It goes without saying that the cost of living crisis has massively affected our finances, the way we spend and our lifestyle, which may leave you feeling concerned about ways to cope. You are certainly not alone; more and more people are feeling the pinch on their pounds with the highest inflation increase in decades, meaning your money doesn't go as far as it used to.
If you don’t have enough money to live on, you might be able to get help to afford essentials like bills and food. This includes the Household Support Fund and cost of living payments.
You should check if you can claim benefits - you might be able to do this even if you have a job.
Check what benefits you can get
You might be able to claim benefits or increase your current benefits if you’re:
Housing Benefit
Attendance Allowance
Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
Child Benefit
Guardian's Allowance
Working or Child Tax credits
They'll give you a second payment if you get any of the following benefits:
Universal Credit
Pension Credit
Working Tax Credit
Child Tax Credit
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Income Support
You’ll only get the second cost of living payment once - even if you get more than 1 of these benefits.
To get this payment you must have either:
been getting a benefit payment on or between 26 August 2022 and 25 September 2022 - it doesn't matter if it gets paid to someone else, like your landlord
started a successful benefit claim by 25 September 2022 - or by 26 August 2022 if you're applying for Universal Credit
If you’re applying for Universal Credit, you won’t get the cost of living payment until your benefits claim is successful.
For most benefits, you’ll get the second payment of £324 between 8 and 23 November 2022. If you get Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit, you’ll get the second payment between 23 and 30 November 2022. You’ll get the second payment even if you weren’t entitled to the first payment.
If you haven’t had your cost of living payment, and you think you should have, you can report a missing payment on GOV.UK.
If you’re not claiming any of these benefits yet, you should check if you can claim benefits. It's worth starting a claim as soon as possible if you're eligible - this means you might be able to get the second cost of living payment.
Disability Living Allowance
Personal Independence Payment
Attendance Allowance
Armed Forces Independence Payment
Constant Attendance Allowance
War Pension Mobility Supplement
To get this payment you must have:
been getting one of these benefits on 25 May 2022
applied for one of these benefits by 25 May 2022 - you won't get the payment until your claim is successful
You'll either get a £300 or £150 cost of living payment, depending on your situation. You'll get this at the same time as your usual Winter Fuel Payment.
You’ll get a £300 cost of living payment if you live either:
on your own
with people who don’t qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment
If you live with someone else who qualifies for the Winter Fuel Payment, the amount you’ll get depends on whether either of you get any of the following:
Pension Credit
income-related ESA
income-based JSA
If either you or the person you live with gets one of these benefits, you’ll both get £300 - as long as you’re not partners. If you’re partners, you’ll only get one £300 payment.
If neither of you get one of these benefits, you’ll both get £150.
If you live in residential care and qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment, you'll get £150 unless you get any of these benefits. If you get any of the benefits, you won't get a cost of living payment.
Check if you need to apply for Winter Fuel Payments
You're usually entitled to Winter Fuel Payments if you’re of State Pension age in the third week of September. The State Pension age is 66.
You should start getting the Winter Fuel Payment automatically once you reach State Pension age. You might need to apply if you're in one of these situations:
Work out your budget
You should use our budgeting tool to help you understand:
what money you've got coming in and what you have going out
where you might be able to cut costs
You can use the budgeting tool.
Apply for a charitable grant
You might be able to get extra money from a charity. Some of these charitable grants are open to everyone, others might be available to you based on your situation - for example, your health or your previous or current job.
You can check what help you can get from local and national charities on the Turn2us website. You’ll need to know your postcode.
If you’re over 55 and have a personal pension
You might be able to take some money from your pension savings to help pay for essential costs or to pay off your debts.
You should think about whether taking money from your pension is the best financial decision for you. Taking money from your pension will mean you have less income when you retire. If you’re getting benefits, taking money from your pension could affect your claim.
You can get free guidance on your pension options from Pension Wise. They’ll explain the different options so you can decide which is best for you.
You should also get financial advice before taking any money from your pension savings - you’ll have to pay.
You can check how to find a financial adviser - they can tell you which option is best for you.
If you’re finding things difficult
Your mental health is as important as your physical health. You should talk to your GP if your money problems are affecting your mental health.
You can find other ways to get help with your mental health on the Mind website.
If you need to speak to someone right now you can call the Samaritans for free.
Samaritans
Helpline: 116 123 (Monday to Sunday at any time)
Welsh Language Line: 0808 164 0123 (Monday to Sunday 7pm to 11pm)
Shout
You can also text 'SHOUT' to 85258 to start a conversation with a trained Shout 85258 volunteer. Texts are free, anonymous and confidential from anywhere in the UK.
If you think it's an emergency
If you think your life or someone else’s is at risk, you should call 999 or go to A&E if you can.
You can also find a list of urgent mental health services on the Mind website
Get help with the cost of living
If you don’t have enough money to live on, you might be able to get help to afford essentials like bills and food. This includes the Household Support Fund and cost of living payments.You should check if you can claim benefits - you might be able to do this even if you have a job.
Check what benefits you can get
You might be able to claim benefits or increase your current benefits if you’re:
- of working age and on a low income
- sick or disabled
- of State Pension age and on a low income
- a carer
- responsible for children
Get your first benefit payment early
When you apply for benefits, you can usually ask to get your first payment early while you’re waiting for either:- a decision on your application
- your first payment
Housing Benefit
Attendance Allowance
Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
Child Benefit
Guardian's Allowance
Working or Child Tax credits
You’ll need to pay back the advance. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will take an amount off your future payments until you've paid it back. For Universal Credit, you can spread the repayments over 24 months. For other benefits, you’ll usually repay your advance over 12 weeks.
If you've applied for Universal Credit, you can check how to get a Universal Credit advance payment.
If you’ve applied for a different benefit, contact the benefits office that's dealing with your claim. You can find their contact details on any letter or email you’ve had from them.
If you've applied for Universal Credit, you can check how to get a Universal Credit advance payment.
If you’ve applied for a different benefit, contact the benefits office that's dealing with your claim. You can find their contact details on any letter or email you’ve had from them.
Check if you'll get a cost of living payment
The government will send you a 'cost of living payment' if you:
You can get as many cost of living payments as you're eligible for. For example, if you get Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance and Winter Fuel Payments, you’ll get 3 cost of living payments. You won't have to pay tax on them and they won't count as income when calculating your benefits.
- Get certain benefits - for example, Universal Credit, PIP or Attendance Allowance
- Are over State Pension age and get Winter Fuel Payments
You can get as many cost of living payments as you're eligible for. For example, if you get Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance and Winter Fuel Payments, you’ll get 3 cost of living payments. You won't have to pay tax on them and they won't count as income when calculating your benefits.
If you get benefits based on your income
In September 2022, the government gave a cost of living payment to people who get benefits based on their income.They'll give you a second payment if you get any of the following benefits:
Universal Credit
Pension Credit
Working Tax Credit
Child Tax Credit
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Income Support
You’ll only get the second cost of living payment once - even if you get more than 1 of these benefits.
To get this payment you must have either:
been getting a benefit payment on or between 26 August 2022 and 25 September 2022 - it doesn't matter if it gets paid to someone else, like your landlord
started a successful benefit claim by 25 September 2022 - or by 26 August 2022 if you're applying for Universal Credit
If you’re applying for Universal Credit, you won’t get the cost of living payment until your benefits claim is successful.
For most benefits, you’ll get the second payment of £324 between 8 and 23 November 2022. If you get Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit, you’ll get the second payment between 23 and 30 November 2022. You’ll get the second payment even if you weren’t entitled to the first payment.
If you haven’t had your cost of living payment, and you think you should have, you can report a missing payment on GOV.UK.
If you’re not claiming any of these benefits yet, you should check if you can claim benefits. It's worth starting a claim as soon as possible if you're eligible - this means you might be able to get the second cost of living payment.
If you get benefits based on your income
The government will automatically give you a £150 cost of living payment from 20 September 2022.You'll get this one-off payment if you get any of the following benefits:
Disability Living Allowance
Personal Independence Payment
Attendance Allowance
Armed Forces Independence Payment
Constant Attendance Allowance
War Pension Mobility Supplement
To get this payment you must have:
been getting one of these benefits on 25 May 2022
applied for one of these benefits by 25 May 2022 - you won't get the payment until your claim is successful
You'll either get a £300 or £150 cost of living payment, depending on your situation. You'll get this at the same time as your usual Winter Fuel Payment.
You’ll get a £300 cost of living payment if you live either:
on your own
with people who don’t qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment
If you live with someone else who qualifies for the Winter Fuel Payment, the amount you’ll get depends on whether either of you get any of the following:
Pension Credit
income-related ESA
income-based JSA
If either you or the person you live with gets one of these benefits, you’ll both get £300 - as long as you’re not partners. If you’re partners, you’ll only get one £300 payment.
If neither of you get one of these benefits, you’ll both get £150.
If you live in residential care and qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment, you'll get £150 unless you get any of these benefits. If you get any of the benefits, you won't get a cost of living payment.
Check if you need to apply for Winter Fuel Payments
You're usually entitled to Winter Fuel Payments if you’re of State Pension age in the third week of September. The State Pension age is 66.
You should start getting the Winter Fuel Payment automatically once you reach State Pension age. You might need to apply if you're in one of these situations:
- you don't get State Pension
- you don't get another benefit
- you live in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
Work out your budget
You should use our budgeting tool to help you understand:
what money you've got coming in and what you have going out
where you might be able to cut costs
You can use the budgeting tool.
Apply for a charitable grant
You might be able to get extra money from a charity. Some of these charitable grants are open to everyone, others might be available to you based on your situation - for example, your health or your previous or current job.
You can check what help you can get from local and national charities on the Turn2us website. You’ll need to know your postcode.
If you’re over 55 and have a personal pension
You might be able to take some money from your pension savings to help pay for essential costs or to pay off your debts.
You should think about whether taking money from your pension is the best financial decision for you. Taking money from your pension will mean you have less income when you retire. If you’re getting benefits, taking money from your pension could affect your claim.
You can get free guidance on your pension options from Pension Wise. They’ll explain the different options so you can decide which is best for you.
You should also get financial advice before taking any money from your pension savings - you’ll have to pay.
You can check how to find a financial adviser - they can tell you which option is best for you.
If you’re finding things difficult
Your mental health is as important as your physical health. You should talk to your GP if your money problems are affecting your mental health.
You can find other ways to get help with your mental health on the Mind website.
If you need to speak to someone right now you can call the Samaritans for free.
Samaritans
Helpline: 116 123 (Monday to Sunday at any time)
Welsh Language Line: 0808 164 0123 (Monday to Sunday 7pm to 11pm)
Shout
You can also text 'SHOUT' to 85258 to start a conversation with a trained Shout 85258 volunteer. Texts are free, anonymous and confidential from anywhere in the UK.
If you think it's an emergency
If you think your life or someone else’s is at risk, you should call 999 or go to A&E if you can.
You can also find a list of urgent mental health services on the Mind website
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