Eligibility for both schemes
There are two schemes that you may be eligible for. You only need to apply once, and we will assess your application for both schemes.
You must make your application and send us all your supporting evidence within 28 days from the start date of your isolation period. (NHS Test and Trace will give you your start date.)
If you make a valid claim that meets all the eligibility criteria, you will get a one-off payment of £500.
To be eligible for either scheme, you must be:
- employed or self-employed
- unable to work from home and will lose income as a result
You must also:
- have been told to stay at home and self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace (either because you have tested positive for coronavirus or have recently been in close contact with someone who has tested positive)
- give us an NHS test and trace ID number (CTAS number) that we can validate
- reply to messages from NHS Test and Trace (via email, text, letter, or phone call), and fully engage with the process,
or
- be the parent or guardian of a child or young person who has been told to isolate, and you have to take time off work to care for them, on or after 8 March 2021
Eligibility for the main scheme
In addition to the above criteria, you must also be receiving at least one of the following benefits:
- Universal Credit
- Working Tax Credit
- income-based Employment and Support Allowance
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income Support
- Housing Benefit
- Pension Credit
You can apply more than once, if you have to isolate multiple times. This is as long as you meet all the eligibility criteria for each individual claim and the isolation periods do not overlap. Everyone has to make their own application.
Eligibility for the discretionary scheme
If you are not receiving any benefits, (or have not made a claim for them) you will not qualify for the main scheme. However, we will then see if you are eligible for our discretionary scheme.
This scheme looks at how much you earned before you had to isolate.
You may only be eligible if:
- you have savings of less than £16,000, and
- you normally earn less than £500 per week, after tax, national insurance and pension deductions
Eligibility for a parent whose child is isolating
You must be the parent or guardian of a child or young person in the same household and need to take time off while they self-isolate.
This is limited to one parent or guardian per household for child or young person’s isolation period.
Your child or young person must:
- be under 15, or under 25 with an Education Health and Care Plan (ECH)
- normally attend an education or childcare setting
- have been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace, or by their educational or childcare setting because they have been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive on, or after 8 March 2021
You can claim up to six weeks (42 days) after the child or young person's first day of self-isolation.
You can claim more than once for the same child, or different children, but only if the isolation periods do not overlap.