Little-known way households on Universal Credit can get up to £400 – are you eligible?

HOUSEHOLDS on Universal Credit can get up to £400 to help towards paying essential bills.

Watersure is a little-known scheme that can help some struggling households with their water bills.

The scheme puts a cap on bills for low-income customers regardless of how much water they're using.

The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) estimates that bills are reduced by £300 on average through the scheme.

But the amount you could save does vary in reality from as little as £10 to as much as £400 a year.

What is the WaterSure Scheme?

The WaterSure Scheme is designed to help households who use a lot of water and are on low incomes, to have their bills capped.

It could be that water usage is high due to medical reasons, or because there are a number of school-age children in the house.

The amount that you will save will vary as bills are typically capped at the average amount for your supplier.

The idea of the scheme is to stop customers from cutting back on the amount of water they use because they are worried about paying their bills.

Unlike energy companies, you cannot switch water supplier as it is dependent on the area you live.

Are you eligible?

There is a number of criteria you must meet in order to be eligible for the WaterSure scheme.

To qualify you will need to already have a water meter installed, and you will need to prove you use a lot of water.

You need to have three or more children under the age of 19 living in the house, and receive child benefit for them.

Or someone living in the house must have a medical condition that means you need lots of water, such as skin diseases like psoriasis, Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.