Up to 1.7m pensioners to miss out on cold weather payments

9.41.00am GMT Fri 15th Jan 2010

Up to 1.7m pensioners will miss out on Cold Weather Payments triggered by the recent weather, according to analysis of Government figures from the Liberal Democrats.

Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week are paid to people on low incomes who receive a qualifying benefit, such as Pension Credit, which goes unclaimed by as many as 1.7m pensioners.

In Mid Dorset and North Poole 4210 people are able to claim help, and yet only 2105 have done so.

Commenting Annette Brooke MP said:

"Its terrible to think that there are people living in my own constituency who may be too concerned by the cost to turn the heating up and desperately feeling the cold when they need not be.

"The government must take some of the blame for having created such a complicated system which discourages people to apply."

Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Steve Webb said:

"It is a scandal that pensioners on the breadline are missing out on these payments, worth an estimated £42.5m.

"Fuel prices are at an all time high, making Cold Weather Payments all the more important to people already struggling on a poverty pension