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According to the government’s Help for Households adverts, there is help available for everyone during the cost of living crisis. They are offering a variety of support to households, such as cost of living payments, help with energy bills, help with costs of childcare and transport, help to find work, and a range of discounts and offers.
But what help are you entitled to? Is there really help for everyone?
In this article we take a quick look at Help for Households, and support available in the following categories:
The Government Household Support Fund distributes funding to local councils, for them to provide additional financial support to the most vulnerable people in their community who are struggling to pay for bills, food and other essential items. Local authorities can also issue food vouchers to families during the school holidays.
Household Support is independent of other benefits; you do not have to be receiving benefits to qualify for Household Support, and any benefits you do receive will not be affected if you are also given Household Support.
You can find out more about Household Support and how to claim for it here.
If you receive any means-tested benefits, including Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Tax Credits, you are also eligible for an additional Cost of Living Payment of £900 per year, which is paid automatically in three instalments directly into your bank account.
There is also a separate £150 Disability Payment and a £300 Pensioner Payment on top of their Winter Fuel Payments.
The expected timings of these payments are:
You will receive as many of the above payments as you are entitled to, and it should all happen automatically. But you can find out more about Cost of Living Payments on Gov UK.
During the winter of 2022, the government launched its Energy Bills Support Scheme, which provided every household with a £400 discount on their energy bills. Also, under the government’s Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity pays £2,500 a year for energy instead of an estimated £4,279. This is currently in place until the end of June 2023.
You can find out more about the Energy Bills Support Scheme here.
If you have children, there are three main sources of support: child benefit, free school meals and help with childcare costs.
Everyone can claim Child Benefit if you are responsible for bringing up a child who is under 16 (or under 20 if they are still in approved education or training). However, if you or your partner earn more than £50,000 per year, you pay a tax charge that is equivalent to the child benefit received. It may be easier to opt out of claiming child benefit if this applies to you.
Child Benefit is paid every 4 weeks and there’s no limit to how many children you can claim for.
You can find out more about Child Benefit on Gov UK.
If you get Universal Credit and either have a child under 4 or are more than 10 weeks pregnant, you may also be able to get help to buy healthy food and milk through the Healthy Start voucher scheme. Find out more here.
Depending on your financial circumstances and whether you receive certain benefits, your child may be eligible for free school meals during term time.
If this is the case, you can also get access to free activities and food for your children in the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays.
You can find out more about whether your child is eligible for free school meals on Gov UK.
If you are paying for childcare costs, there are various forms of help available:
You can get up to £500 every 3 months for each of your children. The way it works is that you set up an online childcare account for your child, and for every £8 you pay into this account, the government will pay £2. You can then use this account to pay your childcare provider.
To use the tax-free childcare scheme, your provider must be registered with the scheme. Types of provision covered include childminders, nurseries, nannies, after school clubs and play schemes.
You can find out more about tax-free childcare here.
As well as tax-free childcare, you may also be eligible for 15-30 hours free childcare:
You can find out more about free childcare here
You may be able to claim back up to 85% of your childcare costs if you’re eligible for Universal Credit. You can find more about claiming back childcare costs here.
If you’re on low income, out of work or cannot work you may be eligible for Universal Credit. And if you have a mortgage or rent to pay for the home you live in, Universal Credit may provide help towards the cost.
You can find more here about whether you are eligible for Universal Credit
Various forms of help with transport costs are available:
The Get Around For £2 scheme has now been extended to the end of June 2023. Over 130 bus operators across England have signed up to the scheme, which caps single bus fares at £2. You can also get a bus pass for free travel when you reach State Pension age.
Many different groups are eligible for a railcard, which entitles you to up to a third off train fares. Types of railcard currently available are:
You may also be eligible for a Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount Card if you’re on Universal Credit, which entitles you to 50% off rail travel. You can find out more on the National Rail website here.
As well as all the above benefits, there are a wide range of other possible discounts, which we will just list here with a link for further information:
You may also be able to claim support with additional housing costs if you are on housing benefit, or help with Council Tax if you are on a low income. For either of these, contact your local council.
We hope that the information in this article helps you to understand more about the different kinds of help that is available to every household, and receive the support that you need. If you are currently facing a gap in your finances, remember that Loans 2 Go offer online loans that may be able to help.
Do visit us here again soon for more financial and lifestyle tips from Loans 2 Go.
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