Posted on Thursday 9th November 2023
Cabinet member for communities and culture at Staffordshire County Council, Victoria Wilson.
Staffordshire residents worried about the rising cost of living are being encouraged to check what benefits they could be entitled to.
They can do this by using Staffordshire County Council’s online benefits calculator, which is free and anonymous.
All you need to do is fill out a 10-minute questionnaire about your savings, income, pensions, and existing benefits for your household.
The calculator will then work out your total benefit entitlement including – but not limited to – universal credit, council tax support, child benefit, carers allowance and personal independence payment.
The handy tool will also work out if you are eligible for additional entitlements such as free school meals, free prescriptions and eye tests, NHS low income scheme, lower cost broadband and warm homes discount.
You will be able to enter your email at the end of the questionnaire so that you can be sent a copy of your results, or you can download a PDF file.
If you run out of time before completing the questionnaire, you can save your progress, come back to it later and pick up where you left off.
Cabinet member for communities and culture at Staffordshire County Council, Victoria Wilson, said:
“We want to make sure that everyone who may be struggling gets the support they need with living costs.
“We understand that finding out what benefits you could be eligible for can be a little daunting, so the county council has provided an easy-to-use online calculator to do the work for you.
“Please visit our website and make use of it because you could be entitled to more help than you think. Don’t struggle in silence this winter.”
Staffordshire County Council’s Here To Help campaign focuses on sharing information, advice and support to help residents manage cost-of-living pressures.
To find out more, visit the county council’s dedicated Here To Help page.
Staffordshire County Council’s online benefits calculator can be found at https://staffordshire.entitledto.co.uk/home/start.
You can watch a video explaining how to use our online benefits calculator
here.