This piece first appeared in Saga Magazine in March 2001
The text here may not be identical to the published text

A Question of Form


Wanted - volunteers to test simplified measures concerning pension top-ups

Last July Saga Magazine criticised the complicated 40 page form which people over 60 had to fill in to claim extra money to top up their pension. The form contained 327 questions, most of them completely irrelevant to people over 60. They included information about work, about strikes, about immigration and asylum status, even about pregnancy. One reader said the form was ‘clearly devised to deter would-be claimants’.

Well, it seems the Government has listened. A new simplified form, a quarter the length and with 200 fewer questions, is being tried out. And we are looking for volunteers to help us to see how well it works. If you would like to try out the new form and say what you think of it, details are in the box.

The Government hopes that the new form will encourage claims for the minimum income guarantee – which rises significantly next month. From April 9 the guarantee will mean that a single person aged 60 or more will have his or her income topped up to £92.15 a week. For a couple the figure is £140.55. These amounts are far higher than the basic state pension which will rise £5 to £72.50 in the same week for people who have paid full National Insurance contributions and £43.40 for a married woman claiming on her husband’s contributions.

One problem with the minimum income guarantee is that some people who have an income below the ‘guaranteed’ level do not get any help. Savings of more than £3000 reduce the amount paid and anyone with more than £8000 savings cannot get the extra money at all. The Government is trying to deal with that problem by raising those limits significantly from April. You will be able to have £6000 without affecting your claim at all. And you may get something even if your savings are as high as £12,000. The Government says an extra 100,000 people will be eligible to the minimum income guarantee as a result of these changes. There will be a further big rise in the weekly amount of minimum income guarantee in April 2002 and in the years after that, a new pension credit will top up the income of around half of all people over the age of 60.

 

Nonsense questions that have now been scrapped

  • Are you or your partner pregnant?
  • Are you doing a course of education [if so] name of school?
  • Do not tell us about people who just share a toilet with you. 
  • Please tell us in part 14 if you want to claim for more than 7 children.
  • Are you on parental leave from your employment?
  • Have you ever claimed invalid care allowance? Tick 'Yes' even if you were not paid any.
  • Does anyone owe you any money?…This might be for things like money lent to someone. 
  • Do you or your partner have a mortgage…is it secured on your home?
  • Is the home where you live a Crown tenancy?
  • Have you answered all the questions that apply to you? If not tell us why.

So it is very important to the Government that people really do get used to claiming the benefits they are entitled to. The latest figures show the extent of the problem. Up to 670,000 pensioners could claim the minimum income guarantee but do not do so. In addition, up to 220,000 do not claim help with their rent and a staggering 1.2 million may fail to claim discounts on their council tax. The average amount lost by those who do not claim is £19 a week from minimum income guarantee, £22.60 a week off their rent, and £327 off the yearly council tax bill. Altogether more than one and a quarter billion pounds that should be going to older people is not getting there because people do not claim their benefits.

Over the last nine months the Government has tried to encourage claims with a £15 million promotional campaign. It has spent £4 million on adverts, £1.2 million on writing to more than a million pensioners it thinks might be eligible, and another £6 million on a new telephone helpline 0800 028 1111. Anyone over 60 can phone the line to see if they may be eligible for minimum income guarantee. An operator will ask questions, fill in the form for you, and send a completed form for you to sign. You will also have to provide documentary evidence of your savings and private pensions and it may require other details from you. But the campaign has only produced 62,500 people who have successfully claimed their minimum income guarantee. That is probably about one in eight of those that the Government thinks are eligible. The new form may boost that number. That is why we want to test it out on Saga Readers.

Do you want to help?
Is your weekly income less than £92.15 if you are single or £140.55 if you live as a couple? Are you savings less than £12,000? If the answer to both those questions is ‘yes’ and you do not already claim income support, then you could help us try out the new minimum income guarantee claim form. Write to us with your name and address giving us brief (and please, please be brief!) details of your circumstances. We will pick a small number of you to try out the new form. Your comments will be passed on to the Department of Social Security and will be taken into account in the final design.

March 2001

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