Are you missing out on bundles of FREE cash?

EVERy year, millions of people are failing to claim valuable tax breaks, refunds and compensation because they don’t know about them. Here, HOLLY THOMAS reveals five perks you could be missing out on and how to get them.

TRAVEL HICCUPS

IF youR train is cancelled or severely delayed and you decide not to travel, you can typically demand a refund. If you continue your journey and arrive at your destination more than 30 minutes late, you should be able to claim back at least part of your fare.

Each train operator has its own rules on when and how much it will pay. For example, if you bought a single ticket with Virgin Trains, you should get a 50pc refund for delays of between 30 minutes and an hour, and the full fare back if you are delayed longer.

Southern Rail pays 25 pc of the fare for hold-ups of between 15 and 30 minutes, 50pc between half-an-hour and an hour and a full refund after that. you can claim online or by post using a Delay Repay form.

Travellers who hold a monthly or annual season ticket usually get a proportion of the total cost back based on the average number of journeys a typical passenger makes during that period. If you are travelling by plane and your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late, you may be entitled to up to £530 (€600) in compensation.

If you think you’re eligible, contact your airline and request compensation under Eu regulation 261. you cannot claim for delays caused by so-called extraordinary circumstances, such as bad weather and strikes.

FEE REFUND

IF you applied for power of attorney between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2017, you may be entitled to a refund of up to £54.

Power of attorney is a vital document that gives someone the legal authority to manage your finances should you fall ill or have an accident. The fee for registering this document is only supposed to cover the cost of providing the service. But around 1.8 million people were charged too much, so the Government has set up a refund scheme.

How much you get back depends on when you applied. you should receive £54 if you registered between April and September 2013, £34 between october 2013 and March 2014, £37 between April 2014 and March 2015, £38 between April 2015 and March 2016 and £45 between April 2016 and March 2017. you should also get a 0.5 pc interest payment on top. Claim online at gov.uk/power-of-attorneyrefund. or you can apply by phone — call 0300 456 0300 and choose option six. you have

until January 31, 2021 to claim.

TAX PERKS

IF you are married or in a civil partnership, you could be missing out on a £662 tax perk by failing to claim the marriage tax allowance.

The so-called marriage allowance was introduced in 2015 to help married couples and civil partners where one partner earns less than the other. The taxman lets the lower earner transfer up £1,150 of any unused £11,500 tax-free personal allowance to the higher earner.

This reduces their annual tax liability by up to £230.

Claims can be backdated to the 2015-2016 tax year, which means you could be entitled to up to £662.

If you were eligible and your partner has since died, you should still be able to claim.

To qualify, you must both have been born on or after April 6, 1935. The higher earner must also be a 20 pc basic-rate taxpayer.

Visit gov.uk/marriage-allowance or call 0300 200 3300.

CARD MISSELLING

ARouND 1.2 million borrowers who took out a credit card with Vanquis Bank are owed around £169million in compensation. According to the City watchdog, customers who took out a card between June 2003 and March 31, 2014 were mis-sold an add-on product called a Repayment option Plan (RoP).

This allowed customers to freeze their accounts for up to two years so they wouldn’t have to make any payments and take a repayment holiday for one month a year without being hit with any late payment fees. It typically cost about £1.29 a month for every £100 owed, or £1.19 if you were a student or unemployed.

But Vanquis failed to make clear that borrowers would pay interest on this fee if they didn’t clear their balance each month. So the Financial Conduct Authority has ordered the firm to pay these customers compensation, which could be worth more than £100 each.

Vanquis also sold RoP to people with Argos, Aquis, Black Diamond, Chrome, Granite, NEo, origin, Progress and Xylo credit cards for 13 years between 2003 and 2016.

Visit vanquis.co.uk/existingcustomers/repayment-option-planrefundor call 0330 099 3000.

HELP WITH HEATING

TEMPERATuRES plummeted when the Beast from the East swept Britain earlier this month. It means many will be eligible for a perk known as a cold weather payment.

This is £25 paid out when the temperature in your local area is recorded at or below 0c for seven consecutive days. The scheme runs from November 1 to March 31.

you must be in receipt of pension credit, income support, incomebased jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance or universal credit to qualify. Check if a payment is due in your area at coldweatherpayments.dwp.gov.uk