FAMILIES can still get help if they are struggling to get by after the government has axed the £500 isolation payment today.
During the Covid crisis, hard-up Brits were able to get a £500 pay out to help them pay for bills.
It was available to low income households in which the parents, or children, tested positive for Covid and could not work from home.
This was so families wouldn’t be out of pocket and lose income by self-isolating or staying at home to look after the kids.
But cash-strapped households won’t be able to get the help from today, after the prime minister axed the payment in his “plan for living with Covid” earlier this week.
He also revealed under his plans that workers will no longer be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay from day one of falling sick with Covid from March 24.
It means Brits could ace being worse off under the shake-up.
Here’s four ways you can get help paying for bills even after the £500 isolation payment has been scrapped.
Welfare assistance programme
Some councils are offering cash help to struggling families under the welfare assistance scheme.
A Sun investigation found that some local authorities are giving out up to £1,000 to help pay for food, bills, rent and travel costs.
But it is often a postcode lottery when it comes to what help is on offer – with some councils without a scheme in the first place.
We found that a record number of grants have been awarded to help cash-strapped Brits during the Covid crisis.
For example, Suffolk County Council saw successful applications soar by 210% between 2020 to 2021.
Grants are given on a case-by-case basis and there will be a different application process depending on where in the country you live.
Household Support Fund
The Household Support Fund means you can get hundreds of pounds in free cash to help you get by depending on who your local council is.
Councils across the country have got a share of the £500million government fund to dish out to Brits in their catchment area.
Again, the help you can get varies from council to council.
For example, Dorset Council is offering households vouchers worth up to £200 to help pay their energy bills.
And thousands of families can get £200 cold hard cash if they live in Birmingham as part of help from the scheme.
But there’s just weeks left to apply for the help in some cases, as councils have until the end of March to spend the funding.
You should ask your local council about what help is available in your area, and the eligibility requirements – you can find out who yours is via the gov.uk website.
Help with rent
Councils across the country were given a share of an extra £65million in funding to help struggling renters last year.
The support is available over the winter months, which means many councils are left with just a matter of weeks – up until the end of March – to divvy out the cash.
Cash is dished out on a case-by-case basis – and in some cases, you can get up to £8,500 for FREE towards your rent.
But a Sun investigation found that nearly half of local authorities were yet to dish out the funding earlier this year.
Money for food bills
Parents on a low income can get £442 a year to put towards buying their groceries under the Healthy Start Vouchers card scheme.
The cut off date is March 10, so that leaves families with just weeks to go until they face missing out on the help.
You used to be able to apply for paper vouchers, but applications for that ended on January 31 this year.
Now you have to sign up for the new, upgraded, prepaid card system.
They can go towards the cost of things like milk, vegetables, fruit, pulses and vitamins, all for small children.
