Pensioners miss out on cold weather payments

There are approximately 3,605 pensioners in Teignbridge who are eligible but not claiming pension credits which means they do not receive Cold Weather Payments if the weather drops below zero degrees Celsius for seven consecutive days.

Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week are paid to people on low incomes who receive a qualifying benefit, such as pension credit, which goes unclaimed by as many as 1.7million pensioners nationwide - according to analysis of Government figures by the Liberal Democrats.

Commenting on these figures, Teignbridge MP Richard Younger-Ross said:

"We have just gone through more than a week of extreme cold weather and it is unacceptable that with fuel prices at an all time high, so many pensioners who are poor enough to qualify are missing out on these payments, worth an estimated £42.5m.

"The Government have let these people down by making the system too complicated. More cold weather is forecast and they should be making every effort to identify pensioners who are not claiming and make sure they get this extra cash."