Thousands of people could be eligible to get an extra 'gateway' benefit, the Department for Work and Pensions have confirmed. This could provide claimants with an extra £278 each week.
As well as extra cash, those with qualify for the benefit will be entitled to other discounts on housing, Council Tax and TV licences. The statistics were shared by DWP minister, Guy Opperman MP in response to a Pension Credit query from Conservative MP, Sir John Hayes.
Sir Hayes enquired how many pensioners in the UK qualify for Pension Credit, but are not claiming the benefit. In response, Mr Opperman told of a ‘Pension Credit Awareness Day’ on Wednesday, June 15 aimed at increasing coverage of the benefit to encourage more older people to make a claim, Daily Record reports.
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He said: “In Great Britain, there are an estimated 770,000 entitled non-recipients of Pension Credit. We have already undertaken a range of actions to raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up.”
He highlighted that “initial internal management information suggests that new claims for Pension Credit in the 12 months to December 2021 were around 30% higher compared to the 12 months to December 2019”.
He continued: “Earlier this year, we directly targeted over 11 million pensioners with information about Pension Credit and the additional support it can provide in the leaflet accompanying their annual up-rating notification. However, it is more important now than ever before that we ensure all eligible pensioners claim the vital financial help which Pension Credit provides.”
In April, the DWP launched a new awareness campaign saying that £1.7 billion of available Pension Credit went unclaimed - on average, this amounted to around £1,900 per year for each family entitled to receive the ‘gateway’ benefit.
Mr Opperman added: “We are promoting Pension Credit in a variety of ways, including on social media - with advertising targeted both at potential recipients as well as their friends and family and also in key locations for the elderly, such as post offices and GP waiting rooms.” You can read the full response on GOV.UK here.
Pension Credit offers help with daily living costs of up to £182.60 per week for single people and £278.70 for couples, as well as help with rent and Council Tax, heating bills, free NHS dental care and free TV licenses for the over-75s.
To be eligible for Pension Credit, people need to be over State Pension age and on a low income. More than 1.4 million pensioners across the UK currently receive Pension Credit.
To check your entitlement, phone the Pension Credit helpline on 0800 99 1234 or use the GOV.UK Pension Credit calculator here to find out how much you could get.
