Family & Health

If you're on a low income and struggling with the cost of school uniform, you could get up to £200 to put towards it in the form of a non-repayable grant. To help, we've searched through council websites to find which offer it – check below to see if you qualify and what you could get. But go quick as some deadlines have already passed and late applications may not continue to be accepted for long. 

Unmarried bereaved parents have been left saddened and confused after claims for financial support were rejected or they got less than they were initially entitled to. Both problems are due to misleading info on Gov.uk about the support. MoneySavingExpert.com has written to the Government urging it to clarify its guidance to help prevent further confusion among claimants.

If you're a woman in your 60s or 70s who stayed at home to care for children before 2010, you may be missing out on £1,000s in state pension payments due to errors in your national insurance record. You don't need to do anything for the time being, though you will need to claim your missing state pension payments later this year.

Parents on Universal Credit with high childcare costs will soon be able to claim £100s more in support each month, as the Government is boosting the help available from Wednesday 28 June. In addition, some of those eligible will also be able to get one month's childcare paid for them upfront, instead of having to pay the full cost and getting it reimbursed later.

Carers should check if they can get £1,000s off their council tax bills under the 'live-in carer' or 'severe mental impairment' (SMI) discounts, as one dad providing full-time support for his daughter has shared how he got a £7,500 refund and 50% reduction on future bills after reading our tips – and is now encouraging others to claim.

The parents of a woman living with multiple sclerosis have claimed a £10,000 council tax refund on her behalf after watching MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis talking about the little-known discount on TV. Her future bills have also been reduced to zero. Below we explain how to check if you're one of the 100,000s who could also claim the 'severely mentally impaired' (SMI) council tax discount.

Eligible parents of children as young as nine months in England are to be offered up to 30 hours of government-funded childcare each week. Meanwhile, parents who get universal credit will see the maximum amount they can claim for childcare costs raised. Both announcements form a package of new measures designed to help parents, revealed by the Chancellor in the Budget.

The NHS prescription charge in England will increase by 30p to £9.65 from 1 April, the Government confirmed today. The cost of prescription 'season tickets', which let you prepay for multiple prescriptions over a set period, is also rising – so if you regularly pay for prescriptions, it's worth checking if you should buy a certificate now, before prices go up.

If you're pregnant or have a child under the age of four, and you're on a low income, you may be eligible for a Healthy Start prepaid card offering at least £4.25 a week to spend on healthy food, milk and vitamins. But more than 215,000 people are missing out – here's how to check if you're eligible and apply.

If you're a parent thinking about how you might be able to help your child with their university costs, MoneySavingExpert.com's founder Martin Lewis has an important warning for you, which he shared in the latest episode of ITV's The Martin Lewis Money Show Live. Watch the clip below or read on to see what Martin said.