Emergency money: crisis loans and budgeting advances

If you need money this week for food, heating, or to replace something essential like a cooker, start with your council. In England, councils have run Crisis Payments through the new Crisis and Resilience Fund since 1 April 2026, and they are generally grants you do not pay back. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own schemes, covered below.

What happened to government crisis loans?

The DWP’s Crisis Loans, part of the old Social Fund, were abolished in England from 1 April 2013 under the Welfare Reform Act 2012. Since then, councils in England have run their own local welfare schemes, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have run the schemes below. The Budgeting Loan is a different, older product and did not replace Crisis Loans.

Much of what you will find online about “applying for a government crisis loan” is out of date. There is no single national emergency loan any more.

How do you get emergency help from your council in England?

From 1 April 2026, the government funds councils in England through the Crisis and Resilience Fund, which runs until 31 March 2029. It replaced the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments, both of which ended on 31 March 2026. Each council runs its own scheme, so the name, the application form and the rules vary. Search your council’s website for “Crisis and Resilience Fund”, “crisis payment” or “local welfare assistance”.

What the government guidance says about Crisis Payments:

• They are for low-income households facing a crisis, and they are not limited to people on benefits. Each council decides what counts as a low income locally.
• Councils should put cash first, such as a bank transfer or cash-out voucher, but may give vouchers or goods instead where that makes more sense.
• Councils must accept applications all year round, and should accept them from someone applying on your behalf, such as a support worker or charity.
• Housing Payments (the replacement for Discretionary Housing Payments) help with housing costs for people entitled to Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.

What are Budgeting Advances and Budgeting Loans?

Universal Credit Budgeting Advance

If you get Universal Credit, you can ask for a Budgeting Advance to cover an unexpected one-off cost such as furniture, household items, clothes, repairs, a rent deposit, removal costs or funeral expenses. It cannot be used for ongoing costs like food, bills or rent, or to pay off debts.

• Amounts: at least £100, and up to £348 if you are single, £464 for a couple, or £812 if you have children.
• Who can get one: usually you need to have been getting Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit for 6 months or more (or need the money to start or keep a job). You cannot get one if you earned more than £2,600 (£3,600 for a couple) in the last 6 months, or still owe a previous advance.
• Repaying it: it comes out of your Universal Credit, usually over 24 months. Citizens Advice says that applies to advances requested from 4 December 2024; before that the usual period was 12 months. You may be able to delay the start of repayments by up to 6 months.

Apply through your online account or your work coach. Remember that repayments reduce your future Universal Credit, so only borrow what you need. There is also a separate advance if you are waiting for your first Universal Credit payment, repaid within 24 months. See GOV.UK: Budgeting Advances.

Budgeting Loans for older benefits

Budgeting Loans still exist for people on legacy benefits, with the same £100 minimum and £348, £464 and £812 maximums, repaid within 104 weeks. Income Support and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance ended from 1 April 2026 and the remaining income-related ESA ended from 1 July 2026, so in practice Budgeting Loans now mainly reach people on Pension Credit. The GOV.UK eligibility list has not caught up with that yet.

What help is there in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Scotland: Scottish Welfare Fund

Apply to your local council for a Crisis Grant (for an emergency such as a fire, flood or sudden loss of money) or a Community Care Grant (to help you or someone you care for live independently). You must be 16 or over and on a low income or certain benefits. Neither grant has to be paid back. Most Crisis Grant decisions are made within 2 working days, and you can get up to 3 Crisis Grants in 12 months.

Wales: Discretionary Assistance Fund

The Emergency Assistance Payment is a grant for essential costs such as food, gas, electricity, heating oil or emergency travel, for example if you have lost your job or are waiting for your first benefit payment. The Individual Assistance Payment is a grant for things like white goods and furniture to help you or someone you care for live independently. You must be 16 or over and live in Wales. Neither is repayable. Apply online through the Welsh Government’s DAF service or through an approved partner organisation (Individual Assistance Payments are only available through partners). You cannot apply if you had a grant in the last 7 days, or have had 3 grants in the last 12 months.

Northern Ireland: Discretionary Support

You may get an interest-free loan or a grant for short-term living expenses such as food, or to buy or repair basic household items like a cooker. You must be 18 or over (or at least 16 without parental support), live in Northern Ireland, be in an extreme or exceptional situation or a crisis that puts your or your family’s health, safety or wellbeing at significant risk, and have a household income after deductions of no more than £29,741.40 a year. Apply to the Finance Support Service.

Should you use a payday loan or other borrowing instead?

Be careful. Payday and other high-cost short-term loans are legal if the lender is authorised by the FCA, and they are capped: interest and fees cannot be more than 0.8% a day of the amount borrowed, default fees are capped at £15, and you should never pay back more in interest and fees than you borrowed. That can still double what you owe, and taking one to cover a gap in your budget often leads to the same gap next month.

Check any lender on the FCA register before borrowing.

What if emergency money is not enough?

A one-off payment can get you through a crisis, but if you are regularly short before payday, or borrowing to pay other debts, the underlying problem needs looking at. Signs include using credit for food or bills, missing payments on priority debts like rent, council tax or energy, or being chased by several creditors at once.

Free, impartial debt advice is available from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice and National Debtline. An adviser can check you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to, help you deal with creditors, and in England and Wales set up a Breathing Space that pauses most creditor action for up to 60 days. See where to get free debt advice, and our debt problems hub for what to do first. If money worries are affecting your health, read debt and your mental health.

What to do next

1. If you need help now, contact your council (or, in Wales, the Discretionary Assistance Fund; in Northern Ireland, the Finance Support Service).
2. If you get Universal Credit and need a one-off item, ask for a Budgeting Advance through your online account, and check the repayment amount first.
3. Avoid unlicensed lenders, and check any lender on the FCA register.
4. If this is part of a wider debt problem, speak to a free debt adviser, and compare the options in debt solutions compared.