Pension credit 'costs too much'

OAPs have protested over pension rights

The costs of administering the pension credit scheme are greater than the cash 65,000 pensioners actually receive, the Liberal Democrats have said.

Official estimates suggest it costs about £4 per week to administer each pension credit claim but 65,000 people get less than that in their pockets.

And 12,000 pensioners get less than £1 a week - a quarter of the actual cost of giving them the money.

Pension credits are a means-tested benefit worth on average £42 a week.

Lifted out of poverty?

The figures were obtained by Lib Dem work and pensions spokesman Steve Webb, from the House of Commons library.

He said the cash would be better spent on the universal state pension which he argues costs just 60p a week to administer.

But a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions insisted the cases highlighted were a tiny proportion of the three million people benefiting from the pension credit.

He argued many pensioners had been lifted out of poverty by the scheme.