THOUSANDS of low-income families will get an extra £130 in bill support this Winter.
Over 145,000 Scottish households will be eligible for the boosted cash support to help with the cost of living.
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The Scottish Child Bridging Payment is available to all families that have at least one child who gets free school meals because of a low income.
And the Scottish government has doubled the original cash rebate from £130 to £260.
The new £260 payment will be made in December in line with the start of the school holidays.
Three payments of £130 have already been paid to eligible families this year over Easter, in the Summer and at the beginning of October.
It’s up to your local council to allocate and distribute the payment so check their website for more information.
You could get the payment if you meet the eligibility criteria for free school meals.
Your child can get free lunches in school if you get:
- Universal Credit (where your monthly earned income is not more than £660)
- Income support
- income-based job seeker’s allowance
- income-based employment and support allowance
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Your child is also entitled to free school lunches if you get:
- Child tax credit, but not working tax credit, and your income is less than £17,005
- both child tax credit and working tax credit and have an income of up to £7,920
You might also get the payment if you’re experiencing financial hardship. For example, if:
- you’re waiting for your first Universal Credit payment
- your immigration status means you cannot get help from the government
Contact your local council to apply for free school meals and advice on how to get the payment.
If your child already gets free school meals because you’re on a low income and get a qualifying benefit you do not need to apply for it.
Your local council will make the payment to you automatically.
But if you’re not in Scotland there’s still plenty of other help available.
Thousands of English households can get £100 free cash for food, energy bills and essentials this winter.
The help will be dished out under a new round of £421million funding given by the government to the Household Support Fund.
The new £421million pot of cash will be available from October this year until March next year.
Each council gets a different portion of funding depending on the size of the catchment area, population, and need.
Usually, you have to be in receipt of a council tax reduction, or prove you’re in financial difficulty, to get the help.
You’ll need to ask your local authority for more information on how to apply because each one will have a different application process.
To see what help is on offer in your area, contact your local council.
What other bill help is coming?
From October the first, all households will start to receive a £400 energy bill discount.
The payment will be dished out by your energy supplier and will be split across six discounts between October and March next year.
Households will receive a £66 energy bill discount in October and November and a discount worth £67 in December, January, February and March.
In November, a £300 one-off “Pensioner Cost of Living Payment” will be paid out to eight million households.
It will be given to those who already get the winter fuel payment – which is worth between £100 and £300 for those over the state pension age.
Millions of households are in line to get the £150 Warm Home Discount between December and March 2023.
Check if you can get an energy grant or other support
There are plenty of energy grants and schemes open to help you out if you’re struggling.
Some suppliers are even offering free energy-saving devices to help households slash their bills this winter.
Octopus Energy is handing out free electric blankets to some of its 3.1million customers to help keep them warm this winter.
The suppliers opened up applications for the freebie on Monday, October 10.
British Gas has recently confirmed that it’ll pay its most vulnerable customers grants worth £750 to help with sky-high bills.
The British Gas Energy Trust has previously paid struggling households up to £1,500 – and you don’t need to be a British Gas customer to apply for this help.
Ask your supplier what’s on offer and how to apply, or check here:
This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
