Pensioners Fall Victim to 'Fantasy' interest rates

We have a story today in the Daily Mail which shows how out of touch the benefit rules are when it comes to peoples' savings. At present, when a pensioner on a modest income applies for pension credit, the rules assume that for every £500 they have in the bank (beyond the first £6,000 which is ignored) they can get £1 per week in interest. Worked out over the year that is £52 a year on £500 capital or over 10%. Strangely enough, there aren't many places where you can get an interest rate of anything like that. For someone with (say) £16,000 in the bank, a National Savings investment account would currently pay just 1.35%, so this 'fantasy' interest rate is costing pensioners hundreds of pounds a year.

Surely it wouldn't be too much to ask that, if pensioners are going to be forced to go through a means-test to get a decent income, at least the Government should stop pretending that there is some amazing investment opportunity out there that they are all missing.