Information & advice

The Social Fund is a scheme to help people with expenses that are difficult to meet on a low income. There are two parts to the Social Fund - regulated and discretionary.

The regulated Social Fund covers:

• Funeral payments
• Cold Weather payments
• Winter Fuel payments

The discretionary Social Fund provides three types of payments:

• Community care grants
• Bugeting loans
• Crisis loans

The information in the factsheet is correct for the period April 2009 - March 2010. Benefit rates and other figures are expected to increase again in April 2010‚ but rules and figures sometimes change during the year.

The information given is applicable in England and Wales. Different rules may apply in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Readers in these nations should contact their respective national Age Concern organisations for information specific to where they live.

Further information

Please download factsheet 49 from the top right of this screen for detailed information.