£19bn of benefits unclaimed every year – are you missing out?

UK households are missing out on nearly £19bn of benefits every year, a new report shows. Research from Policy in Practice reveals £18.7bn goes unclaimed by those entitled to support.

A breakdown of the figures shows:

• 1.2 million households are missing out on £7.5bn of universal credit
• 2.7 million people are failing to claim council tax support worth £2.8bn
• at least 5 million households are missing out on cheaper social tariffs for energy, broadband and water

There are a number of reasons these benefits are going unclaimed:

• People are unaware that they’re entitled to benefits.
• The claims process is overly complicated.
• Negative perceptions about claiming benefits put people off.
• Lots of the available support is discretionary. This means eligibility criteria may vary from area to area and it’s not always clear who is entitled to help.

Director of Policy in Practice Deven Ghelani said:

“It is shocking that £19bn of benefits and support is unclaimed at any time, let alone during a cost-of-living crisis… [The] government need to act to raise awareness of all unclaimed benefits and people should check their eligibility using a free benefits calculator.”

Why not use our free benefits calculator to make sure you’re not missing out?