It means 970,000 low-income individuals missed out on support, with £1.5bn going unclaimed. That is a loss of around £1,900 per year for every eligible household which did not claim pension credit.
These are also people who would have lost the winter fuel payment, after it was restricted to low-income pensioners in receipt of pension credit or other means-tested benefits last year.
Meanwhile, 83% of those eligible are missing out on housing benefit. This equates to 270,000 older households going without support, with £1.1bn currently going unclaimed.
Independent Age chief executive Joanna Elson said: “It is clear that the UK has a social security system that is far too complex and difficult to navigate, and while there are numerous entitlements available, many people in later life are often unable to access potentially life-changing support as a result. Something has to change.”
Around two million older people are currently living in poverty, and a further one million are “precariously on the edge”.
Elson added: “The UK government and local authorities must work together to drive take-up for benefits such as pension credit and housing benefit. There needs to be an entitlement take up strategy that tears down the barriers that make it so difficult to understand the system, and in some cases, inaccessible for many people in later life.”
Elson called on the DWP to simplify and streamline the application process, while urging the government to investigate the feasibility of automating certain parts of the benefits system to “get money into the pockets of those who need it.
Kelly Conlan, advice and support manager at Independent Age, said: “Our helpline regularly receives calls from worried older people who know there is financial support out there but are daunted by the challenge of applying because of the sheer scale and complexity of the process.
“Older people across the country are sitting in cold homes and only eating one meal a day. It shouldn’t be so difficult to apply for support that could make a huge difference to their quality of life.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “We have made the process of applying for benefits as accessible as possible such as completing the pension credit claim form online now takes on average just 16 minutes while figures published last week show nearly 120,000 more pensioners are receiving it since July.
“Our new initiative of joining up state pension and pension credit is supporting more people onto the benefit as soon as they become eligible, and we have written to over 120,000 pensioner households in receipt of housing benefit about pension credit to better join up the offer further improve uptake.”
Independent Age’s trained advisers run free welfare benefit checks and support people to fill out the application forms. If you are an older person that is worried about your financial situation, call the free helpline on 0800 319 6789 or visit the charity’s website for more information.
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