you call and ask for one.
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Where this fits
PC1 is one form. The file behind it is the rest.
Every question on PC1 comes back to the same handful of facts — the claimant's own details, their bank and pension income, and, wherever a family member is signing, exactly what authority they're signing under. Personal Record and Financial Accounts hold the first two ready; Legal Instruments holds the LPA or appointee detail that decides who's allowed to sign.