Martin Lewis Money Advice @martinlewis
Refund, refund, refund, (refund, refund). No, I’m not stuck on repeat, I’m trying to hammer home that people are owed hundreds of millions of pounds that they’re just not claiming – most of which can be done with just a quick click or phone call. Here’s what you need to do…
Over one million are owed a refund on Power of Attorney registration fees. A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document which allows you, while you still have the mental capacity to do so, to nominate a trusted friend or relative to look after your affairs if you lose capacity. And they’re not just for the elderly; I have one, and I’m 45. For more on how to do it cheaply go to https://mse.me/poa.
If you’ve already got one, and did it between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017 in England and Wales, you paid £110, which is more than it should’ve been, so if you did that you’re owed up to £54 per Power of Attorney (which includes 0.5% interest). To claim a refund, go to www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney-refund or call the Office of the Public Guardian’s on 0300 456 0300 and select option six.
2. Are you married? If so, you may be due a free £900. Three years ago, the Government launched the marriage (and civil partnerships) tax allowance. It applies where one is a basic-rate taxpayer and the other a non-taxpayer. The non-taxpayer can apply to have 10% (£1,190) of their tax-free allowance shifted to the taxpayer. This means £1,190 of income they were taxed on at 20% is now tax-free – a £238 gain this year done via altering your tax code. Yet still over one million eligible couples are missing out. And you can back claim a refund to when it started too, so that’s a cheque for £662 – making a total of £900. It takes five minutes to do at www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance/how-to-apply.
3. With winter long gone this is the perfect time for those of us who pay energy by monthly direct debit to check if you’ve got too much credit. This is because energy firms estimate your usage, and then bill you based on their estimates. If those are set too high you can end up overpaying. Only do this if you’ve been providing regular meter readings, or have a smart meter doing it for you. If not, send them a meter reading. Assuming all is up to date go online or call up to check whether you are in credit and if so how much. Direct debits are meant to smooth out your usage over the year so normally you’re in surplus going into winter and in deficit after. So right now, if your credit is more than a month’s worth of bills, ask them for the amount over that back – it can be £100s, and ask them to lower the direct debit going forward.
4. Graduated from university? You may be due £100s back. In the last three years alone, over 100,000 university leavers started to repay their loans too early, and are due some of it back. Plus, as this could go all the way back to 1998 it’s likely there are 100,000s more. You are only eligible to start repaying your student loan in the April after graduation – often around nine months after leaving, and even then only if you earn over a set threshold. However, if your employer has the wrong info about your university leaving date, or simply does it wrong, you may start repaying early. To check and get it back is easy. Just call the Student Loan Company on 0300 100 0611 and ask it.
5. Get a tax rebate if you wear a uniform. If you wear a recognisable uniform to work, even if it’s just a branded t-shirt, and you wash it yourself, you may be able to reclaim hundreds of pounds of tax back. The amount you get varies from £12 to £74 a year depending on your tax rate and the industry you work in, plus you can go back four years in total, so this can be £100s for some. And you don’t need to pay anyone to do this, just fill out the P87 claim form at
www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-income-tax-relief-for-your-employment-expenses-p87. Once you’ve registered, your tax code will change, so you’ll be taxed less in the future. Full help at www.mse.me/uniform.
Martin Lewis is the Founder and Chair of MoneySavingExpert.com. To join the 12 million people who get his free Money Tips weekly email, go to www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip