If you're struggling to make ends meet during the cost-of-living crisis, our free and confidential services can help ease your money worries.
No matter our profession or how carefully we’ve planned, the rise in living costs affects everyone. If you don’t have enough money to live on, or you owe money and are struggling to pay, our free and confidential services can help ease your money worries.
Financial support gives you breathing space so you can get your finances in order. Grants and donations are short term or one-off payments to help cover bills and unexpected costs. They’re not a loan. You don’t have to pay the money back.
Financial support is means-tested and we take into account your income, expenditure and capital. Talk to us before you assume you won’t be able to get financial support. Our criteria might be broader than you realise and there are many different ways that we can help. Skip down to read our mythbusting guide.
Financial support could help pay for:
We’re ready to support you whether you’re facing everyday concerns or exceptional situations. It’s why we’re here.
We’ll need more information about your financial situation to consider your request for financial support. It’s a simple process and you’ll have a dedicated support officer to help you at each stage.
If you already get means-tested UK benefits such as Pension Credit or Universal Credit, you’re automatically eligible for financial support like our back-to-school grant and energy costs payment. These are also available through our means-tested application process if you don’t receive a means-tested benefit.
Keeping your home at a reasonable temperature is important for your health and wellbeing, but as energy costs are rising, you may find this cost unmanageable. Our energy costs payment is a fixed sum of £450 to help you pay for gas, oil and electric bills. This is on top of any other payment from the government. If you’re living outside the UK, it can also be used towards air conditioning, batteries and generators.
Getting your children ready for a new school year can be expensive. Our back to school discretionary donation is a fixed sum to help cover these costs. The money can be used to buy school uniform, shoes, PE kits and other school essentials. Applications for 2023 donations are open from May-October and your financial situation will be assessed before granting of the payment.
For example:
Debt problems can happen to anyone. If you spot the warning signs, it’s best to act quickly before the situation spins out of control. If you’re based in the UK, our friendly specialist debt advisors take time to understand your situation without judgement. You’ll work together to explore your options and develop a plan to get your finances back in order. We can help you understand your bills and what you owe, negotiate realistic payment plans with creditors on your behalf and will help you prioritise which debts to pay first. Your debt advisor will keep you up to date at every step with advice and information. You can also access our debt toolkit to help you get a handle on your finances. Contact us if you’re living outside the UK to understand the support available that fits your personal circumstances.
We don’t provide financial assistance towards the repayments of debts.
"I was facing a shortfall of about £500 a month. Whatever I did about the debts, it would just creep back up again. I spoke to a caba advisor who made me feel so much better. He said ‘Don’t worry. We can help you.'"
Becky
caba client
Many people miss out on financial help through benefits, government schemes, grants and other kinds of financial support because they don’t know what’s available to them. It’s a complicated area that changes every year. Our UK benefits calculator supplied by Turn2us will highlight where you could be missing out. You may find it helpful to read our simple guide to the main UK benefits. However, you don’t need to do everything by yourself because our experts can help you make sense of it all. They’ll explore the options available to you, including other sources of support, complete any application processes with you and could help you challenge an existing benefit decision. We can also work with you to find out if there’s any local financial support if you’re living outside the UK.
One problem can lead to another. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and money worries are taking a toll on your mental wellbeing or affecting your family, then our individual or relationship counselling services can help. Counselling is not just talking. It’s a systematic process. A qualified counsellor listens and helps you to find how to move through the problems you’re facing, develop new strengths and improve your wellbeing.
Counselling can help you:
In our latest research, we’re investigating how the cost of living crisis has affected the accounting community. We found that more than two-in-five (42%) working accountants and students are already struggling financially. Of those, two-thirds are feeling (66%) anxious, three-in-five (59%) stressed and a third (34%) depressed.
Read the report and recommendations from our experts:
To support our ICAEW community through this worrying time, we brought together a panel of experts to offer tips and guidance to anyone looking for help with their financial worries, mental health, debt management and careers concerns.
Our panel includes:
Cristian Holmes, caba CEO
Mark Pearce, caba Head of Service Development and Delivery
Paul Day, caba Senior Support Officer and specialist debt advisor
Kirsty Lilley, award-winning mental health trainer, coach and mindfulness facilitator
Tooba Siddiqui, qualified accountant, sharing her first-hand experience of working in the profession
We support past and present members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), ACA students, ICAEW staff members, and the family and carers of members and students.
You can find out more about our available support both in the UK and around the world on our support we offer page and by using our interactive eligibility tool.
If you need financial support, we carry out a means test where we consider income, expenditure, capital and assets.
*Please note none of our other services are means-tested.
It depends on the individual situation, but we can work very quickly if it’s an emergency.
download our financial support flowchart