OAPs feel ‘confusion and anxiety’ when applying for benefits online, MSPs told

Pensioners are being left feeling “confusion and anxiety” when forced to sign up for financial support online, MSPs have been told.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) told the Social Justice and Social Security Committee that many elderly people are still digitally excluded.

Fears were raised that pensioners may be missing out on benefits they are entitled to because they cannot get through the online application process.

Kyle Scott, a policy manager at CAS, said 28,500 over-65s sought advice from the organisation last year, with a large percentage of these relating to welfare applications such as pension credit.

Applying for pension credit, he said, “is a complicated process even if you’re digitally literate”.

He added: “What we see… is just a lot of confusion and anxiety about engaging with these platforms online.

“A lot of mistrust about personal details being entered into online application platforms.

“When we talk to our advisers and people using services like mygov.scot or mygov.co.uk websites and the online application process and the hoops needed to jump through to prove that you can get there, the first thing that we see is a lot of older people just don’t have email addresses.

“Trying to explain to someone that you need an email address to get what you’re entitled to, it’s quite a difficult conversation.”

Mr Scott said a “digital first” approach in some Government departments has forced organisations such as CAS to “pick up” where those departments had “failed”.

Jillian Matthew, a senior manager at Audit Scotland, said poverty and those over 65 are “major drivers of digital exclusion”.

She told MSPs a lack of internet access among poorer and older Scots could negatively impact their finances by making it harder to shop online for cheaper and better deals, to apply for things such as council tax reductions, or to gain financial support.

She added that a lack of accessibility in applying for services risks creating “mistrust” among those who may need help, making Scots less likely to seek the support in the future.

Mr Scott also said many Scots have been left digitally excluded as a result of poverty, which he said is then “exacerbated” by the digital exclusion.

He told the committee: “You can’t separate poverty and digital exclusion. They’re both causes of one another.”

Mr Scott said research by CAS in 2022 found a fifth of Scots regularly run out of money before payday.

Of these, 21% go without internet access as a result, and another 19% go without mobile phone access.

“Those are people who are losing access to critical, vital online services and they’re making a choice at that point in time to miss out on the services that they’re entitled to because they can’t afford to maintain their connections,” he said.

“So you can see where the poverty element can sometimes come first. The flip side is that digital exclusion can exacerbate poverty.”

Miriam Craven, chief executive of Social Security Scotland, said her organisation, which manages benefits controlled by the Scottish Government, is not “digital by default” but is “digital when appropriate”.

A UK Government spokesperson said: “We have made the process of applying for benefits as accessible as possible – pensioners are able to submit applications online at gov.uk, over the phone, or via a paper application form, meeting our customers where they are.

“We are partnering with the Digital Poverty Alliance to launch a new Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund to support and expand local community initiatives to get people online.

“This is in addition to our work through our Digital Inclusion Action Plan, to create a future where everyone can safely access and easily use digital products and services that could improve their lives.”