Households can apply for new £200 cost of living payment in days - how to claim

Households can apply for a payment worth £200 this week and thousands can get one. The help comes from the scheme.

First launched in 2021, the cost of living scheme has given local councils pots of cash to support struggling households in their area. Each authority decides how it wants to spend the money, and help can range from free cash payments to supermarket vouchers. However, you can only claim help from the area in which you live.

Birmingham Council will supply £ 200 cost of living payments to households in financial hardship. Applications for help are currently closed but will reopen in June. This week, the first day of June falls on Sunday.

If you have already completed the enquiry form, then you will be on the waiting list and will be contacted within the next six to eight weeks to complete your full application. But completing the enquiry form does not mean that you are definitely entitled to receive a payment - your eligibility will still be checked.

To be eligible for the money, you need to live in Birmingham, struggling to cover or food costs, and have not received a £200 grant payment in the last 12 months. Birmingham Council has confirmed that the cost of living payment will not impact on any other benefits someone may be receiving or entitled to.

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The website details: "Please be advised that enquiries will reopen in June 2025. If you are not currently on the waiting list, and it has now been 12 months since your household last received a grant payment, you will be able to submit a new enquiry once the scheme reopens in June 2025.

"Please be advised that each household is only eligible to receive one £200 grant payment in a 12-month period. e.g. If you received a £200 payment on 28th February 2024, you cannot make another application until 1st March 2025. Any enquiry submitted before your eligibility date will be rejected."

Birmingham Council also warns that it will "actively monitor" applications for signs of fraud, and details of those making an attempt will be passed to ."

You cannot claim this support if you do not live in Birmingham. However, you are able to claim help from your local council through their own Household Support Fund scheme. Due to this system, it means it can be a postcode lottery for the support you can get.

Local councils have started to share what help they will offer for this year's Household Support Fund and each council's website details its support offerings alongside its eligibility criteria. Usually, it has a separate cost of living tab.

Each council will also have a different application process for the scheme. Some ask you to apply online, while others ask you to apply over the phone. Some councils are also reaching out to those eligible directly.

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