More than half of applications for Pension Credit, which qualifies low-income elderly people to receive the crucial Winter Fuel Payment, have been rejected in recent weeks.
The government launched a major campaign to encourage people to sign up for Pension Credit in the wake of the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to axe the Winter Fuel Payment for 10.4 million pensioners.
However, it is now clear that tens of thousands of pensioners who subsequently applied for the benefits have been rejected.
From August to November this year, the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) processed 91,000 pension credit applications. Of these, 40,300 applications were approved while 51,100 were denied.
At the same time, another 51,000 claims were yet to be processed meaning thousands of eligible pensioners could face the cold months without the winter fuel payment.
Labour’s critics, including many charities, have condemned the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment, worth up to £300, at the same time as energy bills have gone up.
The decision has provoked alarming warnings that thousands of people could die as a result of existing medical conditions made worse if people go cold because they are worried about the cost of turning on their heating.
Among those affected are 40,000 terminally ill retirees in critical condition, according to figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request by charity Marie Curie show.
December 21 was the last day it was possible to make a claim for Pension Credit with eligibility based on the applicant’s circumstances between September 16 and September 22.
Pension Credit, aimed at helping pensioners on the lowest incomes, tops up their income to £218.15 per week for single people and £332.95 per week for couples.
As the State Pension rises in the coming years, so the number of people eligible for Pension Credit and the Winter Fuel Payment is expected to fall from 1,427,000 to 1,252,000 by the end of this parliament, according to DWP estimates.
Applicants who have been turned down to receive Pension Credit can ask for it to be looked at again via a process called “mandatory reconsideration”.
Once a request for a review has been made the Pension Service will write to inform the applicant of the outcome.
Last week, Labour MPs once again urged its own ministers to backtrack on the decision to means-test the winter fuel allowance. Backbenchers Rachael Maskell and Neil Duncan-Jordan openly lambasted the Government’s decision.
Mr Duncan-Jordan, the MP for Poole, said: “The poorest pensioners in our society are those who are eligible for the pension credit but don’t claim it or are just a few pounds above the threshold and miss out on passported support.
“Means-testing by its very nature is simply not the best way to get help to those who need it most, so will the minister reconsider the recent decision to means-test the winter fuel allowance?”
A government spokesman said: “All eligible claims to pension credit can still be backdated by up to three months and is worth on average £4,200, so we continue to urge everyone eligible to apply.
“We have deployed around 500 additional staff to support processing applications and we have seen a 51pc increase in the number of cleared claims since the Chancellor’s announcement.”
