Pensioners have been urged to check if they can boost their income by over £1,000 by claiming benefits.
Researchers have called on older Britons to check if they can claim support such as Pension Credit as people are missing out on “substantial sums” in benefits payments.
Simon Gray, managing director of HUB Financial Solutions, said: “With billions of pounds of benefit income going unclaimed every year, it is vital that those struggling financially are not missing out because they wrongly assume they are not eligible.”
The group found one in six of its customers who were exploring equity release options in 2022 were failing to claim benefits when they could have.
The average household among those surveyed who were missing out on the support could get an extra £1,100 a year in benefits.
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Mr Gray said: “There is a huge range of resources for pensioners to help them check whether they could be entitled to receive additional state support.
“It is easy, free and could be worth substantial sums if they are able to claim some extra help.
“It’s worrying that one-in-10 said that they hadn’t checked because they didn’t know how – it shows we need to be proactive in educating, informing and helping retired households about how to access the support on offer.”
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A person can check what benefits they are entitled to using a benefits calculator tool, such as the one on the Turn2us website.
One benefit in particular that many pensioners are missing out on is Pension Credit, as some 850,000 households miss out on the support, which can be worth over £3,500 a year.
Pension Credit tops up a single person’s income to £201.05 a week while claimants in a couple get a top-up to £306.85 a week.
Extra payments are available through the scheme depending on a claimant’s situation, such as if they care for someone.
Claiming Pension Credit may also qualify a person for the cost of living payments going out this year.
People on the benefit may be eligible for a £300 payment going out in autumn 2023 and a £299 payment going out in spring 2024.
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