One consequence of running a blog that is widely noticed by the financial services industry is that I am inundated with pressure releases most days, the vast majority of which end up in my email bin without much thought being given to the process.
But there always have to be exceptions. This press announcement turned up in my inbox yesterday, and I felt the service being offered might be of interest to people here and could even be a direct benefit. So, I thought this one was worth sharing, not least because I think the government's lack of effort in ensuring people receive all the benefits to which they are entitled is a scandal.
A stress, I take no responsibility for the content, but if you're interested, it might be worth exploring. I have, obviously, checked that the site is genuine.
NATIONWIDE has launched a free calculator to help people discover unclaimed benefits with a tool experts have hailed as “great for people who are unaware of what they might be entitled to” – and it could get you £560 extra per month.
The bank claims it has helped discover £75 million a year in unclaimed benefits through a free eligibility calculator it launched just seven months ago.
The ‘Better Off' calculator, the first to be offered over the telephone as well as online, helps people understand what benefits they may be entitled to.
The calculator – available to anyone, not just Nationwide customers – was launched in partnership with social policy data experts Policy in Practice, at a time when an estimated £24 billion in benefits goes unclaimed each year.
Since its launch last June, over 18,000 people have submitted a calculation, with over 11,000 households discovering they could be entitled to an average of £560 extra per month – totalling £75.3 million annually in potential support.
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Under claiming is a well known issue among students and professors of social security systems.
Did you know that a person of working age living with a partner who gets the new state pension is automatically barred from claiming Universal Credit? Even if that single person’s state pension is the only income they have as a couple, they have no savings and the working age person is actively seeking work? The person receiving pension is not eligible to receive any pension increase either as they could if they were supporting a partner of retirement age. The couple may be eligible for Housing and Council Tax Benefits, that is all.
I thought I would mention this as you said in a previous post how inadequate the state pension was. But in some cases the government considers it enough for two to live on.
I was not aware of that