Get your Budgeting Loan request ready
Sorted gathers your details and a what-to-have-ready checklist, then links you straight to the official application.
If you're on certain benefits, the government can lend you £100 up to £812 at 0% interest for a one-off cost — white goods, clothes, rent in advance, moving, home repairs, a funeral, or the cost of getting a job. You only ever repay what you borrow, taken straight from your benefits. On the old benefits it's a Budgeting Loan; on Universal Credit it's a Budgeting Advance — same idea, you apply a different way. Far cheaper than a payday lender, and far safer than a loan shark.
They do the same job — an interest-free loan for a one-off cost — but which one you apply for depends on the benefit you're on:
A Budgeting Loan or Advance can help with one-off costs such as:
The exact amount depends on whether you can afford to repay it, whether you have savings over £1,000 (£2,000 if you or your partner are 63 or over), and whether you're already repaying a previous loan.
You must have been getting one of these for the past 6 months:
If you're on Universal Credit, this is your version:
Have ready: what the money is for, your income, savings, and any existing DWP debts. On Universal Credit? Apply for a Budgeting Advance through your UC account/journal instead.
A loan has to be repaid. Before applying, check whether there's money you don't have to pay back:
An interest-free (0%) Social Fund loan for people on certain benefits, to cover one-off costs like white goods, clothing, rent in advance, moving, a funeral or the cost of getting a job. Borrow £100 up to £348 (single), £464 (couple) or £812 (if you or your partner claim Child Benefit). You only repay what you borrow, taken from your benefits. On Universal Credit you get a Budgeting Advance instead.
You must have had Income Support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA or Pension Credit for the past 6 months. You can't get one on Universal Credit (use a Budgeting Advance), on New Style JSA/ESA, during industrial action, or if you owe over £1,500 in Crisis/Budgeting Loans. Savings over £1,000 (£2,000 if 63+) can reduce the amount.
The Universal Credit version — also 0% interest, for the same one-off costs, £100 up to £812. You usually need 6 months on UC (with exceptions for job-related costs). Since Dec 2024 you can repay over up to 24 months, and from Apr 2025 most deductions are capped at 15% of your standard allowance.
None — both are 0% interest. You repay only the exact amount borrowed, automatically from your benefit. Far cheaper than a payday loan or doorstep lender, and far safer than a loan shark.
Automatically from your benefit each payment, so there's nothing to set up. The length depends on what you can afford — up to 24 months for a UC Budgeting Advance, with deductions capped at 15% of your standard allowance. If repayments become unaffordable, contact the DWP.
Budgeting Loan: online at GOV.UK or paper form SF500. Budgeting Advance: through your UC journal, the UC helpline (0800 328 5644), or your Jobcentre. Northern Ireland uses a separate route via nidirect. Check first whether a grant you never repay (Crisis & Resilience Fund, Sure Start Maternity Grant, Funeral Expenses Payment) covers it instead.
Sources: Budgeting Loans · GOV.UK (How they work + Eligibility + What you could get + Repayments). Universal Credit Budgeting Advance · GOV.UK. Amounts (£100 min; up to £348 single / £464 couple / £812 with Child Benefit), 0% interest, 6-month rule, savings limits read directly from GOV.UK. 24-month repayment (since Dec 2024) + 15% deductions cap (from April 2025) per DWP Advances guidance. Free help: Universal Credit helpline 0800 328 5644 · Citizens Advice 0800 144 8848 · StepChange 0800 138 1111 · MoneyHelper. Report a loan shark: Illegal Money Lending Team 0300 555 2222. Northern Ireland has a separate route via nidirect. Last reviewed: 6 June 2026.
A Budgeting Loan or Advance is interest-free and far safer than a payday lender — but a grant you never repay is better still. Run the money scan to check what you're owed before you borrow.