Some households could be eligible for extra cash by claiming little-known benefits and allowances from the government.
Marriage tax allowance, financial support for bereaved parents and carer’s allowance could all improve your finances, if you’re eligible.
In some cases the payments could add up to hundreds of pounds and make a significant different to household budgets in the cost of living crisis.
Marriage tax allowance
Couples who are married or in a civil partnership might be able to claim the marriage allowance and boost their finances by up to £252 a year.
Couples can claim where one partner is working and the other has income less than their personal allowance of £12,570. The lower earning partner might be retired, have given up work due to caring responsibilities, or have a part-time or low paid job.
You can claim Marriage Allowance for free via GOV.UK.
Bereavement support
Bereaved parents who lost their partner between 9 April 2001 and 8 February 2023 may be eligible for a backdated government payment even if they no longer have dependent children.
The government extended eligibility for Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) and Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) to cohabiting parents with dependent children in February. These benefits were previously only available to bereaved parents who were married or in a civil partnership.
How much you will get depends on your personal circumstances, but it can be a one-off payment of up to £3,500 or 18 monthly payments of up to £350.
The payments are designed to help with the financial impact of losing a partner and can be backdated to 30 August 2018. Anyone who had dependent children when they lost their cohabiting partner should check GOV.UK for more information.
Parents will be eligible for different benefits depending on the date their partner died. If they died before 6 April 2017, they would need to claim WPA. If they died on or after 6 April 2017, they would need to claim BSP, which has replaced WPA.
Payments can only be backdated to 30 August 2018, even if a partner died before this date.
Carer’s credits
You could get £76.75 a week in carer’s allowance if you care for someone at least 35 hours a week and they get certain benefits.
If you are caring for someone and do not get a carer’s allowance, you may be eligible for carer’s credit. Carer’s credit is a National Insurance credit that helps with gaps in your National Insurance record. Your state pension is based on your National Insurance record so it’s important to close any gaps where you can.
You must be between 16 and state pension age and look after one or more people for at least 20 hours a week to be eligible for carer’s credit. Anyone unsure whether they qualify can apply using the downloadable form from the DWP website.
Each annual credit missed could cost you 1/35th of the value of your state pension – around £260 per year or £5,200 over the course of a typical 20-year retirement.
A Freedom of Information request by financial advice firm Quilter found that up to September 2023, 7,176 people have claimed carer’s credits, compared to just 3,906 during the same period in 2022.
