Almost 2,500 pensioners in Hornsey and Wood Green will miss out on extra payments to help them pay their energy bills after the recent cold snap, according to figures unveiled by the Liberal Democrats.

Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week are paid to people on low incomes who receive a qualifying benefit, such as Pension Credit, when the weather gets very cold.  Liberal Democrats have now found that, in Hornsey and Wood Green, almost 2,500 pensioners who are eligible to claim pension credit, and hence the cold weather payment, don’t do so. Local MP Lynne Featherstone has written to the Government to find out what they are doing to help local pensioners get the benefits they are entitled to.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“It’s shocking that so many old people, here in Hornsey and Wood Green, are not getting the help they need to pay high energy bills after the recent snowfall.

“The system for getting these much needed payments is so complicated, that people who really need and are entitled to extra help are not getting it – clearly something’s very wrong!

“The Government should be making every effort to identify pensioners who are missing out and make sure they get the help they are entitled to.”