Independent guide to money help on benefits. We are not the DWP.
Grants first, interest-free next, borrowing last. Every amount on this site carries a named government source and the date we checked it — and we tell you the part most guides leave out: what borrowing does to your Universal Credit.
Work down this ladder, not up it. Most people arriving here qualify for something on the top two rungs and never find out.
Which help you can get depends on one thing more than any other: which benefit you receive.
£100 to £812, interest-free, for a one-off cost. Repaid from your award over 24 months.
How it works → On legacy benefitsThe same amounts on Income Support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA or Pension Credit.
How it works → Benefits or notNow the Crisis and Resilience Fund in England. A grant, not a loan — and it does not affect your benefits.
How it works →Money you borrow counts as capital from the day it lands in your account.
over £6,000 held → −£4.35 per £250
Universal Credit ignores capital up to £6,000. Above that, every £250 — or part of £250 — up to £16,000 is treated as giving you £4.35 a month of income, and your award drops by that much.
So a loan can cost you interest and benefit. A grant from your council does not: GOV.UK states that a payment from the Crisis and Resilience Fund will not affect your benefits. That difference is worth more than any interest rate on this page.
Sources: GOV.UK — Universal Credit: What you'll get; DWP, Advice for Decision Making, Chapter H1. Checked 9 September 2026. The full rule, with a worked example
Eleven guides, a council tracker and a checker. Each one carries its sources and the date they were last opened.
Now the Crisis and Resilience Fund. What your council can give you, and why it does not touch your benefits.
Grant · not repaid£100–£812 on Universal Credit. Amounts, the 6-month rule, the earnings limit, and the capital trap.
Interest-freeThe legacy-benefits equivalent. Includes the £1,000 savings condition and the Social Fund Enquiry Line.
Interest-free3% a month by statute in Great Britain, 1% in Northern Ireland. And what "repaid from your benefit" really means.
3%/month capAbolished in 2013 — but still being collected. What replaced them, and what to do if you are still repaying one.
Abolished 2013A broken washing machine, fridge or cooker. Council schemes, Turn2us, Family Fund, and the order to try them in.
Grant · not repaid£125 in Wales, £120–£150 in Scotland, £42.90–£67.20 in Northern Ireland — and what to do in England.
Grant · not repaidWhat a lender actually looks at, direct lender or broker, and when to walk away.
BorrowingThe specific rules when your income is Universal Credit, and the free options to rule out first.
BorrowingSix questions, answered in your browser. We store nothing and ask for nothing that identifies you.
ToolA money site for people on low incomes has to be right. Here is how we try to be.
Every figure comes from GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk, the devolved governments, the FCA Handbook or the Bank of England — and carries the date we opened it.
If we cannot verify a number, we leave it out and say so. There is no figure on this site we have not read at its source.
Every page puts grants and interest-free help above borrowing, even where borrowing is what pays for the site.
We are an independent publisher. Not a lender, not a credit broker, not connected to the DWP, any council or GOV.UK.
Maintained by the benefitmoney.co.uk editorial team · Every page last reviewed 9 September 2026