Martin Lewis has hit out at the Pension Credit claim line, vowing to "send out a memo" to staff working the helpline after being left "very unhappy" at one person's experience.
The MoneySavingExpert founder appeared on ITV's This Morning to answer questions from viewers and provide helpful financial advice - but one particular message sent in to the show got under his skin. One viewer claimed they had been told by the Pension Credit helpline that Martin's advice was "wrong" - a suggestion which Martin himself quickly refuted.
Host Holly Willoughby read out the query, which stated: "I am under the weekly income threshold of £214.60 but when I called the helpline, I was told very abruptly that Martin Lewis was wrong... and that I needed to be in receipt of Attendance Allowance, which I'm in the process of applying for and waiting for the forms to come through. I'm so confused."
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Holly asked Martin: "So this is about Pension Credit - what's the confusion here?" And the money expert was left rubbing his forehead in frustration upon hearing the viewer's experience.
"That is a very, very annoying message to get," he admitted. "And I will explain it again. I think there is a confusion here. But I'm also very unhappy to hear what the Pension Credit hotline have said."
Martin went on to explain that Pension Credit works as a top-up payment to help with your living costs if you are of State Pension age and on a low income. Pension Credit will bump up your weekly income to £201.05 if you're single, or £306.85 as a joint weekly income if you have a partner, and some people who have other responsibilities and costs can be entitled to extra amounts.
Martin laid out his "rule of thumb" when it comes to considering whether to put in a claim for Pension Credit. "If you've got total weekly income of under £220, it is worth checking whether you're entitled to Pension Credit," he explained - you can carry out this check by using the online Pension Credit calculator or calling the Pension Credit hotline.
"The Pension Credit hotline is meant to be a friendly service to tell you whether or not you're entitled. Now, I have an agreement with the pension minister that I will be pushing this message out, because I think it's very important. One million people who are eligible to pension credit are not getting it," he went on.
"So to hear that someone on the Pension Credit hotline is saying 'Martin Lewis is wrong', when I am giving an agreed message and I'm being encouraged by the minister to get that message out there under this format means that they haven't got the memo. And trust me, I will be sending a memo after this programme to make sure it goes to those staff."
He stressed: "The whole point is, as a nation, we're trying to work together to get some of the poorest pensioners not to be scared to ask if they are due Pension Credit." Martin added that the messaging was particularly "urgent", given that people have until May 19 to qualify for the year's first £301 cost of living payment by making a successful claim for Pension Credit.
Addressing the viewer's query, Martin said: "I suspect the person on the phone is right - you checked, you are not eligible And there's nothing wrong with checking - it's a shame you're not eligible, but there will be many people watching this who are and should not be put off."
He added: "What the person on that hotline - if what you're telling me is true - has done that they shouldn't have done is make you feel wrong for asking. [...] I'm very disappointed to hear the attitude of the call handler on that.
"They were probably having a bad day. But most people on the Pension Credit hotline, I hear, have really good feedback and are really helpful. So don't be put off getting in touch," Martin urged.
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