•Hardship payments are reduced-rate payments of universal credit (UC), jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) and employment and support allowance (ESA) that are made in limited circumstances, including if you have been sanctioned.

•To get them, you or your partner or children must be experiencing hardship. For JSA, you may need to be in a ‘vulnerable group’.

•You must apply for hardship payments and you may need to regularly demonstrate that you are experiencing hardship in order to keep getting them.

•You must usually pay back hardship payments of UC. You do not have to pay back hardship payments of JSA or ESA.