Pensioners quids in thanks to benefit help

A SCHEME to help Lothian pensioners access all the benefits they are entitled to has already found almost £2 million which was not being claimed.

The pilot project in West Lothian has assisted more than 500 over-65s, raking in a yearly average of 3000 per head.

Those involved say the initiative should be extended across the Lothians, and goes a long way to addressing issues such as fuel poverty in the elderly.

It is thought there are thousands of OAPs across the area who are missing out on government cash because they don't know they can claim it or aren't able to fill out the lengthy forms involved.

As a result West Lothian council hired three officers to track down those who might be missing out, and have succeeded in identifying double the amount of money initially hoped for.

The Pensioner Income Maximisation Service is now understood to be attracting interest from local authorities and NHS boards across Scotland.

Council leader Peter Johnston, who also sits on the NHS Lothian board, said: "We make every effort to reach out to all senior people in West Lothian to make them aware of the benefits available.

"The Pensioner Income Maximisation Service has been a complete success, securing extra, much-needed cash for residents.

"I am delighted to see some older people gaining from 40 to more than 100 per week and I fully expect this scheme to make a huge and significant impact on their quality of life."

As soon as the project was launched last October a leafleting campaign began, targeting sheltered housing schemes, community groups and areas popular with elderly people.

Among the benefits now being opened up to people are the Cold Weather Payment, that many people simply did not know about, as well as a disability living allowance.

One of those to benefit is Dedridge 89-year-old Austin Howes. He did not want to reveal exactly how much additional cash he had received, but the former engineer did say it had made a "terrific difference" to him and his wife Catherine.

"We are so grateful, it's wonderful," he said. "You shouldn't have to go cap-in-hand to the government like this though.

"The scheme should be made available to as many people as possible because you are always hearing of the unclaimed millions there are out there.

"It's made us much happier, you don't feel hard up any more and there are things you can do you couldn't before. We could never have found this money without the council's help."