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We release a new feature to calculate passported benefits

In our relentless effort to put more money into the pockets of financially vulnerable customers, we are releasing a new feature to calculate the entitlement to passported benefits.

What are passported benefits?

Passported benefits are benefits or grants that some people are entitled to because of their entitlement to any of the following means-tested benefits:

  • Universal Credit,
  • Pension Credit,
  • Council Tax Reduction,
  • Child Tax Credit,
  • Housing Benefit,
  • Income Support,
  • Working Tax Credit,
  • Income-based Job Seekers Allowance, and
  • Income-based Employment and Support Allowance.

Passported benefits are a powerful tool to provide extra support to groups that are especially vulnerable, such as low-income families with children or older adults. Regional and local governments also use passported benefits to align the welfare system to their social and economic policy. For example, the Scottish government has recently launched the Scottish Child Payment, a new passported benefit to support low-income families with young children.

Why are passported benefits important?

We believe that including passported benefits in benefits calculations is essential for three main reasons.

First, passported benefits are designed to support the most vulnerable segments of our population, by including passported benefits, we ensure that people at higher risk get all the support available to them.

Second, there are numerous passported benefits across the UK and their regulations change between the different countries. Therefore, more often than not, people are not aware that many of these benefits even exist.

Third, entitlement to passported benefits is quite common among people who are entitled to means-tested benefits. For example, 80% of our users who are entitlement to means-tested benefits are also entitled to passported benefits with an average entitlement amount of £300.

What passported benefits do we cover?

We cover the main passported benefits at national and regional levels. At a national level, we are expanding our coverage to:

  • Free School Meals,
  • Help with school clothing costs,
  • Warm Home Discount Scheme,
  • Winter Fuel Payment,
  • Funeral Support and Expenses Payment, and
  • Help To Save.

At a regional level, we cover the following benefits in Scotland:

  • Scottish Child Payment,
  • Best Start grant,
  • Best Start Food,
  • Child Winter Heating,
  • Education Maintenance Allowance,
  • Carers Allowance Supplement,
  • Discretionary Housing Payment, 
  • Job Start Payment, and
  • Scottish Welfare Fund.

In the rest of the United Kingdom, we are expanding our cover the following benefits:

  • Sure Start Maternity,
  • Healthy Start grant.

Contact us to learn more about our benefits coverage and view our platform in action.