Louie French is encouraging a local boost in the take-up of Pension Credit in Old Bexley and Sidcup to ensure pensioners receive the help they are entitled to and extra support with the cost of living.
Pension Credit is a top up for lower income pensioners that is worth an average of £3,300. As well as a cash top up to the State Pension, it is a passport to a suite of other benefits such as help with housing costs, council tax reduction schemes, heating bills and a free over-75s TV licence.
There are already 1391 claimants of Pension Credit in Old Bexley and Sidcup but there are around 25% of people who could claim the extra help who do not currently do so.
To help, the Government has launched a major campaign to encourage eligible pensioners, as well as those who care for and support older people, to access the help they are entitled to.
Pension Credit can be claimed online, by telephone or by post. Information is available on Gov.UK website www.gov.uk/pension-credit or by calling the Freephone Pension Credit claim line on 0800 99 1234. If you require any further assistance or guidance on this, please do contact Louie’s office. Louie is also in the process of organising a free Older Persons Advice Fair to be held this Autumn which will promote the uptake of pension credit.
Louie also raised the importance of this issue at a recent Public Account Committee meeting on the support provided by the Department for Work and Pensions where he asked the Permanent Secretary of Department for Work and Pensions the below question:
“The Government are currently running a pension credit awareness campaign, which I think is excellent; I am not just saying that because it features Len Goodman, who grew up in Bexley and went to the same school as me—full disclosure, Chair. Len, if you’re listening, it’s a 10 from me. In all seriousness, we have spoken a lot about people on state pensions missing out here. What advice would you give to any pensioners listening about how they can come forward to claim pension credit? How many people do we think are affected by that?
Permanent Secretary of DWP answered: “I think we have talked about the statistic before. We are working through the reliability of this, but something like three quarters of a million people, or more, might be eligible for pension credit and not claiming it. For some people, they are eligible for only relatively small amounts, because remember it tops you up to £170-something I think.
The campaign with Len Goodman was very successful; I think I talked to Sir Stephen’s Committee the other day about this. In that particular week of action, we saw a tripling of claims compared with the same week the year before. Pension credit claims remain elevated and we are working hard to work through those claims. The big message that we gave as part of that video was that it was not just a message for people who might themselves be entitled; we were also seeking to reach out to family members or friends who are often more aware and able to support older family members to make a claim that they might be entitled to. I do not know whether the claims are coming in indirectly, but it is definitely working.”
