May 2012
Featured in this insight: Charity & not-for-profit, Financial services, Food & drink, Transport & infrastructure
Market research finds elderly Britons missing out on claiming pension credit: A survey of 2,000 UK pensioners by Age UK has revealed that food prices and transport costs plus rising energy bills have put a serious dent in many pensioner savings.
The study found that due to these reasons, a third of all pensioners are now being supported by other family members, while nearly 50% are having to work part-time to boost their incomes.
In addition, it was discovered that 17% of all UK pensioners have no savings whatsoever, while the number of older people with debts has risen sharply in the last year.
A total of 19% who owe money are concerned about paying it back, while widespread anxiety about income levels is shown by 650 respondents out of the 2,000 interviewed claiming they are worried that they may have to sell their house in order to cope.
Age UK concluded however that as much as £5.5 billion in UK Pension Credit goes unclaimed each year and there are up to 1.6 million older who are eligible for this tax-free payment that could see their income topped up to £142.70 per week.
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