Age Scotland identifies £2.6 million in unclaimed benefits

A record £2,643,272 in unclaimed benefits for older people was identified through calls to Age Scotland’s free helpline in 2025 – an increase of 25% from the previous year.

New figures from Age Scotland’s annual Impact Report, published today, show the average gain for clients after successful social security and financial assistance checks were made was £5,140.

The new report includes figures from Age Scotland’s By Your Side service, which was introduced in 2025, and supports older people living in some of the most marginalised communities in Scotland to complete and submit benefits application forms. In the months since it began, By Your Side has helped hundreds of people complete multiple application forms, from pension age disability payment to Blue Badge applications.

However, despite the welcome increase in the amount of money recovered, the Scottish charity for older people understands that this could be ‘the tip of the iceberg’ with millions of pounds still going unclaimed by older people who are entitled to more financial support.

Katherine Crawford, Age Scotland’s chief executive, said:

“We know that many older people are facing severe financial hardship and claiming the full range of benefits to which they are entitled could make a significant improvement to their lives. That extra money – which is their money, after all – could mean the difference between heating their home or not and being able to eat hot, nourishing meals.

“We welcome the 25% increase in the amount of money identified for older people in 2025, including the number of successful benefit applications made by people using our By Your Side service. Since it was launched, By Your Side has made a real difference to people who have no support to navigate the often lengthy and complicated application forms, and helps ensure that fewer people are left struggling to access their money.

“Of course we know that this is only the tip of the iceberg and that there are millions of pounds of benefits set aside for older people which are not being claimed. We would encourage older people, their families and carers to use our online benefits calculator to work out what money they can claim and make sure that every penny gets into the right hands.”  

The Age Scotland benefits calculator can help older people, their families and carers determine what support is available. Anyone over the age of 50 can call the Age Scotland national helpline on 0800 12 44 222.

You can read Age Scotland’s Impact Report for 2025 here.