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Youth Legal
Benefits, Debt and Money Advice, Benefits & Entitlements· 2 min read

Passported Benefits

If you already receive a benefit like Universal Credit, Income Support, or Pension Credit, you may automatically qualify for extra help with things like prescriptions, school meals, energy bills, and more. These are called passported benefits, and many people miss out on them simply because they do not know they exist. We can help you check what you are entitled to.

Extra help you might not know you qualify for

If you are already getting benefits, you could be entitled to extra support that you have not claimed yet. Many people miss out simply because they do not realise these schemes exist.

These are sometimes called passported benefits. The idea is simple: because you already receive a qualifying benefit, you are "passported" through to other help without always needing to make a separate application.

What you could get

Here are the main areas where extra help is available:

Health costs

  • Help with prescription charges, dental treatment, and eye tests
  • Free NHS sight tests and vouchers towards glasses or contact lenses

Education

  • Free school meals for your children
  • Help with school uniform costs
  • Other educational benefits

Energy and utilities

  • The Warm Home Discount Scheme (a one-off discount on your electricity bill)
  • Cold Weather Payments when temperatures drop
  • Extra help from your energy supplier

Financial support

  • Help to Save, a government savings scheme that gives you bonus money on what you save
  • Funeral Payments to help cover the cost of a funeral for someone close to you

Travel

  • Free local bus travel in some areas
  • Help with the cost of visiting someone in prison

Other support

  • Legal aid for legal problems
  • Low-cost phone packages
  • The Healthy Start scheme, which provides vouchers for milk, fruit, vegetables, and vitamins for pregnant women and young children

Which benefits qualify you

You may be passported to extra help if you receive any of the following:

  • Universal Credit (UC)
  • Income Support (IS)
  • Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit)
  • Child Tax Credit (CTC)
  • Personal Independence Payment (PIP), particularly for disability-related support

How it works

When you claim one of the benefits listed above, your eligibility for other support schemes is often established automatically. That means you do not always need to make separate applications. However, some schemes do require you to apply, so it is worth checking.

What to do now

  • Check what you are already entitled to. You may be missing out on support right now.
  • Contact us. We can look at your benefits and help you identify anything you are not claiming.
  • Tell your friends and family. Many people on qualifying benefits do not know about passported benefits.

Get help

We can help you check what extra support you qualify for and make sure you are not missing out.

All our advice is free and confidential.

Get Help