Pension Credit awareness campaign again!!

2oldcodgers

Well here they go again - a week this time trying to get people to claim the above. Goodness knows how they are going to do that. And on top of that they have decided that 10 areas of Britain will will receive intensive actions. 
Like all welfare benefits there will always be a hardcore of people that will refuse to make a means tested claim for a benefit - it's still close to 900,000 people that are not claiming it.
This is like flogging a dead horse - what about the hard core of claimants that refuse to claim Housing Benefit, UC, etc? Surely the cost of these campaigns could be better used for those that are making claims and need extra financial help?

calcotti

However there are many people who don't know and would if they knew. I are aware of people who only claim Pension Credit (Housing Benefit and CTR too) who only beware which if keep benefit advice as a result of contact from benefit advisers after a spell in hospital. However, how government are likely to reach those people I don't know. 

(It would help if they provided enough staff to process claims in a timely manner.)

2oldcodgers

calcotti said:

However there are many people who don't know and would if they knew. I are aware of people who only claim Pension Credit (Housing Benefit and CTR too) who only beware which if keep benefit advice as a result of contact from benefit advisers after a spell in hospital. However, how government are likely to reach those people I don't know. 

(It would help if they provided enough staff to process claims in a timely manner.)

I don't dispute that some may well not know about PC, but seriously how long has the DWP/government been trying to get these people to make claims? - decades in fact! Yes there was some limited success last year in that awareness campaign, are they hoping that another one (for a week this time) will see the 900,000 put claims in?
It's been done to death through all of the newspapers and TV ads in the past since at least the mid 90's
I dread to think how much money has been and continues to be spent on these campaigns which result in very limited success.

2oldcodgers

And now we have another scenario of eligible persons not bothering to claim the £400 fuel allowance vouchers. As of yesterday £130 million worth of vouchers have not been claimed with yesterday being the last day of application.
None of this surprises me as there are many millions not claimed every year for the likes of UC, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support as well as Pension Credit.

2oldcodgers

Two thousand people will receive letters inviting them to apply for support which could top up their pension income, as part of a trial.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ “invitation to claim” trial targets those likely to be eligible for pension credit, being aimed at people who are above state pension age and in receipt of housing benefit.

Some people could see their income boosted thousands of pounds by making a successful claim – with the average pension credit award being worth more than £3,500 per year.

Letters and “call to action” leaflets will be sent out in two waves, starting this week, with a follow-up letter to be sent out in August.

They will be targeted at households in 10 local authorities, where people are already receiving housing benefit but not claiming pension credit

Another waste of time as well as money.

The Government/DWP have tried this before with little result. They even years ago made PC payments without a claim being made in the hope that having had the money for 6 months most if not all would want to have it carried on. It was a dismal failure.

It is a fact that the DWP don't seem to recognise or understand that many people who would be entitled refuse to apply for it for many reasons.

The cost of this exercise is simply being added to the massive debt that this country has.