UK Bill Help

Families local to Harlow can receive financial assistance from government and council schemes. There are three main programmes provided and more details on them are below. Each will offer owns own type of aid, including help for paying rent, free household goods, and assistance for council tax and utility bills.

The first scheme is the Harlow Essential Living Fund (ELF). This is the welfare programme in the county that is for both emergencies and it assists people that live in poverty. EFL is a discretionary scheme that can help as a last resort, when the individual has no money, friends, or family to assist.

The council may direct this welfare scheme to offer the following types of support to clients. There may be household goods provided to keep to both help the person resettle and/or keep them safe. This type of help may be furniture, free bedding, white goods, fridges, and the like. The Harlow ELF may also pay some different electric or gas bills by topping off a pre-paid meter. Other support may also be provided at the discretion of the council.

There are also home repair loans as well as assistance for the disabled as part of the Essential Fund. Anyone on a government means tested benefit (such as JobSeekers or Universal Credit) can apply for a no interest loan. This will pay for repairs to a property, including for energy needs. The Harlow council will also help the disabled adapt their home to what they need for their condition.

The Harlow ELF schemes also helps children in the area. Welfare will provide them with free school meals or uniforms. This will ensure they have the food and clothes they need. Any parent applying needs to be on Child Tax Credit (dependent on your taxable income), income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Pension Guarantee Credit or other types of income-related Employment and Support Allowance payments. If the Harlow scheme does not assist, then find other grants to help with school uniforms that are provided to families on a low income.

Rent help is provided by the Harlow Discretionary Housing Payment. This will only assistance tenants that are on benefits but that are still struggling to pay their bills. There are many cases of the local housing allowance (LHA)/benefits not covering the entire cost of rent that is due to the property owner. This is even more common as the cost of accommodations in the West of Essex continues to increase.

DHP will combine the families existing housing benefit with additional funds, and all of this will be applied to the monthly rent payment that is due to the landlord. There are exclusions to the discretionary housing payment scheme. They are as follows, but more may be added.

There will not be financial aid from DHP for tenants that are already on “full” housing benefits. The Harlow council will also not assist with paying water or sewer bills, they will not support people with Job Seeker’s Allowance employment sanctions, and parents in a dispute with a Child Support Agency can’t apply to DHP. Rent payments will also not be made to tenants that have issues with on-attendance at a local work site.

The last council scheme in Harlow is the ELF – Exceptional Hardship Payments. This will only help with council tax expenses. The authorities will offer relief to families or individuals local to Harlow. This is not for new applicants. People applying for EFL already need to be on the Council Tax Support (CTS) scheme and still prove the need for more support.

The schemes are provided from the Harlow council team at the Civic Centre. The post and number to ring is The Water Gardens, College Square, Harlow CM20 1WG, or dial 1279 446655.