Report finds 1.65 million pensioners missing out on council tax reduction worth up to £2,392 a year

A new report says 1.65 million pensioners are missing out on Council Tax Reduction worth £2,392 a year, or £46 a week, according to The Mirror¹. Only half of eligible pensioners are claiming the reduction they are entitled to, leaving £1.7bn unclaimed across England alone¹.

The report says many pensioners wrongly believe they need Pension Credit to qualify, but the charity Independent Age says people just need to ask to find out if they can be helped¹. The charity warns the system is "incredibly complex and confusing"¹. Council tax reduction can cut bills to zero and could lift 100,000 elderly people out of poverty, according to the report¹.

The figures were discussed on BBC Radio 4's Moneybox programme, where a pensioner from the Isle of Wight, named as Valerie, described her situation before contacting Independent Age¹. She said: "I basically kept using my credit card because that's the only way I could survive"¹. She also said: "I never put my heating on because this house is all electric. When it's really, really, really cold I just used to stay down here at night and just curl up on the sofa"¹. After contacting the charity, she discovered she qualified for housing benefit and council tax relief, boosting her finances by £400 monthly¹.

The report does not set out a breakdown of the £1.7bn figure by region, council or household type, and no separate estimate for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland is given¹. The report also does not state the period over which the £1.7bn was left unclaimed, or the date of the research behind the figures¹.

Why it matters for households

Council Tax Reduction is a means-tested discount on the council tax bill for people on a low income, and the report says entitlement does not depend on receiving Pension Credit¹. For a pensioner household that qualifies, the reduction is worth up to £2,392 a year, or about £46 a week, and can reduce a bill to zero¹. The report says around half of those eligible are not claiming, which means the money is not reaching households that the report says are entitled to it¹.

The report does not say when any change to entitlement, claiming or administration would take effect, and no date is given for when the unclaimed £1.7bn accumulated¹. The report also does not state whether the £2,392 figure is a maximum, an average or a single example¹.