Under the government’s Help to Save scheme we could get a bonus of £1,200 after four years

If we’re claiming Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit we could get some free cash from the government as part of the Help to Save scheme.

Under Help to Save we get a 50 per cent bonus on money we save up to a maximum of £1,200 over four years.

It’s part of a plan to get us saving for the future. While lots of us at the moment are focused on making ends meet, if we can afford to save even a small amount regularly then it could pay dividends.

How does it work?

We can save up to £50 a month and after two years we’ll get our first 50 per cent bonus. That’s based on the highest balance we reached over the two years (we can withdraw cash at any time).

So if we’ve saved up £1,000 at any point over the two years, we’ll get a bonus of £500. This is the case even if our balance has fallen since hitting £1,000.

We’ll get the second 50 per cent bonus after four years. That bonus is based on the difference between the highest balance in years three and four and the highest balance of the first two years.

So if we save a further £1,000 in the final two years (assuming we haven’t withdrawn anything) we’ll have a total of £2,000. The difference is £1,000 so we’ll get another bonus of £500. 

Because we can save up to £50 a month, this means we could get a maximum of £1,200 back from the government.

Who can use Help to Save?

If we claim Universal Credit and earned £658.64 or more in our last monthly assessment period we could qualify. Or if we get Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit (and we’re entitled to Working Tax Credit) we should also qualify.

We can apply at the Help to Save web page. We will need a Government Gateway account. Or we can call HMRC on 0300 322 7093.

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