Pensioners miss out on thousands of pounds
In 2009 I did a piece of work for the Commission for Rural Communities on examples of rural economic well-being. We identified that a huge amount of additional resource had been claimed and injected into the rural community by pensioners through the Caradon Benefits Take Up Campaign. I can send you a link to the report if you are interested, there are other examples of interest on other themes which might get your creative juices flowing, in the meantime this article helps us reflect on how there is an ongoing case for more rural benefit campaign work. It tells us:
“An estimated 2.5 million retirees are losing out on benefits such as council tax credits, pension credits, winter fuel payments and free bus passes because they are unaware that they are eligible for them.
A fifth of all pensioners are failing to claim any benefits at all beyond their basic state pension. These people are missing out on an average of £872 a year, according to research by pensions company Just Retirement.
Meanwhile a third of pensioners are claiming some of the money, but are still missing out on an average of £676 a year, the company said. In total, between two and three million retired people are not claiming money that is rightfully theirs.”