Martin Lewis has encouraged people to check their eligibility for pension credit, ahead of an upcoming deadline.

The MoneySavingExpert founder, who is now a regular co-host on Good Morning Britain, stressed the importance of the benefit on the ITV morning show.

Pension credit is used to help those who are of state pension age who are not getting enough income.

Lewis mentioned on the show that there are one million state pensioners in the UK who are eligible for the benefit but don't claim it, which he described as an "absolute tragedy".

How to check pension credit eligibility?

It was noted by Lewis on Good Morning Britain that you can backdate a claim for pension credit.

In practice, this would mean if you applied for pension credit before Friday, May 19th and were eligible you would be able to get £301, even if you are only entitled to a small amount of it.

He went on: "If you are a single person of state pension age with total weekly income of under £220 or a state pensioner couple with a weekly income of £320 then do not stall, just call."

It is possible to check online also using the Pension Credit Calculator here, and if you call up they will talk you through whether or not you are entitled to money, Lewis said.

He added: "That's why I'm saying £220 or below as a single pensioner, £320 or below as a pensioner couple, if that's you get online to the Pension Credit Calculator.

"Call them up if you're not happy doing it online. 'Don't stall, just call'".

The average Pension Credit award is worth over £3,500 a year and even a small Pension Credit award can provide access to a wide range of other benefits – such as help with housing costs, council tax or heating bills – in addition to the extra cost of living payments.

Good Morning Britain is available to watch on ITV and ITVX every weekday morning at 6am.