Help to Save: How the Government’s Savings Scheme Can Boost Your Money

The UK Government’s Help to Save scheme is designed to help people on lower incomes build a savings habit while earning generous bonuses on the money they put aside. It is backed by the government and means eligible savers can get a significant return on what they save over four years.

Who Can Use Help to Save?

You can open a Help to Save account if you’re:

• Receiving Universal Credit and you (or you and your partner for a joint claim) had take-home pay of £1 or more in your most recent assessment period.

You must also be living in the UK. There are a couple of special exceptions — you can apply if you live overseas only if you are:

• A Crown servant (or their spouse/civil partner), or
• A member of the British armed forces (or their spouse/civil partner).

If you stop claiming benefits after opening the account, you can keep using your Help to Save account and still earn bonuses.

How the Scheme Works

Help to Save is essentially a special savings account that rewards you with bonus payments on the money you save. Here’s how it works:

• You can save between £1 and £50 each calendar month.
• You don’t have to save every month — it’s flexible — but the monthly maximum is £50.
• The account runs for four years from the date it’s opened. After this, it closes and you keep all the money you have saved and the bonuses you’ve earned.

You can pay money in by debit card, standing order, or bank transfer, and you can withdraw money at any time. However, withdrawing money can make it harder to build your highest balance and earn the full possible bonuses.

Bonus Payments — What You Could Earn

The real benefit of the scheme is the bonus from the Government:

• After 2 years, you get a bonus equal to 50% of the highest balance you’ve saved in that time.
• After 4 years, you can get a second bonus, which is 50% of the difference between your highest balance in the first 2 years and your highest balance in the last 2 years.

Example: If you put in £25 each month for two years, reaching a top balance of £600, you’d get a £300 bonus after 2 years. Continue saving into years 3 and 4 and grow your top balance further — say to £800 — and you’d get an extra £100 after 4 years (50% of the £200 increase).

The maximum you can save over the full four years is £2,400, and the total maximum bonus available is £1,200 — meaning the Government effectively tops up your savings by 50%.

How It Affects Your Benefits

Savings in a Help to Save account — and the bonuses you earn — don’t count against Universal Credit or Housing Benefit up to certain limits. Specifically:

• If you and your partner together have £6,000 or less in total savings, this won’t affect your Universal Credit or Housing Benefit.
• Your Help to Save bonuses also won’t affect the amount of those benefits you receive.

How to Apply

You apply for a Help to Save account online through the Government’s service — you’ll need your National Insurance number or postcode, plus identification such as a UK passport or driving licence, and your bank details. (GOV.UK)

Once your account is open, you can start saving straight away. You manage your account online via the Government service and you can set up regular monthly deposits if you choose.