Pension Credit Problems!

Problems in relation to Pension Credit are now a leading social policy issue according to Citizens Advice. During 2008, a total of 737 social policy issues relating to social security benefits were raised by staff and volunteers from across the Citizens Advice network in Northern Ireland.  Of these, 171 (representing 23% of all social security social policy issues) were specifically related to Pension Credit.

The most common problem continues to be the length of time that it takes to process claims and in some cases this is being exacerbated by the loss of papers relating to individual claims. One client of Newtownabbey District CAB had supplied the SSA with bank statements and documentation relating to her claim 10 months previously. Nine months later the SSA told her that they had mislaid these forms and she should send copies. This was also the case for an 80 year old client of East Belfast CAB who had applied for Pension Credit over a year earlier and who was then asked to supply the same information again. Typically delays of three months or more have been reported and a number of clients have been waiting in excess of a year to be given a decision about their claim for Pension Credit.

People experience real financial hardship and distress whilst waiting to hear if their claim has been successful and the long delay in the decision making process can have a knock on effect on other benefits. A client of Armagh CAB was told by the SSA not to expect a decision for at least six months and as a consequence she was unable to apply for help with her rates during this period. A client of Antrim CAB who had been waiting over three months for a decision was unable to get housing benefit in respect of his privately rented home and as a result was getting into rent arrears. These types of problems are not helped by the current economic downturn.

In a report in the Belfast Telegraph, dated 12 February, the SSA confirmed that more than 2,000 claims in Northern Ireland are presently being processed but denied that there was a ‘backlog.’ This may be the case, but given the evidence, unacceptable delays in the processing of individual claims are causing people genuine financial hardship, anxiety and distress.

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