The highest amount of extra income uncovered was £145.37 a week (Image: Getty)
Millions of pensioners who own a home failed to claim any of the benefits they were eligible to receive in 2024.
The research, from Just Group, a retirement income specialist, found 33% were entitled to a key benefit and, of those eligible, nearly eight in 10 were not claiming any.
Nearly one in 10 were claiming too little, the study found, on average missing out on an additional £2,915 a year income.
Just Group’s research found that one couple in their mid-70s living in Suffolk were entitled to an extra £145.37 a week.
Advisers found they were eligible each week for £95.26 Guaranteed , £19.04 Savings Pension Credit and £31.07 Reduction, or £7,560 a year extra income.
Just Group said there are 1.6 million retired UK households on a lower income, of this group 1.2 million, owned their homes, with 960,000 of those not claiming all the benefits they were entitled to.
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The benefits pensioners are missing out on include Guarantee Pension Credit, Savings Pension Credit and a Council Tax Reduction.
Guaranteed Pension Credit is the main benefit targeted at helping low-income pensioners. It was being claimed by only one in 10 of those pensioner homeowners who were eligible. Households failing to claim were losing an average £1,391 extra income per year.
Savings Pension Credit is a ‘top up’ benefit for low-income pensioners who have modest savings but only a quarter (25%) of those eligible were claiming, with the average annual loss £933 per household.
The Council Tax Reduction should be claimed by nearly three in 10 (29%) of households, but only a quarter of those were actually claiming with the average annual loss £1,067, Just Group found.
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Stephen Lowe, group communications director at the retirement specialist Just Group, said: “Despite the focus on benefits as a result of the government’s decision to axe Winter Fuel Payments to millions, our survey once again shows the scandalous scale of the underclaiming problem.
“Of the one-third of pensioner homeowners eligible for benefits, the proportion failing to claim remains very high while the amounts unclaimed are larger than for more than a decade. Figures for Pension Credit – the main means-tested benefit for older people – are particularly worrying because it is a gateway to other benefits such as .”