Benefits worth £48m unclaimed

Many people are too proud to claim benefits

Benefits worth £48m are going unclaimed by Welsh pensioners every year.

The charity Help the Aged is calling on the UK Government to do more to ensure that elderly people are getting the money to which they are entitled.

Across Wales, 44,000 pensioners are losing on average £22 a week - because they are not claiming the Minimum Income Guarantee.

Now one of the leading organisations involved in campaigning for pensioners' rights have teamed up with British Gas to call for a change.

The two bodies plan to urge the UK Government to set new targets which would lead to 90% of OAPs getting all means-tested benefits within the next three years.

They point out that recently-released Government figures revealed an alarming national picture - a massive £2bn-worth of means-tested benefits sat unclaimed by pensioners throughout the UK during 2000 and 2001.

It is important that older people receive the message that they have a right to these benefits John Griffiths AM

This means as many as 670,000 pensioners entitled to support are simply not claiming it.

The campaigners have produced a consumer-friendly guide called Can You Claim It? which, they hope, will make the process simpler.

The booklet has the backing of Welsh assembly member John Griffiths, deputy minister with responsibility for older people.

"The Welsh Assembly Government is very pleased to support this campaign," he said.

"We want older people in Wales to claim all the benefits they are entitled to in order to help reduce poverty levels.

"It is important that older people receive the message that they have a right to these benefits."