From the BBC:
More than a million pensioners are still living in poverty, partly due to their failure to claim benefits, the charity Age UK has claimed...
The report found that:
* 1.6m pensioners are missing out on Pension Credit, worth £33 a week
* 2.2m pensioners are missing out on Council Tax Benefit, worth an average £728 a year
* 390,000 pensioners could have claimed Housing Benefit, worth £48 a week
Age UK said that many people do not know that they are entitled to the extra income. Others feel too proud or embarrassed to claim...
The DWP said that people can claim housing benefit and pension credit in just one free phone call on 0800 99 1234, without the need for a signed form.
Also from the BBC:
The government has been criticised for not increasing its efforts to tackle housing benefit fraud "sooner".
The National Audit Office said overpayments due to fraud and error had risen from £980m to almost £1.4bn between 2010-11 and 2013-14.
It added that the Department for Work and Pensions faced an "escalating problem", accepting that housing benefit was "difficult" to administer.
Thinking ahead
2 hours ago
3 comments:
And how many pensioners have modest savings that debar them from claiming any of these benefits?
Also they feel that government functionaries asking them intrusive questions about their finances is demeaning.
From my calculations, all these unclaimed benefits add up to 532 quid per pensioner (if there are about 10 million pensioners). Why not send a check out to all pensioners on 532 quid, and those too embarrassed to cash it in can't be helped anyway.
Good idea, Kj. Which is why it'll never happen.
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