Claiming Benefits (it’s fine if it’s not fraud)

hold on beautiful Heather Stillufsen

Heather Stillufsen

There is a lot of stigma about claiming benefits. But the fact is that most people who claim them are not going around the country talking in smartphones and watching expensive flat-screen TVs.

Most benefits are pretty low (you can’t do much on £100 a week Universal Credit). Yet a recent report showed that around £19 billion of money is going unclaimed, including £7.5 billion unclaimed in Universal Credit by over 1 million households.

The most underclaimed benefit is (very expensive) Council Tax, with almost 3 million people not claiming almost £3 billion in help.

Visit the government website to find out what you can claim, how to claim and find a form to do it (or numbers to call).

Also read our post on claiming disability benefits.

One helper in Kent secured an extra £11,500 a year for a pensioner couple who were living on low benefits. And in Coventry, a pensioner who was living on £55 a week (seriously) received an extra £138 a week (over £7000 a year) once benefit checks were performed.

Collectively, around 850,000 pensioners across the UK are not receiving what they are entitled to. And for those who are from the ‘get on your bike and find work’ generation, it may take a little persuasion to have them take the money. But they worked and paid taxes all their lives, so let’s return the favour.

Some of the Main Benefits

  • Universal Credit is for those who are looking for work, to top up low-paid jobs or unable to work due to illness. It’s designed to cover living costs, and once qualified, you may also be able to  get help with housing costs, if you provide a tenancy agreement.
  • Pension Credit is for people on low incomes. Martin Lewis famously stated that ‘just one 10-minute phone call could get you an extra £11,000 a year (and entitle you to many other benefits).
  • Carers’ Allowance is for those who spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone on disability benefits. Whether you live with them or not.
  • Council tax discounts are available if you live alone (25% discount) or you are on a low income or student (or have a severe mental health issue).
  • Child benefit is for people who look after a child under 16 (or 20 in education) to cover the costs of raising a family.

Getting Help from Others: Where to Turn

Sometimes claiming benefits can be a minefield, especially for people with dementia, mental health problems, or no access to a computer or telephone:

  • Citizens Advice offers free help online, and in person via their offices (book an appointment).
  • Christians Against Poverty is a charity that helps people with financial difficulties (you don’t have to be Christian for them to help). It has its own free benefits calculator online, which only takes 10 minutes.
  • The free Better Off Helpline (run by Nationwide) is for anyone to use.
  • AGE UK offers a great benefits calculator, or alternatively use the free phone number, for someone to do this over the phone for you. Its advice line can help anyone who needs it.

More Than Just Money in Your Pocket

Claiming benefits also entitles you to some other things, if you living on a very low income. These can include:

How Common is Benefit Fraud?

Benefit fraud is obviously when people claim for money they are not entitled to, whether that’s providing false information or not reporting a change in circumstances. Many say the easiest solution is simply to scrap most benefits, and replace with a Basic Income.

Then everyone gets enough to live on, and can work part-time or care for others or work full-time. Everyone’s happy, there is better life/work balance and no benefit fraud (that costs millions if not billions to find and mop up).

It’s interesting that tax evasion is around £5.5 billion. Yet benefit fraud (although substantial) is far less (around £3.3 billion).

Yet MPs focus far more on those who cheat the benefit system, rather than donors who live abroad and don’t pay tax (or big multi-nationals who use clever accountants to set up shop here, but then pay little or no tax to contribute to the NHS and other public services).

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