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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
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Alex Evans & Kate Lally

Martin Lewis fan gets £18,000 cheque after taking his advice

A Martin Lewis fan has received a cheque for £18,000 after following the finance guru's advice.

It came after the Money Saving Expert founder shared a pensions tax trick that thousands of people are failing to claim. Mr Lewis returned on his ITV show on Tuesday as he shared the "big money" tip and how to claim, along with the specific circumstances that make people eligible.

Martin said hundreds of thousands of people - mostly women - could be owed at least £6,000 each, Yorkshire Live reports.

READ MORE: Martin Lewis fan shares 'easy way' to save £110 on energy bill

Martin's co-presenter Angelica Bell shared an email a viewer named Joan had sent in, which read: "After watching your show on married women's state pension, I contacted the tax department and, although it did take about 7 months, I received a cheque for £18,000. I was amazed as I never expected this amount!"

Mr Lewis then went on to break down the complicated set of circumstances that could make someone eligible to claim the money. He told viewers at home: "There are hundreds of thousands of, generally women, who are due at least £6,000 pension back.

"Married women and widows may have been underpaid, specifically women who hit state pension age before April 6, 2016. So that's people aged approximately 70 or older. And your basic state pension needed to be 60% of your husband's basic state pension and this is only for married couples.

"Now, you will get an automatic top up and it should be backdated. If your husband was 65 on or after March 17 2008, or you're a widow whose husband died after April 2008 and you're getting less than 60% of his pension. But you still need to claim. There are free tools online and you can call the pension service to do it. If you divorced after getting your state pension, and your pension is less than your ex-husband's, again you may be eligible.

"And there's a whole new category since I first did it. This can be a man as well, if you stay at home and look after the kids or you were a carer and you got the benefit for it, since April 1978 then if you don't get a full state pension then you may be entitled to a top up on that.

"As you've seen with Joan, this is really big money."

The Martin Lewis Money Show: Live returns to ITV and the ITV Hub on Tuesday at 8pm

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