Cost of Living Help UK 2026: What Support Still Exists and How to Claim It
If you have been searching for the “next cost of living payment”, this is the honest answer: it isn’t coming. The DWP’s Cost of Living Payments finished, and the last one — £299 — was paid in February 2024. Nothing has replaced them as a single automatic lump sum.
That does not mean there is no help. It means the help has moved. It now sits in schemes you usually have to ask for, spread across the DWP, your council, your energy supplier and your water company. This guide walks through what is genuinely live in 2026, who it is for, and how to claim it.
First: the schemes that have ended
A lot of people lose weeks chasing money that no longer exists. Two things to cross off your list straight away:
- Cost of Living Payments. The DWP series of £301, £300 and £299 payments ended, with the final £299 paid in February 2024. There is no queue to join and no form to fill in.
- The Household Support Fund. It ran until 31 March 2026. In England it has been replaced by a council-run Crisis and Resilience Fund, which began on 1 April 2026 and is expected to run for several years. Councils set their own local schemes, so the amount and the rules vary by area.
Our cost of living payment guide keeps track of this in more detail. The short version: stop looking for a national payment, and start looking at the six routes below.
1. Check your benefits — this is where the biggest money is
Billions of pounds of UK benefits go unclaimed every year, and the largest single reason is simply that people assume they will not qualify. Universal Credit is not only for people out of work — it tops up low earnings too. Pension Credit is one of the most under-claimed benefits in Britain, and it is a gateway: getting it can unlock help with council tax, energy costs and NHS costs.
A benefits check is free, takes minutes, and there is no penalty for being told you do not qualify. Start with our benefits checker, and cross-check with the free calculators run by MoneyHelper or entitledto. If you want a human to look at it with you, Citizens Advice can do a full check for free.
2. Help with energy bills
Energy support in 2026 is a set of separate schemes rather than one big payment:
- Warm Home Discount — a £150 credit applied to your electricity account over the winter. For most people it is automatic if you receive Pension Credit Guarantee Credit or another qualifying means-tested benefit, so you usually do not need to apply. See our Warm Home Discount guide.
- Cold Weather Payment — £25 for each seven-day period of very cold weather in your area, paid automatically to people on certain benefits. In Scotland this has been replaced by the Winter Heating Payment, a fixed annual amount paid automatically — check the current figure on mygov.scot, as it is uprated each year.
- Winter Fuel Payment — paid to most pensioner households, but if your individual taxable income is above £35,000, HMRC takes it back (there is no taper — go £1 over and the whole payment is recovered). Your partner’s income is not counted with yours.
- Supplier hardship funds and payment plans. If you are behind, your supplier must offer you an affordable payment plan. Several suppliers also run charitable trusts that can clear arrears. Our energy bill help guide sets out the route.
3. Council Tax Reduction
Every council runs a Council Tax Reduction (or Council Tax Support) scheme for people on a low income. For pensioners it can cut the bill to nothing. Two things catch people out: it is never applied automatically, and being on Universal Credit does not mean you have applied — you have to make a separate claim to the council. There are also discounts and exemptions that have nothing to do with income, such as the single-person discount. See Council Tax Reduction.
4. Social tariffs on water and broadband
Water companies and broadband providers run cheaper “social tariffs” for households on qualifying benefits. Amounts vary by company, and they are rarely advertised loudly — you generally have to ask for one by name. A water social tariff can cut a bill substantially, and a broadband social tariff can usually be switched to mid-contract without an exit fee. Both are worth a ten-minute phone call.
5. Your council’s crisis fund
If you are in an emergency — no money for food, no credit on the meter, or a sudden essential cost you cannot cover — your council is the place to go. In England this is now the Crisis and Resilience Fund; in Scotland it is the Scottish Welfare Fund, in Wales the Discretionary Assistance Fund, and in Northern Ireland Discretionary Support. These are discretionary schemes, so what you get depends on your local scheme and your circumstances. Search your council’s name plus “crisis fund”, or start from our local help page.
6. Food, and help tonight
If there is no money for food this week, that is what food banks exist for and there is no shame in using one. Most need a referral, and a council, GP surgery, school or Citizens Advice can make one. Our food bank finder shows what is near you. If a bill or a debt letter is what is keeping you awake, free debt advice from StepChange on 0800 138 1111 costs nothing and will not judge you. If you are struggling to cope, Samaritans are there day and night on 116 123.
Watch out for the scam texts
Because so many people are still searching for cost of living money, fake “you are eligible for a new cost of living payment — claim here” texts and emails are common. Real support is never claimed through a link in an unexpected message, and the DWP will never ask for your bank details by text. If you get one, do not click. Forward suspicious texts to 7726 and check anything you are unsure about with our scam checker.
What to do this week
Pick three things and do them: run a free benefits check, phone your council and ask what its crisis scheme and Council Tax Reduction scheme cover, and ask your water and broadband providers whether you qualify for a social tariff. None of it costs anything, none of it needs a login, and between them they are where the real money is in 2026.
SortedUK is an independent service and is not affiliated with any government body. We are not FCA-regulated, not a charity and not a law firm — where a human adviser is the right move, we will always point you to Citizens Advice, StepChange or another free UK service. Figures in this article were verified in July 2026 against GOV.UK, DWP and mygov.scot published guidance. Rates change — always confirm on the official page before you rely on a figure.