HELP WITH HOUSEHOLD COSTS
There are a range of schemes and payments to help with increasing household costs, and a good local contact for advice is your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
Help with healthcare costs
Some people can get free NHS prescriptions, dental treatment, eye tests and other NHS costs.
Help with NHS prescriptions and health costs
If you can’t get free prescriptions and need 4 or more prescriptions over 3 months (or 12 or more over 12 months), it may be cheaper to get a pre-payment certificate.
Advice on mortgages
On 22 September, the Bank of England raised interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25%, the highest level for 14 years. Further increases are projected.
Decisions on the base rate of interest influence loan rates and repayments for people borrowing money on things like credit cards, bank loans, car loans and mortgages.
When interest rates rise, about two million people on tracker and variable rate deals see an immediate increase in their monthly payments. People on fixed rate mortgages will see no change to their repayments until their fixed deal ends. Then they will be moved on to a standard variable rate or they can arrange a fixed deal with a lender again.
If you are worried about increases to your debt repayments, you can find independent advice from:
Money Saving Expert, Money Helper, Support for Mortgage Interest, or your local citizens advice bureau.
Broadband and phone
If you are claiming Universal Credit, Pension Credit and some other benefits, you may be eligible for cheaper broadband and phone packages.
Social Tariffs are cheaper than regular packages and you can switch now to benefit from packages ranging between £10 to £20.
More information is available on Ofcom's website. Click here to find out more.