Some 38 per cent of pensioner homeowners over the age of 65 have never checked if they are entitled to benefits beyond their state pension.
Research by HUB Financial Solutions found that 41 per cent of renters have checked their benefit entitlement in the past year compared to 20 per cent of homeowners.
While just 15 per cent of renters over the age of 65 have never checked if they are eligible.
HUB Financial urged pensioners not to assume that owning a property excludes them from additional government financial support.
Matt Halksworth, head of customer solutions and advisory leader at HUB Financial Solutions, said: “While inflation may be coming down, many pensioners will still have seen their budgets squeezed over the past few years.
“And the recent announcement by the chancellor to limit winter fuel payments to those on pension credit or other means-tested benefits underlines how important it is for people to check their eligibility.”
It comes after research from Just Group revealed the scale of the problem and the financial damage that failing to claim state benefits can inflict on eligible pensioner homeowners.
Of those eligible, 79 per cent were failing to claim any benefit with each household missing out on an average of £1,231 a year extra income.
While nine per cent were claiming but receiving less than their entitlement, on average missing out on an additional £476 a year income.
The latest government statistics on state benefit take up for the year ending 2022 demonstrated the extent of benefits pensioners are missing out on.
Up to 880,000 pensioner families who were entitled to receive pension credit did not claim it and up to 360,000 pensioner households did not claim housing benefit despite being eligible for the support.
By failing to claim, these households missed out on roughly £2,200 (pension credit), and £3,400 (housing benefit) in annual income with a total of £2.1 bn (pension credit) and £1.3bn (housing benefit) going unclaimed, respectively.
Halksworth, added: “It is particularly disheartening to see so many homeowners aged over 65s are not checking their benefit entitlement when we know so many are eligible and missing out on significant amounts of income.
“We urge pensioners, homeowners or otherwise, not to simply assume that they are not entitled for support, and instead to take full advantage of the many free-to-use resources that can help individuals identify their eligibility for benefits and how to claim them.”
The Department for Work and Pensions has also urged pensioners to check their eligibility for pension credit.
Energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said: “It is imperative that those eligible get the support they need this winter, which is why the government will do everything it can to roll out pension credit, making sure as many people as possible qualify for the up to £300 winter fuel payment.”
alina.khan@ft.com
