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If you get Universal Credit and need help to pay your bills or cover other costs, you might be able to get an advance or hardship payment.

These will be paid to you before your next Universal Credit payment. You’ll usually pay them back automatically through your regular Universal Credit payments.

How much you can get depends on your circumstances and what you need the money for.

Examples of what you can get an advance for include:

• living costs before you get your first payment
• essential living costs if you’ve been sanctioned
• work or job interview costs
• emergency household costs
• funeral costs

If you need help to pay your bills or cover other costs before you get your first Universal Credit payment, you can apply to get an advance.

The amount you can get depends on your circumstances. The most you can get is the amount of your first estimated payment.

How to apply

You’ll need to:

• explain why you need an advance
• verify your identity (you’ll do this when you apply online or on the phone with a work coach)
• provide bank account details for the advance (talk to a Universal Credit contact at your local jobcentre or your work coach if you cannot open an account)
• explain any money or savings you have

To apply, you can:

• update your journal in your Universal Credit account
• ask a Universal Credit contact at your local jobcentre or your work coach
• call the Universal Credit helpline

You’ll usually find out the same day if you can get an advance.

If you need help

Call the Universal Credit helpline if you need help applying for an advance payment.

Paying back your advance

You must usually pay back the advance within 24 months. You usually start paying it back out of your first payment.

Example

If you’re struggling to repay an advance

If you cannot afford your advance repayments, you can ask for your repayments to be delayed for 3 months. To request this, you can:

• update your journal in your Universal Credit account
• ask a Universal Credit contact at your local jobcentre or your work coach
• call the Universal Credit helpline

Repaying if you no longer claim Universal CreditÌý

If you’re no longer claiming Universal Credit you’ll still need to pay back your advance.

If you move to another benefit, the deductions will usually continue from your payments.

If you move off benefits, DWP Debt Management will be in touch to discuss repaying it. If you want to discuss your repayments you can call DWP Debt Management.

Your Universal Credit payments can be stopped or reduced if you get a sanction or fraud penalty.

If so, you might be able to get financial support to help you (or a child or young person you look after) afford:

• food
• heating
• hygiene (for example soap, nappies or laundry powder)
• housing costs that are not provided by Universal Credit (such as supported, sheltered or temporary housing)

The support is called a ‘recoverable hardship payment’. You’ll need to pay this back through your future Universal Credit payments.

Eligibility

You must:

• have reduced your non-essential costs
• have looked into other ways to get support
• be able to prove that you need the support

If you’re in a couple, both of you must both agree to getting a hardship payment.

There are additional rules if you’ve been sanctioned.

If you’ve been sanctioned

You must have been sanctioned at 100% (or 50% or more for a couple) of your standard allowance for any amount of time.

You (and your partner if you have one) must also have completed:

• your work-related requirements in the 7 days before applying
• any activities you were given to end your sanction (sometimes called a ‘compliance condition’)

When you can applyÌý

You can only apply once you’ve had a lower or missed Universal Credit payment because of a sanction or penalty.

You’ll need to reapply each time you get a lower or missed payment. You’ll also need to show you’re still eligible.

How to applyÌý

When you apply, you’ll need to show:

• what you’ve done to find other types of supportÌý
• what other income or savings you might have to help pay your costsÌý
• what you’ve done to reduce your non-essential costsÌý
• which living costs you’re not able to afford

To apply, you can:Ìý

• ask your Universal Credit contact at your local jobcentre or your work coach
• update your journal in your Universal Credit account
• call the Universal Credit helpline

When you’ll get your paymentÌý

If your application is accepted, hardship payments are usually paid directly into your bank account on the same day.

Repaying hardship payments

You’ll need to pay back a hardship payment once your sanction or fraud penalty has ended.Ìý

Your Universal Credit payment will be automatically reduced by up to 15% of your standard allowance until you repay the hardship payment.

You can check how much you owe and check when it will be paid back.

Repaying if you no longer claim Universal CreditÌý

If you’re no longer claiming Universal Credit, DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) Debt Management will be in touch to discuss repaying it at an affordable rate.Ìý

If you’re struggling to repay a hardship paymentÌý

If you cannot afford your hardship payment deductions, you can call DWP Debt Management to discuss your options.ÌýÌý

You might be able to get a Budgeting Advance to help with things like:

• emergency household costs like replacing a broken cookerÌý
• money needed to get a job or staying in workÌý
• funeral costsÌý

What you can get

What you get will depend on how much you need. The smallest amount you can borrow is £100. You can get up to:

• £348 if you’re single
• £464 if you’re part of a couple
• £812 if you have children

Eligibility

To get a Budgeting Advance, you’ll need to either:

• have been getting Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or State Pension Credit for 6 months or more
• need the money to help you start a new job or stay in work

You will not be eligible if either:

• you’ve earned more than £2,600 (£3,600 together for couples) in the past 6 months
• you’ve not paid off any previous Budgeting Advance loans (you can only have one at a time)

How to apply

To apply, you can do any of the following:

• update your journal in your Universal Credit account
• ask a Universal Credit contact at your local jobcentre or your work coach
• call the Universal Credit helpline

Paying back your advance

You’ll pay your advance back through your Universal Credit payments. You’ll usually pay it back over 24 months, starting from your next Universal Credit payment.

If you’re struggling to repay an advance

If you cannot afford your advance repayments, you can ask for the amount you pay to change. To do this, you can:

• update your journal in your Universal Credit account
• ask a Universal Credit contact at your local jobcentre or your work coach
• call the Universal Credit helpline

Repaying if you no longer claim Universal CreditÌý

If you’re no longer claiming Universal Credit you’ll still need to pay back your advance.

If you move to another benefit, the deductions will usually continue from your payments.

If you move off benefits, DWP Debt Management will be in touch to discuss repaying it. If you want to discuss your repayments you can call DWP Debt Management.

If you’re applying for or starting a job, you can get support to pay for expenses like:

• buying a uniform or equipment
• paying for childcare before your first wage
• travelling to an interview
• buying interview clothes

You do not usually need to pay this back.

How to apply

To apply, you can:

• update your journal in your Universal Credit account
• ask your Universal Credit contact at your local jobcentre or your work coach

You’ll need to show that you:

• need the money to get or start a job
• cannot afford to pay for it yourself

If your circumstances have changed and this means you’ll be eligible for more money, you can apply for an advance. For example you might be able to get an advance if:

• you’re having a child
• your rent is going up
• you’ve lost a job or your wages have gone down

When you can apply

You can apply as soon as you’ve reported the change.

You cannot apply after you’ve received a higher payment due to your change of circumstances.

How to apply

To apply, you can do any of the following:

• update your journal in your Universal Credit account
• ask a Universal Credit contact at your local jobcentre or your work coach
• call the Universal Credit helpline

Paying back your advance

You’ll pay your advance back through your Universal Credit payments. You’ll usually pay it back over 6 months, starting from your next Universal Credit payment.

If you’re struggling to repay an advance

If you cannot afford your advance repayments, you can ask for your repayments to be delayed for one month. To request this, you can:

• update your journal in your Universal Credit account
• ask a Universal Credit contact at your local jobcentre or your work coach
• call the Universal Credit helpline

Repaying if you no longer claim Universal CreditÌý

If you’re no longer claiming Universal Credit you’ll still need to pay back your advance.

If you move to another benefit, the deductions will usually continue from your payments.

If you move off benefits, DWP Debt Management will be in touch to discuss repaying it. If you want to discuss your repayments you can call DWP Debt Management.