In the midst of a recession, now is not the time to be careless with your money and many people are understandably looking for safe havens to protect what they have. Surprisingly, however, others are completely unaware that they could be eligible for benefits and tax credits that is rightfully theirs. It was recently estimated that in the UK up to ?8 billion worth of state benefits go unclaimed every year. Some people are therefore saving on one hand and throwing it away on the other!



Don't automatically assume that these benefits are only for low earners, so check out if you are missing out here. Thankfully there is an easy way to find out if you're missing out on benefits ? through a website called Entitledto.

The site should also be visited if you are unemployed, disabled, unable to work or elderly. Similarly if you recently added to your family or are carers then there could be something that you are missing out on.

According to the Department for Work and Pensions and the Inland Revenue, some of the main benefits which go unclaimed every year are.

?Income support - paid to those who are unable to work and don't have enough money to live on.

?Housing benefit - paid to those on low incomes to help them pay some or all of their rent.

?Council tax benefit - paid to those with low levels of income and savings.

?Jobseeker's allowance - paid to those who are of working age and not in employment can claim this for the duration that they are out of work.

?Pension credit - paid to those aged over 60, based on their income.

?Finally, tax credits are according to the UK Government available to over 90% of households via either child tax credits or working tax credits.

Entitledto has unique experience in helping people find out about entitlements online. They provide a free and easy to use web-based calculator to help people work out their entitlement to benefits and tax credits. It's certainly popular as it performs over 1 million calculations a year!

All you need to do is input your information and the site will work everything out for you. No specific personal information is required, so anonymity is assured.