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Coronavirus and your income

If your income is affected

If you are unwell or self-isolating, you are not eligible to receive Statutory Sick Pay unless you are employed. Instead, you may be able to claim Universal Credit and/or New Style Employment and Support Allowance.

If you have to self-isolate, you may also be entitled to a self-isolation support payment.

Universal Credit

Making a claim for Universal Credit may mean that you lose other benefits you currently get, such as tax credits. 

Once you make a Universal Credit claim, your tax credit claim will stop and you cannot go back to tax credits. Before you apply for Universal Credit, try to get advice from a benefits adviser to check if you will be better off claiming Universal Credit. You can look for a local benefits adviser on the Turn2us website.

  • Universal Credit is based on your household situation, so your or your partner’s income and savings may affect how much you get.
  • If you are making a new claim for Universal Credit, you do not need to call anyone. Claims can be made online. If any information needs checking, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will call you back.
  • There is a five week wait to receive your first Universal Credit payment. You can get a month’s advance payment, which you then pay back.

New Style Employment and Support Allowance

  • Eligibility for New Style Employment and Support Allowance will depend on whether you have paid enough National Insurance contributions during the last two to three years.
  • Income and savings that you or your partner have will not affect your claim. 
  • New Style Employment and Support Allowance can now be claimed from day one of illness, rather than the usual day eight.
  • You can now claim New Style Employment and Support Allowance online.  

If you are employed, you may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay more quickly than usual.

Turn2us has more information about benefits and how to claim them. They also have a benefits calculator to help you find out what you may be able to claim.

Self-isolation support payments

Self-isolation payments ended in England on 24 February 2022. The scheme is now closed, although you were able to claim the payment of £500 if you were instructed to self-isolate before this date and claimed within 42 days.

Self-isolation payments in Wales are continuing after 24 February 2022.

  • If you are on a low income and are asked to self-isolate, you may receive a payment of up to £750 if you live in Wales.
  • You need to apply to the Self-isolation support scheme within 21 days of your last day of isolation if you live in Wales.

You will need to have tested positive for COVID-19 or have been asked to self-isolate by NHS Wales, Test, Trace, Protect service and:

  • be employed and your employer can confirm you are unable to work from home, or you are self-employed and you can show that you are unable to run your business without social contact; and
  • claiming at least one of the following benefits: Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Pension Credit or Housing Benefit.

You can also claim the payment if you need to take time off work to look after a child who has been formally told to self-isolate. For further information, see the GOV.Wales website.

To make a claim, contact your local authority. The payment won’t affect any other benefits and you can make further claims if you meet the criteria.

If you don’t receive one of the qualifying benefits, your local authority may still be able to make a payment to you if you are on a low income and could suffer financial hardship from not being able to work.

Already claiming benefits?

If you are claiming Universal Credit or Job Seeker's Allowance, you may need to meet certain requirements to continue to receive the benefit. This could be job searching, periods of time at work or attending regular meetings or assessments. Due to coronavirus, these requirements were temporarily suspended, but they have now restarted. Call the Jobcentre Plus if you're worried about going to an appointment in person due to coronavirus.

​If coronavirus means you are unable to carry out a task, you should phone the office paying the benefit to explain why. If you are claiming Universal Credit, inform your work coach and explain what has happened in your online journal.

Face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits had been suspended. However, they have now restarted for some people. You should only be asked to attend a face-to face assessment if you can’t be assessed another way. This will apply if you receive Personal Independence Payments (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Industrial Injuries Disability Benefit and possibly Universal Credit.

If you have concerns about attending an assessment, contact your assessment provider using the contact details on your appointment letter. You can find more details on GOV.UK.​

The government has also temporarily changed the way they work out Universal Credit for self-employed people on low incomes. You can contact the Universal Credit helpline on 0800 328 5644 for more information.

If you are already getting Universal Credit

Make sure you explain in your online journal why you haven’t been able to attend as expected.

If coronavirus means that you are unable to carry out a task, you should phone the office paying the benefit to explain why. If you are claiming Universal credit, inform your work coach and explain what has happened in your online journal.

More information can be found on the GOV.UK website.

Help towards your rent - changes for private tenants

If you rent privately, the maximum amount of help that you can get towards your rent through Housing Benefit or Universal Credit depends on several factors, such as the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate for the area you live in and the type of accommodation that you need. LHA rates have been increased across the UK. To find the rate that applies to your area, go to the Directgov website.

To find out more about how these changes may help you, visit Turn2us. They have a benefit calculator​ to help you find out if and how much you may be able to claim.