Claiming Benefits

According to Policy in Practice, millions of households in the UK are not receiving £18.7 billion worth of welfare benefits that they are entitled to. Some low-income households are missing out on £4,000 of support each year. The research reveals that approximately 1.2 million households do not claim Universal Credit and miss out on £7.5 billion of unclaimed benefits. Nearly three million households are not claiming Council Tax support, resulting in £2.8 billion going unclaimed. In addition, Carer’s Allowance, Pension Credit, Child Benefit, and Housing Benefit worth nearly £6 billion are not being claimed. Low-income households are also not using social tariffs for water, broadband, and energy bills, resulting in £2 billion of unclaimed support. Broadband social tariffs have the lowest uptake, with 97% of eligible households missing out on the benefits.

Policy in Practice blames the complexity of the benefits system and lack of public awareness of what support is available for the low uptake. The system requires multiple applications across different organizations, and households may need to make six or seven applications to receive benefits or cash support. Fear of being perceived as “benefit scroungers” and lack of understanding of the support available also contribute to the low uptake.

The study does not include figures for disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Attendance Allowance (AA). However, it estimates that if just 10% of PIP and AA went unclaimed, this would amount to £3.5 billion annually. Deven Ghelani, director of Policy in Practice, stated that missing out on eligible benefits could be the difference between households keeping their heads above water and feeling they are drowning.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson mentioned that the government is committed to helping vulnerable households and ensuring everyone claims the support they are entitled to. They offer independent benefit calculators on GOV.UK and free Help to Claim support from Citizens Advice. The government also regularly promotes and raises awareness of the benefits available to the public through stakeholder support and the Help for Households campaign.

The full list of unclaimed benefits and support includes Universal Credit (£7.57 billion), Council Tax support (£2.87 billion), Carer’s Allowance (£2 billion), Pension Credit (£1.75 billion), Child Benefit (£1.35 billion), Housing Benefit (£929 million), Water Social Tariff (£900 million), Broadband Social Tariff (£768 million), Warm Home Discount (£314 million), and others (£511 million).