Dan Rogerson MP for North Cornwall

Up to 3,490 pensioners in North Cornwall will miss out on Cold Weather Payments despite recent freezing conditions, according to Liberal Democrat analysis of Government figures.

Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week are paid to people on low incomes who receive a qualifying benefit, such as Pension Credit.  Yet as many as 1.7m pensioners across the country do not claim the credit, because the necessary forms are too complicated and involve revealing substantial details of the applicant’s personal finances.

Commenting, local MP, Dan Rogerson, said:

“It is a scandal that pensioners on the breadline are missing out on these payments.  The Government is hoarding about £42.5m in cash which should be going to warm people up this winter.

“With fuel prices are at an all time high, Cold Weather Payments are all the more important to people already struggling on a poverty pension.

“Ministers should make every effort to identify pensioners who are missing out and get them this extra cash.

“Across the country, far too many pensioners simply find the present system fiendishly complicated and intrusive.  3,490 of them are right here in North Cornwall.

“It’s not good enough that people who’ve paid in all their lives should feel the need to scrimp on heating in this freezing weather.  They deserve better than to be left huddling under blankets.”

Notes:

1. People can get Cold Weather Payments worth £25 when temperatures are below zero degrees Celsius for seven consecutive days when they claim a qualifying benefit. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Inretirement/DG_10018668

2. Pension Credit is a qualifying benefit yet Department for Work and Pensions figures for 2007-08 (the most recent available) show that between 1.1m and 1.7m pensioners who are poor enough to qualify for Pension Credit do not claim, meaning they won’t receive Cold Weather Payments to help with fuel bills during the recent cold snap http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/income_analysis/jun_2009/0708_PensionCredit.pdf