Consumer guru Martin Lewis has sent out a message for anyone who cares for a loved one.
On Good Morning Britain during the Wallet Wednesdays segment, Martin devoted a whole section urging people to check if they are entitled to benefits as it is estimated £19b goes unclaimed per year. Co-host Susanna Reid read out a statistic that 500,000 miss out on up to £4,000 a year in carer's allowance.
She asked: "So if someone is caring for someone, how do you qualify for extra help?" Martin was in disbelief at the statistics as he stepped in and said: "It's staggering this, isn't it?"
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He then shared some of the criteria for how people caring for a loved one could be entitled to support, reports the Liverpool Echo. He said: "You've got to be caring over 35 hours a week, unpaid. Caring can be just cooking, cleaning, helping people dress, taking them out when they need to go out.
"The person you are caring for must be someone who gets attendance allowance or sometimes, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA). You must earn less than £139 per week after tax or be on a low state pension.
"Quite difficult there, these are the unpaid support staff of our country and we need to support them. This isn't the biggest payment in the world but it will help.
"If you care under 35 hours a week, check out carer's credit. You don't get any money but you might get National Insurance credits that will help you towards your State Pension when you're older."
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