£35m of unclaimed Pension Credit given to elderly to help with cost of living crisis | Personal Finance | Finance

It’s great news that more older people are coming forward to ask about pension credit, but there are still millions of pounds yet to be claimed.

In tough times like these, much more needs to be done to get this money into the pockets of pensioners living on low incomes.

Rising energy prices are affecting everyone but most worrying of all, we know they will plunge nearly one in three older households into fuel poverty this winter.

Being freezing cold can do older people real harm, particularly if they already have medical problems.

That’s why it’s so important that they can heat their homes properly. Although help is on the horizon with the reinstated triple lock from next April, many older people are extremely worried.

In their thousands, they’ve shared with us harrowing stories of how they’re cutting back on meals, staying in bed to keep warm and only heating one room, just to get by.

As part of Age UK’s It Doesn’t Add Up campaign, the charity is urging any older person living on a low income or struggling with their bills to contact its free advice line on 0800 169 65 65 to check they’re receiving all the support available.

In fact, we know that around 770,000 pensioner households are still missing out on pension credit. It can be backdated by three months so those who claimed yesterday or earlier will also meet the eligibility criteria for the second part of the Government’s cost-of-living payment which awards claimants an extra £324 this year.

Pension credit alone is worth an average of £1,900 a year per household, so this could be lifechanging, giving people the confidence to eat well and keep their heating on over the coming months.

• Caroline Abrahams is Age UK Charity Director

IT’S great news that more older people are coming forward to ask about pension credit, but there are still millions of pounds yet to be claimed.

In tough times like these, much more needs to be done to get this money into the pockets of pensioners living on low incomes.

Rising energy prices are affecting everyone but most worrying of all, we know they will plunge nearly one in three older households into fuel poverty this winter.

Being freezing cold can do older people real harm, particularly if they already have medical problems.

That’s why it’s so important that they can heat their homes properly. Although help is on the horizon with the reinstated triple lock from next April, many older people are extremely worried.

In their thousands, they’ve shared with us harrowing stories of how they’re cutting back on meals, staying in bed to keep warm and only heating one room, just to get by.

As part of Age UK’s It Doesn’t Add Up campaign, the charity is urging any older person living on a low income or struggling with their bills to contact its free advice line on 0800 169 65 65 to check they’re receiving all the support available.

In fact, we know that around 770,000 pensioner households are still missing out on pension credit. It can be backdated by three months so those who claimed yesterday or earlier will also meet the eligibility criteria for the second part of the Government’s cost-of-living payment which awards claimants an extra £324 this year.

Pension credit alone is worth an average of £1,900 a year per household, so this could be lifechanging, giving people the confidence to eat well and keep their heating on over the coming months.