With regard to the Pension Credit this has involved the employment of an army of personnel to administer it with all the additional costs involved. Many people fully entitled to it have either not claimed it, or have been wrongly refused it. We have clear evidence of this. It now emerges that many have been overpaid and the Treasury want this repaid. It is a total shambles.
The Government advertised the "Pension Credit " as " Just pick it up. It's yours". What the advert didn´t say was that you needed to complete a fourteen page application form. Then look at the nineteen page guide that accompanies the application form supposedly to assist pensioners complete it. Is Gordon Brown not aware that many pensioners suffer from fragility of mind and are unable to undertake such a task?. NO we think not. We believe that it was a totally callous, devious plan introduced specifically to deny many pensioners their true entitlement. Is it little wonder therefore that the reality is that only 75% have in fact claimed this credit?
According to the information on the web site of "Age Concern" there is some £2 ½ Billion of unclaimed credits sitting in the Treasury coffers. In reality this needs to be, and should be, in pensioners pockets allowing them to live a more comnfortable life.
To administer the Pension Credit has involved the employment of some 700 personnel not to mention the cost of offices and equipment. The Policy Pensions Institute, in their October 2004 report, estimate that the cost alone in creating this new Department could have benefited every pensioner by just over £5. a week.