A WARNING has been issued to hundreds of thousands of pensioners on low incomes who could be missing out on £4,000 in cash.
Older pensioners face a "huge postcode lottery" when applying for things like Housing Benefit or council tax reduction.
That's according to research carried out by Age UK, which found that older people aren't claiming this support due to being "digitally excluded".
The latest estimates indicate around 310,000 pensioner households are entitled to Housing Benefit, worth around £4,000 a year, but are not claiming it.
The benefit is for pensioners who pay rent, are on a low income and have savings under £16,000.
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While there are no figures for the take-up of council tax reductions, it's estimated that nearly two in five (38%) are entitled but miss out.
Exclusive figures shared with The Sun found that almost 2.3million people are failing to claim a huge £3.4billion in council tax support.
This amounts to support worth an average of £1,513 a year, according to the analysis of official data by the organisation Policy in Practice.
Age UK says that being offline or not being comfortable using computers creates an "additional barrier" for older people to receive the financial help they are legally entitled to.
The charity asked "mystery shoppers" who made 220 telephone calls to 110 councils in England and Wales to find out what options were offered to people who wanted to apply for housing benefit and council tax reduction, but who could not use online systems.
Its research found that most callers were offered a telephone and/or paper application, but sometimes they had to prompt the council to find out about these.
Some were told they could get help at council offices or a library, but this was sometimes only after the caller persisted.
Four callers could not get through to speak to a person at all, and 16 were neither offered a way of applying independently nor any help from the council.
There were also instances in which different employees from the same council said different things to the callers about their offline options when more than one call was made.
Caroline Abrahams CBE, charity director at Age UK said: "It’s quite wrong that if you are an older person who is offline, your ability to apply for financial support you badly need depends so much on where you happen to live – it is clearly much easier to do in some places, compared to others.
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"Some councils are doing a good job in supporting older people who can’t use online systems to apply for help in other ways, and it is also important to recognise that in most cases our mystery shoppers found that the council call handlers were friendly and helpful.
"However, the responses given by different councils were wildly different and worryingly, in a minority of cases no offline option was on offer at all."
WHAT COUNCILS SHOULD OFFER
Age UK says that all public bodies should offer easy-to-use, offline ways to access services and to proactively tell people about different options.
The report reads: "The ideal situation is for people to be given the choice of a paper form, a telephone application or a face-to-face council booked appointment.
"This would enable someone to apply from home independently, if they are able to do so, but provide support if needed."
Although it would like councils to routinely provide a paper or telephone application as part of their service, offering a face-to-face council-run service is still a "satisfactory route" too.
That's as long as checks are made to ensure that the person can easily travel to a suitable venue.
If not, there needs to be an alternative option, such as a home visit or a telephone or paper application specifically aimed at those who cannot get to an office.
What is housing benefit?
Housing benefit can help you pay your rent if you’re unemployed, on a low income or claiming benefits.
You can only make a new claim for Housing Benefit if either of the following apply:
- You have reached state pension age (66)
- You're in supported, sheltered or temporary housing
If you’re over state pension age and live with your partner you can make a new claim for Housing Benefit if any of the following apply:
- You and your partner have both reached the state pension age
- One of you has reached State Pension age and started claiming pension credit (for you as a couple) before May 15, 2019
- You're in supported, sheltered or temporary housing
Usually, you will not get housing benefit if:
- Your savings are over £16,000 - unless you get guarantee credit of pension credit
- You're paying a mortgage on your own home - you may be able to get Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)
- You live in the home of a close relative
- You live with your partner and they are already claiming housing benefit
- You've reached the state pension age but your live-in partner has not - unless you had an existing claim as a couple before May 15, 2019
How do I apply for housing benefit?
You can apply for housing benefit directly with your local council.
You can also apply for the support as part of a pension credit claim.
You'll need to provide some information and evidence to support your claim for housing benefit.
You'll get housing benefit faster if you have this available when you make your claim.
You'll need to know:
- How much rent you pay
- Whether anything else is included in the rent, such as water, gas or electricity charges
- If you pay any service charges, including building maintenance or insurance
- Your landlord or agent’s details
Call up your local council if you're unsure how to make a claim, or head online to gov.uk.
What is council tax reduction?
Council tax reduction is a scheme where those on a low income or benefits can get money off the bill.
You could get a discount of anything up to 90% of your bill through the support.
The unclaimed amount includes almost £1million in pension-age council tax support. The rest is for those of working age.
The average claim for working-age council tax support is £1,464, while the support for pensioners is worth an average of £1,670.
In some cases, if you receive the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, you could get a 100% discount on your bill - meaning it is completely cancelled out.
Many households fail to claim because they simply don't know it exists.
The support is given out by local councils in England and claiming varies by local authority so will depend on where you live, your income, dependants and other benefits.
How to get a council tax reduction
You can find out if you're eligible by using the Government's "Apply for Council Tax Reduction" tool on its website.
You just have to enter your postcode and it will redirect you to your council's website where you can find out more.
Michael Clarke, head of information at the charity Turn2Us, previously told The Sun: “The process is more difficult because there is not one single path to claim this support. Each local authority has a different route to get to it.”
The amount of council tax you will get off varies and will likely depend on what band you are in as well.
Council tax bands range from A to H, with A homes paying the least and H the most.
If you think you're in the wrong council tax band, and paying too much, you can challenge it.
You can do this via the government's website.
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