Martin Lewis calls on government to fix 'unfair benefit rule' as he makes plea to chancellor

Martin Lewis has called on the chancellor to fix an 'unfair' benefit rule that he says penalises single income families.

The money saving expert has written a letter to Jeremy Hunt ahead of the budget in March outlining four issues that he wants the government to address that will help struggling households during the cost of living crisis.

It comes after Mr Lewis interviewed the chancellor in a special edition of his ITV show earlier this month. During the episode, he quizzed Mr Hunt about the high income Child Benefit tax charge, which he said was "by a mile" the biggest concern that had been raised among his viewers.

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The charge, which was introduced in 2013, applies to anyone claiming Child Benefit with an income over £50,000. Mr Lewis says the charge is unfair because it means that a single parent, or a family where just one parent works, earning £51,000 has to pay the charge, while a couple who earn £49,000 each - bringing in a combined income of £98,000 - do not.

Mr Lewis described it as "the most unfair structure possible to hit people who have a single income when people who are couples could earn so much more". When asked whether it was time for the issue to be fixed, Mr Hunt conceded that there was "an unfairness" in the system.

"There is a very big distortion in the marginal rate of tax that people earn," the chancellor said. "I fully accept there is an unfairness in what happens with dual income families on £50,000 each." Mr Lewis told the chancellor that it is an issue that "people are really angry about."

Hinting that the issue