Can I get a Budgeting Loan?

How much you can borrow

The smallest loan is £100. The loan is interest free, so you only pay back what you borrow.

What can lower the amount

• Whether you can afford the repayments.
• Your savings. Savings over £1,000 (or £2,000 if you or your partner are 63 or over) affect what you can get.
• How much you already owe. You cannot get a loan if you owe more than £1,500 in total in Crisis Loans and Budgeting Loans.

Who can apply

You must have been getting one or more of these benefits for the past 6 months:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit

If you moved from Universal Credit to Pension Credit, time on Universal Credit counts.

Who cannot apply

• People on Universal Credit. Ask for a Budgeting Advance instead.
• People on New Style Jobseeker's Allowance or New Style Employment and Support Allowance.
• People involved in industrial action, like a strike.

What it can pay for

Things like furniture, white goods such as a washing machine, clothes and shoes, rent in advance, moving costs, home repairs or security, travel in the UK, costs of starting a new job, maternity costs and funeral costs.

How to apply

1. Apply online on GOV.UK. This is the fastest way.
2. Choose to get your decision by email, text or letter. Email or text is quicker, because you can accept the offer online.
3. Or fill in paper form SF500. You can print it or ask for one by phone, and post it back. Allow 7 days for a form to arrive by post.

The Social Fund Enquiry Line is 0800 169 0140 (Welsh: 0800 169 0240), Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm.

The money goes into the account your benefits are paid into.

Paying it back

• Repayments are taken from your benefits automatically.
• You normally repay within 2 years (104 weeks).
• Your offer letter, email or text tells you your weekly repayment before you accept.
• If your benefits stop, DWP Debt Management will contact you about paying the rest.

If you live in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has its own Social Fund Budgeting Loan. You need to have been on income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit for the past 26 weeks. You can apply to borrow between £100 and £1,500. You cannot get one if you or your partner claim Universal Credit. Apply through nidirect.

Related guides

• Is the Household Support Fund still running?
• What is a Budgeting Advance?
• Can my council help with the cost of living?
• Is there a Cost of Living Payment in 2026?
• Can I get a Universal Credit advance?

Where these figures come from

• Budgeting Loans: what you could get (GOV.UK)
• Budgeting Loans: eligibility (GOV.UK)
• Budgeting Loans: paying back the loan (GOV.UK)
• Budgeting Loans: how to apply (GOV.UK)
• Social Fund Budgeting Loan in Northern Ireland (nidirect)