Man discovers he is entitled to extra £500 each month after 10-minute check
A man is urging people to check their benefits entitlement after discovering he was able to claim an extra £500 in Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Phil Regan, 59, from Derbyshire, was one of the millions of people missing out on an estimated £19billion in unclaimed benefits. The money he has now been able to claim has made a “huge difference” to his life. PIP is awarded to people living with an illness, disability or mental health condition. It is made up of two components - a daily living rate and a mobility rate - and you can be entitled to both or just one of these. If you’re eligible for both of these components, you could get up to £748.59 per month.
Phil discovered he was eligible for PIP after using the free Turn2Us benefits calculator on the Christians Against Poverty (CAP) website. He told The Mirror: "It’s made life more bearable. Now we can put another £30 on the gas or electric if we are cold, whereas before we couldn’t do that and just had to put another jumper on.
"If we want to go to the park with the children, we can afford to get a cup of tea while we are out, whereas before, we would have to walk back home to get one. Life is much better now, whereas before, it was just a struggle, and it felt like there was no end to it."
Phil got in touch with CAP after falling into thousands of pounds worth of debt and turning to alcohol, following the death of his son, who had muscular dystrophy and passed away in 2006. Phil was his full-time carer and when his son died, all the benefits relating to him immediately stopped.
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The pair received help from Christians Against PovertyHis benefits entitlement was later reassessed and he was told he could claim just £44 a week. Phil then turned to payday loans to survive but the borrowing resulted in him owing £14,000 worth of debt. Then in 2011, Phil received a letter from the DWP saying they had miscalculated his benefits and that he should have been receiving £88 per week.
He added: "They sent me a cheque for about £2,000, which was the money they owed me, and that helped to pay off a few debts. Because of that experience, I didn’t fully trust the Jobcentre to get the benefits right. We carried on like that until a couple of years ago, when we decided to ask Christians Against Poverty if they could help us."
Phil said CAP helped him write off most of the debt he owed, and they also helped him reassess his benefits entitlement, which helped him discover he was eligible for PIP. On top of this, his partner Fiona has discovered she may be entitled to Carer's Allowance. She has applied and is waiting for her application to be approved - and if successful, it could mean she gets an extra £307 a month.
Speaking about his experience using the benefits calculator, Phil said: "You just put in your details, and it comes up with the information you need. I think everyone should know about the benefits calculator as it will give you a heads-up about what you are entitled to."
A DWP spokesperson said: “Every year our work coaches support millions of people across the country with benefits applications and tailored support to move into work. We encourage anyone who thinks they may be entitled to benefits to use the independent online calculators or visit their local Jobcentre to check their eligibility.”
Free benefits calculators
It only takes ten minutes to check if you could be entitled to benefits - and it is a common misconception that you need to be out of work to be eligible for any support. There is help available for those who are on low incomes, plus support for those with children, those who care for a relative, and those with health issues.
You should first use one of these following free benefit calculators to check what you could be entitled to:
- Policy in Practice benefits calculator
- entitledto benefits calculator
- Turn2us benefits calculator
If these calculators show you may be eligible for support, you can either put in a claim for the relevant benefit yourself, or get help by contacting Citizens Advice or Turn2Us.
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