IMPORTANT NOTES:
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU APPLY
If you are on a low income and you were told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace before 24 February 2022, you may be entitled to a payment of £500 if you cannot work from home and will lose income as a result. NOTE: If you receive notification of a positive PCR test result after this date, you are not eligible for this payment and should not apply. There is no discretion extend this date. We will be required to check the date of notification with Department of Health and Social Care.
You should apply to the Council where you live within 42 days of the start date of your self-isolation. This is where you pay your Council Tax to. You should only apply to us if you live in the London Borough of Merton. If you do not pay Council Tax or you are not sure which council your address comes under, you can look up your local council here.
WANT TO SPEED UP YOUR PAYMENT?
Provide all the information requested on the application and we can authorise a payment within 5 working days. If you have not provided all the information required at the time of your application OR you have not engaged with NHS Test and Trace, your application will be looked at in the next 28 days.
DO NOT FILL IN MORE THAN ONE APPLICATION. DUPLICATE APPLICATIONS SLOW DOWN THE DECISION ON CLAIMS. If you have made a mistake on a form or need to send us further documents to support your application or need to tell us that you have now completed your engagement* process with NHS Test and Trace, please follow the instructions on the confirmation email we sent you to resolve this issue.
*engaged means that you have responded to the phone calls and contacts from the Tracing service. You will not get a payment if you have not done this.
YOUR TESTING AND REGISTRATION WITH NHS TEST AND TRACE
LATERAL FLOW TEST RESULTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED ON THIS PAYMENT SCHEME- If you had a positive lateral flow device test result before 24th February 2022 and registered this on GOV.uk but did not get a positive PCR test result, you are not eligible to apply for this payment.
ENSURE THE ADDRESS YOU REGISTERED WITH NHS TEST & TRACE MATCHES THE ADDRESS YOU STATE YOU LIVE AT IN MERTON - We are only able to verify applications where the NHS Test & Trace address is in the London Borough of Merton and this matches the address you declare on your application and your supporting evidence. Please ensure your addresses match. If you have given NHS Test & Trace a different address, please log onto your account and change it OR call 119 to request a change of address on your account.
CHECK THE RULES FIRST - ARE YOU REQUIRED TO SELF-ISOLATE?
The rules on self-isolation requirements change on a regular basis. Please check
GOV.uk for details of when you are required to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace service.
The standard payment scheme will run until 23rd February 2022.
More information about the scheme, eligibility criteria and its objectives can be found at GOV.UK
About the application
The application can be made using the on-line form available at the end of the guidance notes below and on the next page.
You can claim more than once if you are told to self-isolate multiple times, as long as your periods of self-isolation (or your child's period of self-isolation if you are applying as a parent or guardian) do not overlap.
The application is for one person only. Each member of your household who is eligible should apply separately.
Time limit to apply
All applications must be made within 42 days of the date your self-isolation started. There is no discretion to extend this time limit.
Getting help
If you can't fill in this form yourself, you can ask someone else to fill in the form for you. They must complete the form with your details, apart from the section where they need to give their details. They will need to give details of a bank account in your name.
If you do not have anyone who can help to fill in the form or you need advice regarding the form, you can contact us on 020 8274 4903 or email tetrsup@merton.gov.uk to request assistance. We will call you to complete the form over the telephone. If you are unable to use a telephone, please let us know in your email.
Who can apply?
To be eligible you must meet all the following 4 criteria:
Criteria 1 - required to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace
You must:
• have been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace before 24th February 2022 and
• not be exempt from self-isolation and
• have a NHS Test and Trace account ID (these begin with 'z')*;
NOTE: There is also additional eligibility if a child or young person that you are looking after has been told to self-isolate, but you are not required to self-isolate. See the additional criteria under the 'Parents and guardians' section further down this page.
* see
NHS Coronavirus advice for details of when you are required to self-isolate and who does not have to self-isolate.
NOTE: Account ID's start with the letter 'z' and are issued after you have followed the instructions to register with NHS Test and Trace. Please do not apply without this ID. You will also need to upload your notification to self-isolate
and
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Criteria 3 - you are unable to work from home and will lose earnings
You must have lost basic contractual earnings as a result of the requirement to self-isolate. This does not include loss of overtime, bonuses, additional duty payments.
and
Criteria 4 - you are getting a qualifying benefit
you
or your partner received one of the following benefits in the last assessment period:
◦ Universal Credit
◦ Working Tax Credit
◦ income-related Employment and Support Allowance
◦ Housing Benefit
◦ Income Support
◦ Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
◦ Pension (Guarantee) Credit.
Parents and guardians
IMPORTANT: If
you are legally required to self-isolate*, you must apply stating that you are self-isolating. If however you are not required to self-isolate but you have to stay at home to look after a child or young adult who is legally required to self-isolate, you may be eligible for the payment. The following key criteria must be met:
A) a child aged 15 or under must have tested positive for COVID19 before 24th February 2022*; OR
B) a young person aged 16 or over who has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), must either be:
• 16 to 25 years of age and have tested positive for COVID19 before 24th February 2022*; OR
• between 18 years and 6 months and 25 years and have been told to self-isolate before 24th February 2022 because they are a contact of someone who tested positive and are not fully vaccinated.
* see
GOV.UK for details of when you required to self-isolate and who does not have to self-isolate.
You still need to satisfy the criteria shown in 2 to 4 above and eligibility depends on the date the young adult was told to self isolate.
Only one parent or guardian can apply for this payment even where there is joint responsibility for that young adult. If one parent is not working then that parent is expected to care for the child/young person whilst they are self-isolating. See details below:
Discretionary payments
If you satisfy the first 3 criteria above but don't get any of the benefits listed in the 4th criteria, then there is also a cash limited discretionary scheme from the Government, which enables us to pay some applicants who would otherwise experience exceptional hardship whilst self-isolating.
To apply for the discretionary scheme, you must be aged 18 or over and be able to demonstrate exceptional financial hardship.
We would expect you and your partner (if you have one):
• to have savings of less than £6,000;
and
• to have a gross income of less than £500 per week after rent or mortgage or a contribution to the rent on a Housing Benefit claim has been deducted (we will need evidence of these payments)
and
• to have insufficient funds to cover basic needs for the time you are self-isolating.
You must provide a supporting statement to tell us why self-isolating will cause you exceptional financial hardship and provide evidence to support that statement.
This discretionary scheme has limited funds and will also run until 23rd February 2022.
Who is not eligible?
You will not be eligible for either the standard or discretionary payment if:
• you work in the care sector where you will be paid under the Government's Infection Control Fund;
• you have not engaged with NHS Test and Trace and completed the registration correctly;
• you are quarantining after travelling abroad.
• you continue to receive full earnings while you self-isolate.
• you are furloughed on the maximum furlough rate for the whole period of your self-isolation.
• you can work from home during a period of self-isolation.
• you are unable to work from home because you are sick.
• you have not received a notification from NHS Test and Trace.
• you are not currently working.
• you are a student (unless you are contractually liable to pay for rent and other household costs).
How to apply
If you are eligible, select Next below to find out how to apply and what you need to give us to support your application.