Warning as income-poor pensioners worse off in benefits

Stephen Lowe, group communications director at retirement specialist Just Group, said: “The findings challenge the notion that most state support for retired people goes to those with the lowest income – in fact it actually goes to those in the middle and upper ends of the retirement income scale.

“The shared characteristic of retired people on the lowest incomes is that they receive less state pension than any of the other groups, perhaps because they did not achieve the qualifying years needed or missed out on additional pension such as State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) or state second pension (S2P). 

“They also have lower levels of savings or investments which contributes to lower retirement incomes overall.”

The annual insight report from Just Group showed nearly two-thirds of retired homeowners were failing to claim any of the benefits they were entitled to.