Online application service introduced for Social Fund Budgeting Loans in Great Britain

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has introduced an online application process for customers in Great Britain to apply for a budgeting loan, using a digital claim form on Gov.uk¹. The change was reported in the Law Centre NI Social Security Law and Practice Bulletin for Summer 2024¹.

The same service is not yet available in Northern Ireland, where applications can only be accepted via a postal application form¹. The bulletin does not give a launch date for the online service in Great Britain, and no date has been reported for when, or whether, it will be extended to Northern Ireland¹.

Budgeting Loans are one of the advances and budgeting loans available to people on certain benefits, and sit alongside the separate Budgeting Advance available to Universal Credit claimants. The bulletin does not set out eligibility rules, loan amounts or repayment terms for the online service, so those details have not been reported¹.

Why it matters for households

For claimants in England, Scotland and Wales, the application route for a budgeting loan now includes an online form on Gov.uk rather than a paper-only process¹. The bulletin does not say whether postal applications remain available in Great Britain, so it is not reported whether the online form replaces or sits alongside the existing route¹.

For claimants in Northern Ireland, the position is unchanged: applications can only be accepted via a postal application form¹. That means the practical difference between the two jurisdictions is the method of applying, not the underlying loan itself, on the information published¹.

The bulletin gives no figures on processing times, application volumes or take-up since the online service was introduced, and none have been reported¹.

What happens next

No implementation date for the online service in Great Britain is given in the bulletin, and no timetable has been reported for making it available in Northern Ireland¹. The bulletin also notes that under Regulation 25(3) it is possible to backdate a claim for up to one month, and that the system is not designed to notify or encourage backdated claims¹.

Separately, the bulletin records that from 1 July 2024 the Department for Communities will record new data on Universal Credit claimants with pre-settled status, covering those who have received an individualised assessment, those granted Universal Credit following that assessment, and those refused it¹. It also reports plans to increase the Administrative Earnings Threshold from 15 hours per week at the National Living Wage for an individual to 18 hours, and from 24 hours for couples to 29 hours, equivalent to raising thresholds from £617 per calendar month for an individual to £892 and from £988 for couples to £1,437, applying to existing and new Universal Credit claimants including those migrated under Move to UC¹.