PENSIONERS on Teesside have won a windfall that was their right to claim in the first place.

A campaign launched by the Middlesbrough Council Welfare Rights Unit has resulted in hundreds of pensioners picking up a total of more than £100,000 a year in unclaimed benefit.

On average, individual pensioners helped by the welfare rights workers are better off by an average £15 a week. Some are receiving more than £100 a week.

About 1,000 Middlesbrough pensioners were found to be missing out on the Government's Minimum Income Guarantee, as Income Support for pensioners is known.

Welfare rights manager Steve Nelson said there were a number of reasons why pensioners had not been claiming their full benefit entitlement.

"There is the stigma, for a start," he said. "Pensioners are a proud bunch and they often don't want people to know their private affairs, particularly financial circumstances - so standing in a queue at the benefits office was not very appealing.

"Many pensioners may also be housebound, unable to get out and ask for help. But, with this campaign, we go to them and we make it as easy as we can."

Welfare rights officers Sahida Hussain and Cyril Eldridge are working to ensure that they can visit all pensioners who ask for help. They are going out to people's homes and helping them to check their benefits and fill in claim forms.

Batches of 100 letters at a time are sent out to potential claimants, giving people the option to contact the welfare rights team and arrange for a home visit.

Most of the pensioners who are contacted reply and, of those, nearly all have their benefits increased.

The pick-up rate has been greater because pensioners are seen in the privacy of their own homes.