The money-saving expert said the Attendance Allowance is “massively underclaimed” with an estimated 1.1 million eligible pensioners missing out
Money-saving expert Martin Lewis has sounded the alarm for those who arrived in the world before 1958, flagging they could be missing out on a hefty £3,800. The financial guru has been busy spreading the word to folks of state pension age who may not be pocketing their due Attendance Allowance from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Revealing that over one million could be oblivious to this benefit, the BBC and ITV familiar face underscored just how “massively underclaimed” AA is. Shockingly, 2023 data crunched by Policy in Practice suggests around 1.1 million eligible old-timers are passing up on the payout.
Digging into the details, Mr Lewis urged: “So whether it’s you, or someone you know who may qualify, take two minutes to read this. Last week, Andrea sent us this email.” She disclosed: “I never thought I’d qualify [for Attendance Allowance], but I do. I got £1,260 backdated and £290 every four weeks. Thanks for all your work”.
Not to be left out, another lady, self-named Christine, gushed: “Applied for Attendance Allowance for my husband and today the first payment was made (even before a letter arrived telling us! ). He’s entitled to the upper limit, which is even more than we could’ve hoped for.”, reports Birmingham Live.
Not only did Christine bag the allowance, but she also chanced her arm at getting a blue badge and success!
“At the same time, I optimistically applied for a blue badge for him too and again, confirmation of this being approved arrived today! Without the advice on the MSE email we would not have even been aware of being eligible. THANK YOU MSE team.”
Most encouragingly, Martin states “It isn’t means-tested”, indicating that your financial situation doesn’t matter. He explained: “It’s for state pensioners who need some daily living help . With AA, your finances are irrelevant.”
The minimum amount of cash MSE says you get is the lower rate of £73 a week which equates to £3,778 a year. There are others who will receive even more if they require additional assistance or have less than 12 months to live.
