Budgeting Loans

To qualify for a Budgeting Loan you or your partner must normally be getting either Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.

But if you or your partner are getting Employed Person’s Allowance you may be able to get a loan:

• to repair or replace furniture or household equipment which has been damaged or destroyed following a fire or flood in your home
  
  
• to buy reusable cotton nappies, or
  
  
• to replace cash which has been lost, stolen or unintentionally destroyed

You must also be able to meet other qualifying conditions specific to the item or service you need help with.

Budgeting Loans are paid to help you meet the cost of the following items:

• the purchase, delivery and installation of certain items of furniture or household equipment and any removal costs associated with moving to a new home in the Island
  
  
• the purchase, delivery and installation of certain items of furniture or household equipment which are worn out, defective or unsafe or have been destroyed, or are needed because a person has recently become a member of your family
  
  
• essential repairs to, or maintenance of, your home or for redecorating your home
  
  
• for repairs to furniture or household equipment or domestic heating boilers
  
  
• to pay a returnable deposit or any similar payment in the form of advance rent that you are required to pay when taking up the tenancy of a home
  
  
• to pay a deposit for the connection or reconnection to the supply of gas or electricity when taking up the tenancy of a home
  
  
• to pay an advance payment towards board and lodging charges
  
  
• for the initial supply of domestic heating oil on taking up the tenancy of a home
  
  
• clothing or footwear for you or a member of your family, but not to replace old clothes or footwear which have simply been worn out or outgrown
  
  
• to replace cash which you have lost, had stolen or destroyed (a loan in respect of lost cash can only be paid once in a person’s lifetime, but any claims for lost cash made before 9 July 2013 are ignored)
  
  
• the purchase, delivery and installation of certain items of furniture or household equipment lost or destroyed following a disaster, such as a fire or flood
  
  
• reusable cotton nappies
  
  
• a mobility scooter

Budgeting Loans cannot be paid towards the cost of any other types of items or services.

The maximum amount of any Budgeting Loan you can get depends on the size of your family and whether you or your partner have any other Budgeting Loans or any overpayments of benefit that still have to be paid back.

A loan is calculated based on the rules governing the individual item or service you have claimed for.

The maximum loan which may be given in any case is:

• £750 – if you don’t have a partner or children
• £850 – if you have a partner, but don’t have children
• £1,000 – if you are a lone parent or you and your partner have children

We cannot provide a loan –

• for less than £30 except where the claim is for lost, stolen or destroyed cash
  
  
• if you or your partner has received a Budgeting Loan within the last 2 years. But this does not apply when a loan is claimed to meet the cost of either of the following:
  
  
  • to pay a returnable deposit or any similar payment in the form of advance rent or otherwise, or
    
    
  • to pay a deposit for the connection or reconnection to the supply of gas or electricity

which is required to be paid by you or your partner on taking up the tenancy of a home (or in anticipation of doing so) and not providing you with a loan would result in either of you being threatened with homelessness.

If you or your partner have savings of up to £1000, these are ignored when we decide whether you qualify for a Budgeting Loan. If your savings are more than £1,000 then the maximum loan we can pay you is reduced by the amount of your savings over £1,000.

So, for example, if you would otherwise be eligible for a loan of £500 and you and your partner have savings of £1,300 we can only pay you a loan of up to £200 (£500 – (£1,300 - £1,000)).

If you or your partner haven't fully repaid any Budgeting Loan previously awarded to you, or either of you hasn't repaid benefit previously overpaid to you, you will only be able to receive a further loan of the maximum payable in your circumstances less the amount you still owe.

Budgeting Loan payments can be collected at a Post Office or paid into your bank or building society account. Payment may also be made to a third party that is selling an item or providing a service to you.

If you or your partner are getting any social security benefit (but not certain disability benefits), the loan will be repaid by making deductions from your benefit of £12.50 per week starting from the week after the loan is paid to you.

If you stop getting benefit then you must arrange with us to repay the remainder of the loan at the rate of at least £12.50 per week, either by making payments by standing order to us from your bank account or by cash or cheque at the Post Office.

You have to sign a loan agreement before we will pay a loan to you, so that you are clear as to the terms and conditions on which the loan is made and how you must repay it.

To claim a Budgeting Loan please complete the claim form BLG1 – Budgeting Loans and Exceptional Needs Grants and take or send it to a Social Security office, and mark it for the attention of the team that pays your benefit (Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employed Person’s Allowance).

Please make your claim as soon as possible. If you delay making your claim then you could lose money as there are time limits for claiming certain items.

If you have any questions please contact the team that pays your benefit/allowance:

Income Support (under pension age)
Telephone:+441624 685094            
Email: incomeSupport@gov.im

Income Support (over pension age)
Telephone: +44 1624 687020            
Email: ISP@gov.im

Jobseeker's Allowance
Telephone: +44 1624 685126
Email: JSA@gov.im

Employed Person's Allowance                     
Telephone: +44 1624 685092
Email: EPA@gov.im