Emergency grants and loans when money runs out

When money runs out and there is nothing left for food, heating or an essential that has just broken, the UK's old system of crisis loans no longer exists: crisis loans and community care grants stopped being available in April 2013¹. What replaced them is a patchwork of schemes that differs by nation, and most of it falls into two shapes. Some help is a grant that never has to be repaid, such as the Scottish Welfare Fund, which provides grants that do not have to be repaid and does not provide loans². Some help is an interest-free loan, such as the Budgeting Loan, which must be repaid but costs nothing in interest³.

The right scheme depends on where you live, whether you claim benefits, and whether the need is an immediate crisis or a one-off cost that is hard to plan for, such as an essential appliance breaking, an urgent car repair, or an unexpected drop in your income⁴. This page sets out each scheme, what it covers, what it costs, how repayments work, and what to do if an application is refused.

Where to turn when money runs out: grants versus loans

Emergency help in the UK splits into two kinds, and the difference matters for your budget for months afterwards. A grant is money you keep: grants are one-off payments to help you with living costs or if you have an emergency or crisis⁹. A loan is money you repay, though the government schemes are interest-free, so you pay back what you borrowed and no more³.

Which kind you are offered depends mostly on where you live. Scotland's Scottish Welfare Fund gives only grants². Wales's Discretionary Assistance Fund gives grants⁷. Northern Ireland's Discretionary Support can be either an interest-free loan or a grant⁸. Across the UK, Universal Credit advances and Budgeting Loans or Advances are repayable, interest-free help tied to your benefit claim⁵.

Alongside the statutory schemes, charity grants exist: in Wales, the Discretionary Assistance Fund may help if you are in financial difficulty because of an emergency or disaster, and charitable organisations across England and Wales also give grants to people in need¹⁰. These are usually one-off payments for specific circumstances, and National Debtline's guide to help from charitable organisations lists how to find them¹⁰.

If you are deciding what to do first, the free and impartial route is to speak to a debt advice charity before borrowing anywhere: free debt advice costs nothing, and an adviser can check which emergency schemes you qualify for. If you already owe money on bills, the order you pay them in matters too, and priority and non-priority debts explains which debts to deal with first.

Universal Credit advance: up to 100% of your first payment

Universal Credit is paid monthly in arrears, and the first payment normally arrives around five weeks after you claim. A Universal Credit advance exists to bridge that gap: you can request an advance payment to help you through the five week wait for your first payment¹¹. If you are eligible, you can get up to 100 per cent of your estimated Universal Credit payment⁵.

There are conditions before the money can be released. You will need to provide your bank or building society details, have had your identity checked, and, if you claim as a couple, have had your partner's identity checked as well⁵. Advances are not available until identity is verified, and there can be lengthy delays in verification¹². If you cannot verify your identity online when you make your claim, the Department for Work and Pensions may ask you to verify your identity in person¹³. Supplementary identity documents can include a wage or pension slip, which must show the payee's name and National Insurance number and be dated within the last 6 months¹³.

You apply using your Universal Credit online account, and you may be directed to contact the Universal Credit Service Centre or speak to your work coach⁵. The advance is a loan, not a grant: repayments are taken from your Universal Credit payments, at up to 15 per cent of your Standard Allowance¹⁴. In some circumstances the advance can be higher still: claimants experiencing domestic abuse may be eligible for an advance of up to 100 per cent of their expected Universal Credit monthly entitlement¹⁵.

Budgeting Advance and Budgeting Loan: interest-free help for one-off costs

Budgeting Loans and Budgeting Advances are the same idea aimed at two groups: a Budgeting Loan if you get certain legacy benefits, and a Budgeting Advance if you already get Universal Credit. Both are interest-free: Budgeting Loans are interest-free and you must repay your loan³. The money needs to be repaid, but it is interest free¹⁶.

The purpose is one-off, essential costs that are difficult to plan for, such as a broken boiler¹. The schemes are available for people who need help to pay for one-off expensive essential items such as furniture, home removal costs, improvements for your home, getting a job, staying in work or funeral costs¹⁶. A Budgeting Loan can help you pay for things like your rent, things you need at home and some debts³. A Budgeting Advance can help pay for emergency household costs, or help with getting a job or staying in work⁵.

Eligibility rules are specific. For a Budgeting Advance you must normally have been getting Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit or Housing Benefit for six months or more, unless you need the money to help you start a new job or keep an existing job¹². The smallest Budgeting Advance amount you can borrow is £100⁵. A Budgeting Advance must be repaid within 24 months, and Universal Credit may agree to extend this deadline by six months if you are struggling with money¹⁴.

To apply for a Budgeting Advance, contact the Universal Credit Service Centre via your online account or speak to your work coach⁵. Because the loan is repaid from your benefits, it lowers your income for up to two years, so it is worth building the repayment into a budget before applying: the guide to budgeting for repayments explains how advisers work out what you can afford.

Scottish Welfare Fund: grants that never have to be repaid

The Scottish Welfare Fund is Scotland's national crisis scheme, established on 1 April 2013, delivered by all 32 local authorities and underpinned by law⁶. It provides support to households most in need⁶. Its defining feature is that the help is never a debt: the Act that created it specifies that the scheme is not for the provision of loans and credit but grants that do not need to be paid back, and that are intended to meet one-off needs rather than on-going expenses¹⁷.

The fund is made up of two parts: Community Care Grants, which help people to live independently, and Crisis Grants, which provide a safety net in a disaster or emergency⁶. You apply to your local council⁹.

Basic eligibility is broad. Applicants must be 16 or over, and must be resident in the local authority's area, about to become resident, or homeless¹⁸. It is not a requirement to be in receipt of an income related benefit to be eligible for assistance from the fund¹⁸. There is a capital test in some cases: if an applicant is without a regular income but has capital assets of over £16,000, they will be expected to raise money against those assets¹⁸.

Two limits shape what the fund can do. It is a budget limited scheme: there is only so much money available each year, so councils have to manage expenditure⁶. And the grants are for occasional assistance only: a local authority may only use its fund to provide occasional assistance to individuals, specifically by way of a Crisis Grant or a Community Care Grant¹⁷. A Crisis Grant can include the costs of an emergency, including the costs of heating your home, and you do not need to pay the grant back¹⁹.

Crisis Grant or Community Care Grant: which one fits your situation

The two grants answer different problems, and you can apply for both at the same time if your circumstances make this necessary²⁰.

A Crisis Grant meets immediate short term needs when an emergency or a disaster has happened, and there would be a risk to your wellbeing without a grant⁶. It is awarded to meet expenses that have arisen as a result of an emergency or disaster, to avoid serious damage or serious risk to the wellbeing of you or your family¹⁸. Crisis Grants are usually for food, gas or electricity, but where a disaster has happened, for example a flood, items like cookers and furniture can be provided⁶. In the case of an emergency, only living expenses should be awarded²⁰. The award is made in cash or cash equivalent, unless the council considers it would be of advantage to you for the grant to be provided in a different manner²⁰.

A Community Care Grant is for establishing or maintaining a settled home. It is provided where a qualifying individual needs help to establish or maintain a settled home, or to support individuals and families facing exceptional pressure¹⁷. The eligible situations are specific: leaving care or imprisonment and needing help to start a settled home; having been homeless or living an unsettled life; needing support to stay out of care; caring for someone released from prison or a young offender's institution; being under significant pressure and needing help to maintain a settled home; escaping domestic abuse; or a child's health being at risk²¹. Financial pressure alone does not meet the test of "exceptional pressure"⁶. Community Care Grants are normally provided in the form of goods such as cookers, beds, furniture and removal costs⁶.

Being in receipt of either grant has no impact on your eligibility for any other benefit²². You are not required to have applied to the Department for Work and Pensions for a Budgeting Loan before applying for a Community Care Grant⁶.

Wales: the Discretionary Assistance Fund

The Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF) is the Welsh Government's crisis fund, designed to provide financial assistance to individuals experiencing an unexpected financial crisis with no other means of support²³. It provides urgent grants to people in Wales as a last resort²⁴, and grants do not need to be paid back²⁴.

There are two types of grant. One is called an Emergency Assistance Payment, for urgent essential costs, and the other is called an Individual Assistance Payment, to help you or someone you care for remain independent²⁵. Emergency Assistance Payments are small, short-term grants covering immediate emergency needs such as food, gas, electricity, essential clothing and emergency travel²⁴. The fund can also give grants or provide items, such as white goods including fridges and washing machines, to help with essential needs and to help vulnerable people live independently¹⁰.

To get an Emergency Assistance Payment you must be in a crisis situation and in need of immediate financial support⁷. There are limits on how often you can apply: you cannot apply for a grant if you have already received a grant in the last 7 days or received 3 grants in the last 12 months²⁶.

Demand on the fund has fallen. In the period May 2024 to April 2025 there were 59,000 fewer awards and £5 million less in value compared with the same period a year earlier²³. If your application is declined, the letter will explain the reasons and set out what you need to do, and by when, if you do not agree with the decision: you can ask for it to be reviewed²⁷.

Northern Ireland: Discretionary Support loans and grants

Discretionary Support is Northern Ireland's equivalent scheme. It is short term financial support paid into your bank account as either an interest-free loan or a grant which you do not have to pay back¹². If you are eligible, it can take the form of a loan or a grant²⁸.

You can apply if you are in an extreme or exceptional situation or you are in a crisis²⁹. The Discretionary Support Loan provides emergency financial support to people living in Northern Ireland²⁹. Applications are made through nidirect government services¹².

The limits are set out in the rules: you cannot be awarded more than three Discretionary Support loans, one grant for living expenses and one grant for household items in a 12-month period, except in the case of a disaster⁸. Because part of the help is a loan, it is repaid from your benefits, so it reduces your future income even though it costs no interest.

How repayments reduce your future benefit payments

Every repayable form of emergency help works the same way: the money comes out of your benefits before they reach you. Universal Credit advance repayments are taken from your Universal Credit payments, at up to 15 per cent of your Standard Allowance¹⁴. Repayments of a Universal Credit advance are taken from your twice monthly Universal Credit payment⁵.

When money is tight, the order in which deductions are taken matters. If your total deductions would exceed 15 per cent of your Standard Allowance, deductions are made in the following order of priority: sanctions first; a Universal Credit advance loan taken after a new claim or change of circumstances second; a Universal Credit advance loan taken after transferring from another benefit third; and a Budgeting Advance loan last¹⁴.

Two rules soften the impact. If a fraud penalty or sanction is applied to your Universal Credit, advance repayments will be stopped until the penalty or sanction ends¹⁴. And if you stop getting Universal Credit altogether, the debt does not go away: Debt Management will take repayments from your other benefit payments or your wages, or through a debt collection agency¹². Other benefits are paid on their own cycles: Employment and Support Allowance is usually paid every 2 weeks³¹.

Before taking any repayable help, it is worth checking what the deduction would leave you with each month, and getting advice if the numbers do not work. The guide to benefit overpayments and deductions covers the wider rules on money taken from benefits.

Limits on how often you can get help

Every scheme caps how often it will help, because all of them are designed for occasional needs rather than ongoing expenses¹⁷.

• Crisis Grant (Scotland): normally limited to three awards per person in any rolling 12-month period across all local authorities, though councils can use their discretion to allow more in exceptional circumstances³². Where a person is part of a couple, each partner can receive three grants in a 12-month rolling period¹⁸.
• Discretionary Assistance Fund (Wales): you cannot apply if you have already received a grant in the last 7 days, or received 3 grants in the last 12 months²⁶.
• Discretionary Support (Northern Ireland): no more than three loans, one grant for living expenses and one grant for household items in 12 months, except in the case of a disaster⁸.

Uncollected awards also lapse. If a Crisis Grant is not collected, or there is no contact from you within normally 7 days of the notification being issued, it is withdrawn, and in those circumstances it would not count as one of your three awards in 12 months⁶. For a Community Care Grant the window is 28 days, though exceptions can be made, for example if there has been a period in hospital⁶.

These limits are the reason the schemes ask what other help is available. For a Crisis Grant, councils check whether you are being considered for a DWP Hardship Payment, have a pending application for a Short Term Benefit Advance, or are eligible for a Universal Credit advance, and whether you or your partner have savings, capital or some other source of help²⁰. Longer term, guidance suggests building an emergency fund of three to six months of essential outgoings, so that the next crisis does not have to rely on a capped scheme⁴.

Challenging a refusal: reviews and independent appeals

A refusal is not always the end of the process, and the review rules differ by scheme.

In Scotland, if you disagree with a council's decision you can ask for a review. Councils aim to deal with Crisis Grant reviews within 2 working days⁶. One protection is built into the rules: a review by the local authority may not result in assistance awarded being reduced or withdrawn⁶. If you are still unhappy after the council's review, the next step is an independent appeal, and the decision letter should set out the deadline for asking.

In Wales, if you do not agree with a decision on an Emergency Assistance Payment or an Individual Assistance Payment, you can ask for the decision to be reviewed²⁷. The letter you receive will explain the reasons your application has been declined, and will set out what you need to do and by when²⁷.

If you believe a decision was based on wrong information about you, you also have a right under data protection rules to have inaccurate personal data corrected⁶. And if the underlying problem is debt rather than a one-off crisis, a free adviser can look at the whole picture: debt solutions across the UK sets out the formal and informal options, and free debt advice explains where to get help that costs nothing.