Virgin Money has joined forces with Turn2us to help more people across the UK make sure they are not missing out on benefits they are entitled to as the nation prepares to face a tighter squeeze on their household finances from April 1.
The national poverty charity’s free, easy-to-use and anonymous benefits calculator is available on Virgin Money’s website and takes less than 10 minutes to complete.
New figures recently released by the UK Government show that up to 850,000 elderly people who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit in the financial year 2019 to 2020.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said up to £1.7 billion of available Pension Credit went unclaimed, which, on average, amounted to around £1,900 per year for each family entitled to receive the ‘gateway’ benefit.
Pension Credit gives people extra money to help with living costs if they are over State Pension age and on a low income - an estimated seven out of 10 of those entitled to Pension Credit did claim.
Commenting on the collaboration, Fergus Murphy, Customer Experience Officer at Virgin Money, said: “These are especially tough times, and we know that some of our customers may be struggling on low incomes but missing out on extra income because they haven’t received benefits they are entitled to.
“The analysis clearly demonstrates how the over 65s are missing out, but we know that this is an issue which affects all age groups. It’s not always easy to find out which benefits you might be entitled to but Turn2us’s calculator is now on our website and not only is it free, it takes less than 10 minutes to use and is completely anonymous.”
Michael Clarke, Head of Information Programmes at Turn2us, said: “As the financial impact of the pandemic continues to hit people’s incomes it is vital that people find out what other support they can access. Millions of us are currently missing out on thousands of pounds worth of unclaimed benefits, that is why we’re hugely grateful to Virgin Money for embedding our benefits calculator onto their website so more people can make sure they are not missing out.”
Fergus Murphy added that Virgin Money has pledged to eliminate the Poverty Premium - the overspend on essential services by low income households - among its customers by 2030.
He said: “By addressing barriers and increasing customer choice we are hopeful we can help more customers avoid the Poverty Premium.”
What is Pension Credit?
Pension credit is an income-related benefit aimed at people living in the UK over State Pension age.
It offers older people a weekly top-up to their income - you can also choose to be paid fortnightly or every four weeks.
It’s available to single pensioners, including widows and widowers, as well as couples.
To use the calculator, you’ll need details of:
earnings, benefits and pensions
savings and investments
You’ll need the same details for your partner if you have one.
Who cannot use the Pension Credit calculator?
You cannot use the calculator if you or your partner:
are deferring your State Pension
own more than one property
are self employed
have housing costs (such as service charges or Crown Tenant rent) which are neither mortgage repayments nor rent covered by Housing Benefit
How to make a claim
You can start your application up to four months before you reach State Pension age.
You can claim any time after you reach State Pension age but your claim can only be backdated for three months.
This means you can get up to three months of Pension Credit in your first payment if you were eligible during that time.
You will need:
your National Insurance number
information about your income, savings and investments
your bank account details, if you’re applying by phone or by post
If you’re backdating your claim, you’ll need details of your income, savings and investments on the date you want your claim to start.
Apply online
You can use the online service if:
you have already claimed your State Pension
there are no children or young people included in your claim
To check your entitlement, phone the Pension Credit helpline on 0800 99 1234 or use the GOV.UK Pension Credit calculator here to find out how much you could get.
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