Retirees lose out 3600 a year not claiming pension credit Squeezed incomes: Pensioners are not maximising their incomes in retirement as they're not claiming benefits they are entitled to. Thousands of the financially most vulnerable pensioners are failing to claims hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of pounds of state pension benefits, research has claimed. Just Retirement has found that in one extreme case, a British retiree has failed to claim pension credits worth £3,631-a-year. More than half of the estimated four million people entitled to pension credits are either not claiming them, or are not receiving the full amount. On average, Britons who are eligible for additional pension benefits but are not claiming them at all are losing out on £655-a-year. Those who are claiming some benefits but not as much as they could are missing out on an average of £213-a-year. It comes after the Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday that the number of pension credit claimants fell by 133,000 in May 2012 compared to a year earlier. Just Retirement found that 23 per cent of eligible pensioners were failing to claim any benefit they were entitled to, while 33 per cent of eligible pensioners were claiming some benefits, but not all they are entitled to. Stephen Lowe from Just Retirement said: 'Many pensioners are struggling to make ends meet due to insufficient pension income and depressed savings returns. At the same time they are missing out by failing to claim the benefits they should be receiving, often to the tune of hundreds of pounds each year that could make a real difference to their quality of lives. It is the third year that Just Retirement has conducted its state pension benefits research, and in each year has found that the number of those missing out on benefits they should be receiving has grown. Pensioners may be eligible to claim guarantee pensions credit, which is designed to top up the weekly income of poorer pensioners to £142.70 for individuals and £217.90 for couples. This credit is available to those with pensioners with a weekly income of less than £142.70, while carers and the disabled able to claim more. They can also claim savings credit, which provides extra cash for those with modest incomes but who have made an effort to prepare for retirement by having a company pension or other forms of savings. Just Retirement has also taken into account those eligible for council tax benefit, which sees a reduction in the cost of their annual tax bill. Pensioners are failing to claim council tax benefit more commonly than the other types of benefit. This benefit of up to 100 per cent off your council tax bill is available to those on low incomes or benefits, and with savings of less than £16,000. Just 28 per cent of customers surveyed by Just Retirement claimed this benefit, when the amount eligible is 48 per cent. Some 11 per cent of pensioners are claiming their savings credit, compared to 19 per cent who should be. Most of those eligible for guarantee credit are claiming it, with just one per cent failing to do so, and four per cent not claiming the full amount. Mr Lowe added: 'Part of the problem is what people perceive as the constant tinkering with the benefits rules that make it hard to people to keep up with the complexities. Already this year, plans for a new flat-rate state pension have been announced and over the next two years we are seeing the introduction of the new universal credit and various other changes. If you are not professionally involved it is hard to keep up.