The complexity of the social security system in the UK is preventing many older people from receiving all the money they are entitled to, according to a new report by Independent Age.
Many older people in poverty are missing out on income they are eligible for, and which could substantially improve their
financial situation and quality of life. For instance, as of 2022/23, only 65% of those eligible for Pension Credit received it. Millions are also missing out on other financial entitlements, including Housing.
Here’s what Independent Age say about their study
We explored older people’s experiences of navigating the complex social security system and applying for entitlements by:
• conducting in-depth interviews with advisers, who support older people to apply for their entitlements every day Benefit, Attendance Allowance and Council Tax Reduction. There are multiple barriers to accessing these entitlements, including lack of awareness that support exists and experiences of stigma. One barrier that is sometimes overlooked is how difficult it can be to apply for help.
• gathering the perspectives of older people in financial hardship, through a survey, interviews and our Helpline
• carrying out a literature review, to understand other research that has been done on this topic and what is already known about the changes needed.
Our findings
• Older people shared that the pension-age social security system is extremely confusing and fragmented, and application processes long and difficult. This deters some people from starting an application, while others give up during the process. To access all their entitlements, someone might need to fill in more than five repetitive and complex forms. The longest form – Pension Credit – has 225 questions.
• Only 67% of respondents to a GB wide Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) survey had found it easy to apply for Attendance Allowance, which takes advisers on average two hours to help someone complete.
• DWP data shows that 97% of pensioners who have been awarded Carer’s Allowance don’t receive any money directly from this, because of complicated rules around overlapping benefits. However, not applying for Carer’s Allowance can mean that older carers don’t receive other financial support they are eligible for.
• In mid-November 2024, the average wait for a decision on a Pension Credit application was 65 working days, or three months.
