A man discovered he was entitled to an extra £500 a month in benefits after carrying out a simple check - and is urging others to try as well. Phil Regan learned he could get extra financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The 59-year-old was among millions of people who were thought to be missing out on unclaimed benefits worth £19 billion. His life is now seeing a "huge difference" with the additional money he's now able to claim, reports MirrorOnline. People living with an illness, disability or mental health condition are entitled to be awarded PIP. The benefit is made up of two components, which are a mobility rate and daily living rate. READ MORE: The 'life changing'
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WhatsApp , click the link to join You can be entitled to one or both of these. If you're entitled to both, each month you could get £748.59. Phil found out he was entitled to claim PIP after using a free benefits calculator called Turn2Us on the Christians Against Poverty (CAP) website. He told The Mirror: "It’s made life more bearable. Now we can put another £30 on the gas or electric if we are cold, whereas before we couldn’t do that and just had to put another jumper on. "If we want to go to the park with the children, we can afford to get a cup of tea while we are out, whereas before, we would have to walk back home to get one. Life is much better now, whereas before, it was just a struggle, and it felt like there was no end to it." Phil got in touch with CAP after falling into thousands of pounds worth of debt and turning to alcohol, following the death of his son, who had muscular dystrophy and passed away in 2006. Phil was his full-time carer and when his son died, all the benefits relating to him immediately stopped. His benefits entitlement was later reassessed and he was told he could claim just £44 a week. Phil then turned to payday loans to survive but the borrowing resulted in him owing £14,000 worth of debt. Then in 2011, Phil received a letter from the DWP saying they had miscalculated his benefits and that he should have been receiving £88 per week. He added: "They sent me a cheque for about £2,000, which was the money they owed me, and that helped to pay off a few debts. Because of that experience, I didn’t fully trust the Jobcentre to get the benefits right. We carried on like that until a couple of years ago, when we decided to ask Christians Against Poverty if they could help us." Phil said CAP helped him write off most of the debt he owed, and they also helped him reassess his benefits entitlement, which helped him discover he was eligible for PIP. On top of this, his partner Fiona has discovered she may be entitled to Carer's Allowance. She has applied and is waiting for her application to be approved - and if successful, it could mean she gets an extra £307 a month. Speaking about his experience using the benefits calculator, Phil said: "You just put in your details, and it comes up with the information you need. I think everyone should know about the benefits calculator as it will give you a heads-up about what you are entitled to." A DWP spokesperson said: “Every year our work coaches support millions of people across the country with benefits applications and tailored support to move into work. We encourage anyone who thinks they may be entitled to benefits to use the independent online calculators or visit their local Jobcentre to check their eligibility.” It only takes ten minutes to check if you could be entitled to benefits - and it is a common misconception that you need to be out of work to be eligible for any support. There is help available for those who are on low incomes, plus support for those with children, those who care for a relative, and those with health issues. You should first use one of these following free benefit calculators to check what you could be entitled to: Policy in Practice benefits calculator entitledto benefits calculator Turn2us benefits calculator If these calculators show you may be eligible for support, you can either put in a claim for the relevant benefit yourself, or get help by contacting Citizens Advice or Turn2Us.