Thousands of households have just weeks left to apply for £100 cost of living cash – are you eligible?
THOUSANDS of households have just a few weeks to apply to get £100 to help with the cost of living.
The help comes from the Household Support Fund, which is worth £842million in total.
The money comes from the Government which has shared it out among councils in England.
It is then up to the councils how they distribute their portion of the money.
The type of support given varies as well – some local authorities are handing out food or utility bill vouchers while others are making bank transfers.
People in Nottinghamshire have until September 30 to put in a claim and the council has sent out reminders to those who are eligible.
These include those who claim Pension Credit, whether guaranteed credit or savings credit, and families with kids who are eligible for free school meals or equivalent.
The easiest way to apply is via the council’s website.
Anyone who is unable to apply online can do so by contacting the council’s customer service team on 0300 500 8080.
Although people are warned that wait times can be longer than usual.
The one-off summer payment is worth around £100, based on the number of eligible people in a household.
Those who apply for their summer payment before the deadline will be registered automatically for a similar winter support payment, so they won’t need to apply again.
Councillor John Cottee, Cabinet Member for Communities at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “We’re really pleased to offer this latest round of help to those who are struggling the most, particularly due to rising costs of food and energy.
“It’s great news that more than 34,000 households are due to get this support. Thank you to everyone for their patience while we process these payments as soon as we can.
“However, if you’ve been away or not got round to applying yet, please look out for a letter from us and apply as soon as you can, as we don’t want anyone to miss out.
“We are also aware that fraudsters can try to pass themselves off as Nottinghamshire County Council, so if you have any doubts when receiving this or any other letter from us, we’d encourage you to run the letter by family, friends, or someone you trust.
“You can feel free to ring our customer service team to check the letter is genuine. We won’t be contacting anyone via text message.”
Different councils are running different schemes and people are urged to check to see what they might be entitled to.
In most cases, if you’re on benefits like Universal Credit or Income Support, you’ll be in line for help.
In Haringey, London, thousands of households should be in the process of receiving vouchers worth at least £100 to cover the cost of living.
The vouchers then need to be cashed at your nearest Post Office.
Families in Durham are in line for £150 free cash to help cover food and other essential costs.
Meanwhile, households in Torridge are in line for payments worth up to £1,000.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s Council has decided to allocate its funding through two separate schemes for 2023-2024.
They will provide families who are in receipt of Free School Meals vouchers to assist with food costs over the school holidays.
And the second scheme will work with a range of local and community sector organisations to identify households in order to support them with a £145 cash payment.
In North Yorkshire thousands of locals received electronic supermarket vouchers worth up to £325 and the council have stated they will be delivering a fourth phase of help later this year.
Buckinghamshire Council have also extended their support after receiving £4.8million for April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.