Benefits Claimants Are Shortchanged By £5bn a Year

Millions of benefit claimants are being shortchanged by the welfare system rather than overindulged, a thinktank says. Rather than cutting benefits, ministers should seek to ensure that those on welfare receive their full entitlement, Demos says. Official figures show that one million people a year do not receive their full entitlement of housing benefit, equating to a failure by the state to pay out up to £3.1bn. More than two million people a year do not apply for relief from paying their council tax bill, equivalent to more than £1.7bn in savings to the state. Meanwhile, the number of pensioners that were estimated to be entitled but not claiming pension credit was between 1.21 million and 1.58 million in 2009-10, worth a total of between £1.94bn to £2.8bn. Those missing out on state assistance often end up as a burden to charities, the thinktank Demos says, and are not being properly helped into employment. Read more on the Observer website.