Eligible pensioners in Hucknall and across Nottinghamshire urged to apply for extra support to help with the cost of living

Pensioners living in Hucknall and across Nottinghamshire who are eligible to receive extra support with their bills are being reminded to apply if they are yet to do so.

Extra support is on its way to more than 9,000 Notts pensioners receiving Pension Credit to help with rising bills but 5,000 more people are still entitled to apply. 

As part of the Government's Household Support Fund (HSF) Nottinghamshire County Council has now written to all 14,000 people who claim Pension Credit in the county, whether guaranteed credit or savings credit, to invite them to apply for this extra support by Tuesday 6 September (unless a later date is specified in the letter).

Eligible pensioners living in Nottinghamshire in receipt of a letter who haven't already applied are being reminded they can apply in two ways.

The quickest and easiest way is via a simple online form which can be accessed by clicking here.

For those unable to complete the form online, the Council's customer service team on 0300 500 8080 will provide help, however waiting times continue to be longer than normal.

A one-off payment can be claimed for £135 for individuals or £185 for two people from the same household (who are both receiving Pension Credit and have received a letter).  

Eligible pensioners can choose how they'd prefer to receive this support from three options.

The quickest way is to request vouchers for the relevant value to use at a wide range of supermarkets. The other ways are via a 'PayPoint' cash voucher which can be redeemed for cash from a number of local retailers or there's the option to have the payment transferred directly into the pensioner's bank account.

Nottinghamshire County Councillor John Cottee, Cabinet Member for Communities said: "We're really pleased to offer this latest round of help via the HSF to pensioners who are struggling the most, particularly due to rising costs of food and energy.

"It's great news that more than 9,000 people will soon receive this support. 

"However, if you've been away or not got round to applying yet, please look out for a letter from us and apply as soon as you can, as we don't want anyone to miss out.

"We are also aware that fraudsters can try to pass themselves off as Nottinghamshire County Council, so if you have any doubts when receiving this or any other letter from us, we'd encourage you to run the letter by family, friends, or someone you trust. You can feel free to ring our customer service team to check the letter is genuine. We won't be contacting anyone via text message."

This builds on the support that the HSF has provided in food vouchers to those children entitled to free school meals during school holidays last November, in March and over the summer holidays.

Frontline staff across the county continue to identify households most in need, where the occupants are not of pensionable age and have no children, to ensure they receive support too.

For details of other help and support available from Nottinghamshire County Council and partners, please click here.