£500 Discretionary payment

gary83

selby72 said:

I’m single with an income of just under £18000. I do qualify for it according to the government website. 

But you’re still over looking that by meeting the qualifying criteria that just makes you eligible to be considered for it, if there’s any money left in the pot. It’s called the discretionary fund because there is no right to it - it’s not an automatic payment.

selby72

Well it seems there was only 35 people expected to self isolate 

gary83

selby72 said:

Well it seems there was only 35 people expected to self isolate 

Well that’s not strictly true, they anticipated no more than 35 people to self isolate who met the qualifying criteria

Caz3121

selby72 said:

Well it seems there was only 35 people expected to self isolate 

I assume you mean 35 people for the '£500 discretionary payment' (those that do not qualify for the '£500 Test and Trace Support Payment') 

[Deleted User]

selby72 said:

I’m single with an income of just under £18000. I do qualify for it according to the government website. 

The fact you qualify doesn’t mean your going to get it, the whole point of discretionary is that it can’t help everyone. 

I think you have done the right thing in asking your MP to look into it, let’s hope you have one that is proactive and will fight. 

Ultimately though I don’t think your going to get that payment and certainly not soon, so you may need to look at SSP, trying a benefits calculator in the meantime to see if you qualify for any additional help with your income bracket and consider looking at your budget for the next few weeks.