“That’s a lot of older people worried sick about how they’ll cope if their heating or their cooker breaks down and needs replacing, more than the entire populations of Newcastle and Liverpool put together.

“It’s deeply frustrating that the money is available to top up the incomes of pensioners who live on the lowest incomes but that much of it goes begging every year because many never claim what is rightfully theirs. 

“We really do want older people to obtain their full entitlements, particularly Pension Credit because this can open the door to additional support – but that means putting in a claim.”

Many older people are worried about claiming for a number of reasons, but these have been openly dispelled.

Some people are simply unaware of the benefit, while others feel a stigma attached to receiving this kind of help.

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