ITV This Morning: Martin Lewis receives ‘very annoying’ message

The Money Saving Expert appeared on Tuesday’s show when Holly Willoughby addressed him with a viewer’s comment on the subject of pension credit.

The presenter said: “One viewer says: ‘I’m under the weekly earnings limit of under £214.60 but when I called the hotline I was told very suddenly that Martin Lewis was wrong’.”

“They were told they needed to get care allowance, which they are applying for now and are waiting for the forms to come in.”

Mel Stride, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Image: PA)

In response, Martin said, “Ok, pension credit. This is very, very upsetting news.

“And I’ll explain it again: There’s confusion here and I’m also very unhappy about the statements from the pension loan hotline.

“Pension Credit is an income supplement if you are a low-income state retiree. In certain circumstances, and these are complicated, for example if you’re on carer’s allowance, you can earn more than £203 a week as a state pensioner and still get a pension credit.

“I have a rule of thumb: if your total weekly earnings are less than £220 it’s worth checking to see if you’re eligible for a pension credit. It is worth checking for retired couples earning less than £320.

“I have an agreement with the Pensions Secretary that I will spread the word that one million people who are entitled to pension credits are not getting them.

“If anyone on this hotline says that Martin Lewis is wrong when I deliver an agreed upon message and I am encouraged by the Minister to spread that message, it means they did not receive the memo.

“The whole point is that we work together to get retirees not to be afraid to ask if they should get a pension credit.”

What is an annuity loan?

The pension credit is designed to help people over the statutory retirement age and on low incomes with day-to-day living expenses. However, you do not have to be on a state pension to receive this.

It increases a person’s income to at least £201.56 a week for single pensioners and £306.85 for couples.

Around 1.4 million pensioners in the UK are currently in receipt of Pension Credit. However, many still do not take advantage of this additional financial help.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has sent letters to 11,000 people to stress the importance of signing up for a pension credit.

The average pension credit is more than £3,500 per year and even a small pension credit can provide access to a wide range of other benefits on top of the extra costs – such as: B. Assistance with housing costs, council tax or heating costs living payments.