DWP announces Pension Credit Day of Action next month to encourage more people to check eligibility
dailyrecord.co.ukThe Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced a ‘day of action’ next month which will focus on encouraging people of State Pension age to check eligibility for a benefit worth more than £3,000 each year in financial support and additional discounts.DWP’s ‘Pension Credit Day of Action’ will take place on Wednesday, June 15 and aims to get more older people applying for support to help them manage the rising cost of living.
The latest figures released by the UK Government show that up to 850,000 families who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit in the financial year 2019 to 2020.The DWP launched a new awareness campaign in April and said up to £1.7 billion of available Pension Credit went unclaimed - on average, this amounted to around £1,900 per year for each family entitled to receive the ‘gateway’ benefit.Pension Credit gives people extra money to help with living costs if they are over State Pension age and on a low income.Some older people think because they have savings or own their home they would not be eligible for any Pension Credit, but the DWP said more than 400,000 could be missing out on the extra money and discounts it provides every month.More than 1.4 million people over State Pension age across the UK are currently receiving the benefit, including some 131,600 living in Scotland, and accessing additional financial help with Council Tax, Housing Benefit, hearing bills and a free TV Licence for the over 75s.If you get Pension Credit you can also get other help, such as:One of the quickest ways to find out if you are eligible, and how much extra you could potentially be paid every week, is to use the Pension Credit calculator on the GOV.UK website.In May 2019, the law
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