Martin Lewis tells anyone earning under £23k ‘it’s | European Markets

Martin Lewis has issued an pressing alert to anybody incomes below £23,000, highlighting that they may very well be entitled to 1000’s of kilos in help with their water payments. Talking on his BBC Podcast, the money-saving guru revealed a staggering two million people aren’t claiming the reductions they’re eligible for.

The financial whizz identified that people need to bear in mind of two varieties of assist accessible: they need to both have an income under £23,000, be receiving sure advantages, or presumably have a medical situation to qualify. He highlighted two schemes designed to alleviate water prices – the social water tariff and Watersure.

Mr Lewis said: “Now a couple more important updates about water bills. First of all are you one of up to two million homes on low incomes or universal credit missing out on saving hundreds of pounds with a social tariff.”

“These social tariffs are offered by all firms and they can reduce what you pay by up to 90 per cent by lowering or sometimes capping the cost of your bills or your water meter charges.”

“There are almost 2 million households missing out. It’s incredibly important if you are on a low income, and exactly what the criteria are depends, but let’s say less than £22-23,000 family income or you’re on Universal Credit, just get on to your water company’s website, see what it’s offering or call them and talk to them about it.”, stories Bristol Reside.

Discussing the second scheme, which can be utilized alongside the social tariff, he defined: “There’s a separate scheme you could have as well which is called ‘Watersure’ which is typically worth about £160 a year. To be eligible for the Watersure scheme you need to have a water meter, receive benefits, and either have three or more children or a medical condition such as Crohn’s or eczema which means you need to use more water, You might be able to have your bills capped under the Watersure scheme and that can work in conjunction with the social tariff.”

In the identical podcast, Mr Lewis shared what he termed his ‘three bed room rule’, which might probably save £500 or more a month. He clarified that it was based mostly on the outdated rateable worth of the home – and probably they might make a change to save lots of a whole bunch.

Anybody with three bedrooms, for instance, ought to ask themselves how many people are within the home in comparison with the quantity of rooms. If the equation was much less or equal then there may be a good likelihood of saving some money.

He added: “Water is really important. The first thing I will say is England and Wales only this it works differently in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The first question you ask yourself is ‘do you have more or the same number of bedrooms in your property than people’? “

“Three bedrooms, two people, would count a yes. In that case you are likely to be better off on a water meter than having a bill. Because we talked about the bill is based on the value of your property. Very simply you’ve got a big house not many people living in it, it’s likely to be cheaper if they’re measuring your actual water usage. It’s going to make it a lot cheaper doing it that way.”

“If that sounds right get onto the Consumer Council for Water’s calculator. Just as an example Ursula got in touch with me and said ‘I got a water meter fitted as there’s only two of us in a three bed house we now pay £16 a month instead of £60 a month.’ That’s £500 a year cheaper – nothing to be sniffed at.”

“Now some people say to me ‘I wanted a water meter and they said I can’t have one.’ In some ways that is actually the sweet spot because if you can’t have a water meter because you might be shared pipes in flats, you can ask for an assessed charge.”