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Budgeting Loan

Interest-free, £100 to £812, on Income Support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA or Pension Credit.

Written by the benefitmoney.co.uk editorial team · Last reviewed 9 September 2026

 

A Budgeting Loan is interest free so you only pay back what you borrow.

GOV.UK

Covers England, Scotland and Wales. There is a different way to get a Budgeting Loan in Northern Ireland.

Social Fund Enquiry Line

Budgeting Loans are not handled by the Universal Credit helpline. They have their own line, and its hours are much shorter — five hours a day.

Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm. A British Sign Language video relay service is also available. The line can post you an application form and make changes to an application you have already submitted.

How much you can get

The lowest amount you can borrow is £100. How much you get depends on whether you:

• can pay the loan back
• have savings of more than £1,000 — £2,000 if you or your partner are 63 or over
• are already paying back an existing Budgeting Loan or Crisis Loan

Source: GOV.UK, checked 9 September 2026.

Who can get a Budgeting Loan

You must have been getting one or more of these for the past 6 months:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit

If you moved from Universal Credit to Pension Credit, time spent claiming Universal Credit counts towards the six months.

You cannot get one if

• You currently get Universal Credit — apply for a Budgeting Advance instead.
• You get New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance or New Style Employment and Support Allowance.
• You are involved in industrial action — a strike, walkout or lockout.
• You owe more than £1,500 in total for Crisis Loans and Budgeting Loans.

Source: GOV.UK, checked 9 September 2026.

What a Budgeting Loan can pay for

GOV.UK lists:

• Furniture or household items — for example washing machines or other white goods
• Clothes or footwear
• Rent in advance
• Costs linked to moving house
• Maintenance, improvements or security for your home
• Travelling costs within the UK
• Costs linked to getting a new job
• Maternity costs
• Funeral costs
• Repaying hire purchase loans
• Repaying loans taken for the above items

How to apply

You can apply online or on paper. Online is quicker.

Online

Choose how you want the decision: email, text message or letter. Email or text is faster and lets you accept online. If you have already applied and are waiting, do not apply again — contact the Social Fund Enquiry Line to change any details.

By post

Fill in form SF500. You can download and print it, or phone the Social Fund Enquiry Line and ask for one to be posted — allow 7 days for it to arrive.

How long it takes

Accepting by post: sign page 4 of the acceptance letter and return it in the pre-paid envelope, folded so the return address shows in the window. Do not send it to your local Jobcentre Plus — that delays the loan.

How you are paid

Budgeting Loans are paid into the same account as your benefit. If you want it paid somewhere else you have to either change the account your benefit goes into before you apply, or apply on the paper form — which takes longer.

If you applied online the money goes to your benefit account; if you applied by post it goes to the account you put on the form. You get a text confirming it.

How you pay it back

• It is interest free — you pay back only what you borrow.
• Repayments are taken automatically from your benefits.
• The amount is based on your income, including benefits, and what you can afford.
• You normally have to repay within 2 years (104 weeks).
• Your offer letter tells you what the weekly repayments will be before you accept.

If you stop getting benefits, DWP Debt Management writes to you. You can repay in full or set up regular monthly payments.

If you disagree with the decision

You can ask for a decision to be looked at again if your application was refused and you think that is wrong, or if you were granted a loan but disagree with the amount.

Write to the address at the top of your decision letter, including your full name, National Insurance number, address, phone number, and why you disagree. Your request must arrive within 28 days of the date on the decision letter.

If you are unhappy with the response, you can ask the Independent Case Examiner for a review — again within 28 days of the second decision letter.

Budgeting Loan or Budgeting Advance?

Common mistakes

• Applying while on Universal Credit. You will be refused. Apply for a Budgeting Advance instead.
• Calling the wrong number. The Universal Credit helpline does not handle Budgeting Loans, and the Social Fund line closes at 3pm.
• Assuming debts are excluded. Unlike a Budgeting Advance, a Budgeting Loan can repay hire purchase and loans taken for permitted items.
• Expecting the maximum. The DWP decides based on what you can afford to repay and what savings you hold.
• Missing the 28-day window to challenge a decision.
• Believing Crisis Loans still exist. GOV.UK states plainly that they do not. What replaced them

Other help you can get

GOV.UK points to different schemes depending on where you live:

Also worth checking: your council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund, credit union loans, and charitable grants.

Frequently asked questions

This page is independent. It is not run by the Department for Work and Pensions or GOV.UK.