AN OLDER person could have to answer as many as 450 questions when applying for financial support from the government, according to new research published today.

Independent Age looked at the applications for four main entitlements: pension credit, attendance allowance, housing benefit and council tax reduction. 

It found the applications to be complex, taking up to four hours to fill out with the help of a trained adviser.

The process is particularly difficult for those without internet access, individuals with mental or physical health conditions and those with low literacy levels. 

The take-up figure for pension credit is 65 per cent — meaning that 970,000 individuals are missing out on the support they are entitled to, with £1.5 billion going unclaimed. 

For housing benefit, the take-up is  83 per cent, with 270,000 older households missing out and £1.1bn unclaimed.

Susan, 69, told Independent Age that applying for attendance allowance, a benefit for those who need help with personal care or supervision because of an illness or disability, had reduced her to tears “even making me feel suicidal several times.”

Alan, 80, said applying for benefits was “extremely difficult” and that “one just gives up and continues to struggle.”

Independent Age chief executive Joanna Elson stressed that with two million older people living in poverty, a take-up strategy needs to be implemented that “tears down the barriers that make it so difficult to understand the system.”

“The strategy should include plans to simplify and streamline the application process, people shouldn’t have to spend hours answering hundreds of questions,” she said.

National Pensioners Convention (NPC) general secretary Jan Shortt said: “Why we have to have such long and drawn out forms to fill in is a question the NPC has asked many times. 

“Sometimes it feels like a battle with no end. 

“We would want to see shorter application forms, less complex questions (and not repeated in a different language) to give older people the understanding that they do matter and feel confident that they have made the right decisions.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “We have made the process of applying for benefits as accessible as possible such as completing the Pension Credit claim form online now takes on average just 16 minutes while figures published last week show nearly 120,000 more pensioners are receiving it since July.

“Our new initiative of joining up State Pension and Pension Credit is supporting more people onto the benefit as soon as they become eligible, and we have written to over 120,000 pensioner households in receipt of Housing Benefit about Pension Credit to better join up the offer and further improve uptake.”