Struggling households can get cost of living support worth up to £300 - how to claim
Households can get help through the Household Support Fund
Thousands of households can currently claim cost of living support worth up to £300 from their local council.
The help comes from the Government's Household Support Scheme, which gives local authorities funding to provide support to households struggling in their area. Each local council decides what help they will offer and Leicestershire County Council is providing vouchers to help with the cost of food and energy.
With food vouchers, households which have children can get £20 a week per adult and £15 a week per child. Single households can get a food voucher worth £25 a week and households with multiple adults can get £20 per week per adult. Those eligible will receive the vouchers for two weeks. If eligible and successful, you will be able to claim your food vouchers online and you will have three months to spend them.
Food vouchers can be used in any of these supermarket chains and you can choose which one you want:
- Aldi
- Asda
- Company Shop
- Farmfoods
- Iceland
- John Lewis and Waitrose
- Marks & Spencer
- Morrisons
- Sainsbury’s
- Tesco
With fuel, households can claim free emergency top ups for prepayment meters and "family" households can claim vouchers up to £98 to help with energy costs. Single person households can claim £56. If you are in arrears, you can claim up to £200 and if you need to cover energy costs for things such as heating oil you can claim a voucher worth £300 if it is delivered in bulk - if it's not you can be awarded a £100 voucher. These vouchers will be paid in the form of a Paypoint voucher which can be redeemed at a payPoint store.
You will not be able to apply for help through the Household Support Fund directly, instead, you will need to be referred by a professional support worker or agency. According to Leicestershire Council, these can include:
- Registered charities and voluntary organisations
- Schools/education settings
- Food banks
- Care organisations
- Children’s Services
- Adult Social Care
- Housing
- Revenues and Customer Support
- Public Health
- Care and NHS professionals including nurses and GPs. Referrals received from other parties will also be welcomed
- District and borough councils
If you need help you should approach one of these groups to gain a referral. Local councils are currently announcing what help they are offering over the coming few months. To find out what this is you should go to your local council's website.