Help, advice and cost-of-living support

Learn more about ways to check what benefits you're entitled to, how to save money on your energy bills and become debt free.

Income and benefits advice tools, tips and advice to support you.

Claiming benefits

Benefits calculator

 

 

Do you know which benefits you're entitled to? Use our free, confidential benefits calculator to help you learn more about how much you can claim.

If you need extra support with working out your entitlements you can request a free consultation with one of our advisors.

Housing Benefit

We've calculated the Housing Benefit entitlements for working residents, based on the size of your home and your rent payments.

Please contact us if you'd like a more exact calculation.

The benefit cap

If you're concerned about the impact of the benefit cap you can find out more on the government's website.

Money Helper also provides lots of information on what the benefit cap is, who's affected, who's exempt and more.

Saving money

Budget planning

You can use a budget planner to keep track of your spending and income. It's a useful tool that can help you save more money, reduce spending and get out of debt.

Start budgeting

Saving money on energy

Making small changes could help you save money on energy bills. Here's some suggestions to start you off.

1. Pay by Direct Debit.

You'll normally get about a 5% discount. Energy companies have to use the Direct Debit Guarantee, which means they can’t take money out of your account without your permission. And if they want to change the amount you pay, they have to write to you first. 

2. Use a single energy company

Buying both gas and electricity from the same company is usually the cheapest way to pay. This is known as a 'dual tariff'.

3. Consider changing your tariff

If you have a copy of your bills you can check how much you can save by visiting one of the OFGEM recommended energy comparison sites.

You can also find more information on saving money on our household tips page.

Get support from our Advice and Wellbeing team

If you want to find out how you can cut your costs and reduce unnecessary energy use, you can get free support from our Advice and Wellbeing team.

Getting out of debt

Free debt support

If you've got bills or borrowing that you can't afford, you can get free, independent debt advice from a regulated service.

A debt advisor can help you get some breathing space to manage your situation better and work out the best way forward.

These organisations offer free debt support:

Loan shark helpline

Loan sharks take advantage of people who are struggling and feel they have nowhere else to turn. If you're offered money with high charges and not much paperwork you should be cautious about accepting their offer.

Stop Loan Sharks has a free helpline you can contact if you need advice about taking a loan, or want to report suspicious behaviour: 0300 555 2222.

Money Advice Service

The government's own finance advice website covers things like pensions, benefits advice and debt and borrowing.

Visit the money advice website

Get in touch

How it works

Our team will assess your needs and if required assign an advisor to help you. Some cases will take a matter of days to resolve while others can take longer.

If we aren't able to help with your query, we will signpost you to an organisation which can.

Your information

About your enquiry

How can we help? Please select which service(s) you’re interested in:

Data protection

We take our data protection responsibilities seriously and collect, store and process data in line with data protection law. To find out more about how we use your personal information please visit our privacy policy statement.

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Household tips

Advice and tips on reducing energy bills
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Saving you money

Want to save over £200 on your energy and household bills every year? Book a session with our money saving specialists.

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Support Finder is the quick and easy way to find the help you need.