{"id":1537,"date":"2026-06-15T12:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T12:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/?p=1537"},"modified":"2026-06-15T12:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T12:34:17","slug":"three-quarters-of-pensioner-benefits-go-unclaimed-as-millions-miss-out-on-1339-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/?p=1537","title":{"rendered":"Three quarters of pensioner benefits go unclaimed as millions miss out on \u00a31,339 a year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">A shocking new report has revealed that thousands of pensioners across the UK are failing to claim money they are already entitled to, with up to\u00a0<strong>three in four<\/strong>\u00a0missing out on an average of \u00a31,339 a year. The figures, from retirement specialists Just Group, paint a grim picture of older households quietly losing out on vital support at a time when every pound matters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">The study found that more than four in ten pensioner homeowners qualify for at least one government benefit, yet 74 per cent are not claiming it. In plain English, that means money is sitting there waiting to be taken \u2014 but huge numbers of pensioners either do not know it exists or never get round to applying. For many low-income households, that can make the difference between coping and struggling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">Among the most eye-catching findings, fewer than one in four eligible pensioners are claiming council tax reductions, even though the average new claim is worth more than \u00a31,000 a year. Just Group also said 62 per cent of pensioners were missing out on at least one key benefit, while 14 per cent were under-claiming and losing an average of \u00a31,162 a year.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">David Cooper, director at Just Group, said the results show an \u201cepidemic\u201d of pensioner homeowners missing out on income they are entitled to claim. He warned that many of these households are likely to be under serious cost-of-living pressure, yet are still leaving thousands of pounds on the table because the support is not automatically paid.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-pensioners-can-claim\" class=\"font-editorial font-bold mb-2 mt-4 [.has-inline-images_&amp;]:clear-end text-lg first:mt-0 md:text-lg [hr+&amp;]:mt-4\">What pensioners can claim<\/h2>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">The support includes pension credit, savings pension credit, council tax reductions and universal credit. Mr Cooper said the key problem is that people assume help will arrive automatically, when in reality many benefits have to be actively claimed. He urged pensioners to check their position properly, saying a five-minute review could unlock thousands of pounds a year.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-to-make-sure-you-are-not-missing-out\" class=\"font-editorial font-bold mb-2 mt-4 [.has-inline-images_&amp;]:clear-end text-lg first:mt-0 md:text-lg [hr+&amp;]:mt-4\">How to make sure you are not missing out<\/h2>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">The Government\u2019s benefits calculator can be used to check eligibility for pension credit, council tax reduction and other help. Pensioners can also contact their local council directly about council tax support, or use the official Pension Credit service online or by phone. Free advice is also available from groups such as Citizens Advice, which can help people work out what they are entitled to and how to apply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A shocking new report has revealed that thousands of pensioners across the UK are failing to claim money they are already entitled to, with up to\u00a0three in four\u00a0missing out on&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1537"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1539,"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537\/revisions\/1539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silent-voyage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}