Britain’s biggest retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone is arguing for benefits system to be made clearer as £3.5 billion in pension credits and housing benefits are left unclaimed by older people each year
McCarthy & Stone is helping to combat the issue of unclaimed benefits by claiming over £2 million over the last 18 months for its Assisted Living homeowners through its dedicated Entitlements Advice Service.
The house builder provides a range of housing types for people at different stages in retirement like Roy Millard and Sheila Young (pictured above). Those who have benefited most from its Entitlements Service are in their 80s living in M&S Assisted Living developments, which provide additional care and support.
The Service has helped claim over £3.6 million in the last five years for prospective customers and current homeowners. Examples include pension credits, housing support, Attendance Allowance, and additional care or Council Tax reduction.
The retirement housebuilder advises that retirees should carry out a full benefits check to ensure that they are receiving the help they are entitled to, to help with the cost of their home and bills.
Colin Cuthbert, Senior Benefits Advisor at McCarthy and Stone, comments: “The figures from the Department of Work and Pensions show that those in later life are missing out on billions of pounds worth of benefits, which for each individual can make a huge difference to help keep them financially secure in their retirement years.
“Many of our homeowners fail to claim the benefits that they might be entitled to as they are unaware of the qualifying criteria or how to make the necessary claim. The complicated nature of the application forms are often a barrier to people making a legitimate claim. Many people wrongly believe that if they have savings that they are not entitled to any benefits.
“That’s why we are particularly proud to be helping our Assisted Living customers receive what they are entitled to – which has amounted to over £3.6 million over the last five years.”
Proposed changes to the Attendance Allowance benefit by the Government to transfer the budget and responsibility to local councils further threatens to complicate the UK benefits system. [pullquote1 quotes=”true” align=”right” variation=”purple”]The complicated nature of the application forms are often a barrier to people making a legitimate claim. Many people wrongly believe that if they have savings that they are not entitled to any benefits.[/pullquote1]
Colin adds: “We believe current plans to devolve Attendance Allowance to local councils in England will present a further obstacle to the older population claiming their rightful benefits.
“The Attendance Allowance is an important source of support for older people with care needs to be able to retain their independence for longer. Handing local authorities more flexibility over their own systems of support threatens to create a lottery of support for older people and carers.”
The Entitlements Advice Service from McCarthy & Stone is a free and confidential service provided to existing and prospective homeowners and involves a full benefits check including state pension, pension credit, Attendance Allowance, disability, council tax, health, winter fuel, TV licence and warm home discount scheme.
To cope with the demand, and to better support even more homeowners or those looking to move to a McCarthy & Stone development, the Entitlements Advice Service team has doubled in size since 2011, and is continuing to expand.
For further information visit McCarthy and Stone’s Entitlements Advice Service
