OUR TALENTED TEAM ARE HERE TO HELP YOU SAVE £££
Are you missing out on benefits?
A shocking £23bn sits unclaimed in benefits – that’s an average of £2,700 per person*. We’ve listed some of them below, including child benefit, free school meals and pension credit. However, there are many more, such as housing support or help with water bills, so make sure you claim everything you’re entitled to. Go to the benefits calculator at entitledto.co.uk and seek help from Citizens Advice at citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits.
UNIVERSAL CREDIT
£8.3bn unclaimed
Universal Credit helps with living costs if you’re on a low or no income and have less than £16,000 in savings. You could be missing out on as much as £617 a month, though the amount will depend on your age and circumstances. Check if you’re eligible at gov.uk/universal-credit/eligibility.
CHILD BENEFIT
£1.7bn unclaimed
Child benefit is paid to parents or carers who are responsible for a child aged up to 16 (or 20 if they’re in full-time education). It’s worth £25.60 a week for your first child and £16.95 for additional children. Note that the system is complicated and if one parent earns over £60,000, the high-income charge kicks in and you’ll have to pay a tax that cancels out some of the benefits.
By not claiming, you could miss out on National Insurance (NI) contributions that count towards your state pension – even high earners are entitled to these. Up to one million parents could be short by £6,500 in retirement because they opted out of receiving child benefit. Claim at gov.uk/child-benefit/how-to-claim.
FREE SCHOOL MEALS
£230m
If you’re on certain benefits, your child will be entitled to free school meals. This could also unlock additional help via the Household Support Fund. See gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals for more details.
PENSION CREDIT
£2.2bn unclaimed
Around 880,000 pensioners could be claiming pension credit, worth an average £3,900 a year. Pension credit is separate to the state pension and is paid to those of state pension age on low income. Claiming may also unlock other benefits such as cold weather payments or a council tax reduction. There are more details at gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator.
CARERS’ ALLOWANCE
£2.3bn unclaimed
Almost half a million people are missing
