Benefit and budgeting calculator
Use our calculator to find out what benefits you are entitled to
For some council debts, we also use the calculator to help come to the best arrangement with you.
The calculator can help you find out:
- what benefits you could claim and how
- how much you could get and how your income could affect this
- what other financial support may be available to you
- if you could save money on things like bills
All new benefit claims will be for Universal Credit if you’re working age.
You can then create a budget. This will help you see all of the expenditure in your household. This can help you plan to pay off any debt you owe and see how much benefit and income you’ll have left.
Calculate your benefit amount
To get an accurate calculation you’ll need to enter information about your:
- household income from payslips
- existing benefits or pensions and those of anyone living with you
- regular payments you make such as rent, mortgage, childcare
- council tax
- savings
The more accurate the details you provide are, the better your benefit and budget calculation will be.
Budget for your repayments
Once you’ve completed the benefit calculation, you can get a suggested budget to help you plan to pay back any debts.
You’ll need to enter information about:
- your debts – what they’re for and how much you owe
- what you spend each month on things like transport, food and clothing
- how much you think you could pay back each month towards the debts
Include all your debts when putting together your budget. Some expenses and debts are more important so you should prioritise these.
What happens next
Once you’ve filled in the benefit and budgeting calculator, you can view your personalised budget.
If you’re happy with your calculation, you can send it to the teams you owe money to using the ‘send to adviser’ option.
Once we have your form, we will:
- review your information
- contact you to discuss your claim
Where you have a debt with the Council, we will contact you to agree your payment plan or tell you how much of your debt you could afford to pay back each month
You can speak to Welfare Rights for advice, if the calculator suggests additional benefits and you want to check if they’re right for you. You can do this using the ‘send to adviser’ option in the calculator.
If you need help
If you have any difficulty in using the form you can contact us online, or you can call us on 020 8921 3333 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm).
Get advice about keeping track of your budget from the Money Advice Service.
You can also get advice from an independent debt adviser through the Money Adviser Network.