In its initial phase (2018 – 2025), you were entitled to join Help to Save if you were in receipt of:
- Working Tax Credit (WTC) or
- Child Tax Credit
and are entitled to Working Tax Credit or
- Universal Credit with take-home pay of at least £793.17 in your last monthly assessment.
From April 2025, eligibility has increased meaning that those working and earning more than £1 per month and in receipt of Universal Credit can join this scheme.
Colleagues can save a maximum of £50 each month into their Help to Save account, exclusively managed with NS&I, a government-backed investing and saving institution.
At 6-monthly intervals, a bonus payment is made equating to 50% of the last 6 months’ worth of savings. For example:
- Save £50 per month – at month 6 receive a bonus payment of £150
- Continue to save £50 per month – at month 12 receive an additional bonus payment of £150.
This can continue for a maximum of 4 years with bonus payments being made every 6 months.
The maximum monthly saving amount is £50, totalling £2,400 over 4 years, meaning that the maximum bonus payments would be a total of £1,200. This gives a saving total of £3,600 over a 4-year term.
For more information and to sign up, please visit www.gov.uk/helptosave or for a confidential chat around all things borrowing and saving, please email affordable.credit@derbyshire.gov.uk