New analysis by Policy in Practice suggests that the total amount of unclaimed income-related benefits and social tariffs is nearly £19 billion a year. In a newly published report, it estimates that “£7.5 billion of Universal Credit is unclaimed by 1.2 million eligible households and £2.9 billion of Council Tax Support is unclaimed by over 2.7 million eligible households each year”.
In a blog post on the think tank’s website, it also highlighted that social tariffs are significantly underclaimed and found that broadband social tariffs have the lowest take up, with 97 per cent of eligible households missing out on the reduced tariffs. It urged people on means-tested benefits to check for eligibility with their provider.
MoneySavingExpert.com has reviewed the report and broken down the key areas that are being underclaimed, you can view this here. It’s important to note that people in work could also be missing out on additional financial support.
