3m pensioners are struggling with their bills

ALMOST three million pensioners are struggling financially, a survey reveals.

About one in four people over the age of 65 find it hard to make ends meet, even though many are eligible for benefits, Age UK has found.

Some £3.5billion is going unclaimed every year in benefits, the charity says, including help with council tax.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: ‘Today we are at risk as a society of blithely assuming every older person is comfortably off, but these new figures show that is way off the mark.

‘Trying to make ends meet on a low income is a big challenge at any age.

‘But if you are an older person, living on your own who is praying your ageing television somehow keeps going, life becomes especially grim.’

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: ‘By introducing the triple lock and protecting the poorest through Pension Credit, we have reduced pensioner poverty close to historically low levels, lifting the incomes of millions of older people.’

Age UK polled more than 1,300 people for the survey.