Universal credit claimants will have more time to pay back a budgeting advance loan as a result of changes announced today.
A budgeting advance can be used for certain expenses such as emergency household costs, rent in advance or a deposit for moving home, travel costs for starting a new job or funeral costs.
The minimum budgeting advance you can borrow is £100 but claimants may be able to borrow up to £348 if single, £464 if part of a couple or £812 if they have children. If the claimant has savings of over £1,000 the loan amount is reduced by £1 for every £1 a claimant has in savings above £1,000.
Currently claimants have 12 months to pay back a budgeting advance loan but a welcome announcement today confirmed that this will increase to 24 months. The option to repay the interest free loan over a longer period will be a welcome announcement to those claimants who have been struggling to repay it over the 12 month window.
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