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More Money in Your Pocket

Pensioners are failing to claim up to £5.4 billion a year in welfare benefits, new Age UK research has indicated. This is despite the fact that many older people are struggling to make ends meet.

For example, an estimated 1.97 million older people who are eligible for Council Tax Benefit are not claiming it - missing out on £728 each or collectively £1.5 billion a year. Nearly twice as many eligible pensioners (44%) are likely to miss out on this benefit, when compared with non-pensioners (28%).

The reasons why older people don't claim the benefits they are entitled to include:

• Lack of awareness of the benefits available to them
• Not realising that they were eligible
• Thinking the process for claiming benefits is too complicated or intrusive
• Reluctance to claim benefits.

Age UK (formerly Age Concern and Help the Aged)  is launching a new campaign, More Money in Your Pocket (link opens in a new window), to encourage older people to claim the benefits they are entitled to. It aims to encourage 50,000 people to collectively claim an extra £100 million in welfare benefits in the next year.

If you are a pensioner, the Age UK free advice line (0800 169 6565) and local Age UK/Age Concern offices can advise you on the benefits you may be entitled to. You can find your local Age Concern office using our Find an Adviser tool.

You can also check your benefits entitlement using the Turn2us Benefits Checker.

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