HARD-UP families could get £100 in free cash to help pay for food and bills as the cost of living continues to rise.

The payment is part of the Household Support Fund, which allows councils to hand out cash to residents who are struggling with essential costs.

For example, people living in Elmbridge, Surrey, can apply for a one-off £100 payment through the fund.

The deadline to apply is 8am on January 31, giving you just over two weeks to submit your claim.

You'll need your benefits reference number and bank account details to hand.

Once the application has been accepted, you should receive £100 into your account within two weeks.

The majority of the funding will be allocated to households withchildren and who were claiming housing benefit or council tax support on November 22, 2021.

While this particular scheme is only open to Elmbridge Council residents, there could be a similar scheme where you live.

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But how much you can get and who is eligible varies across the country.

In Runnymede, for example, up to £800 is available for households to pay for essential costs such as food, heating, white good and repairs.

In Spelthorne you can get a one-off cash payment of up to £80 and in Rutland you can get £100 for essentials.

Meanwhile, families in Barnsley can apply for supermarket vouchers worth up to £200.

You can search for your local council using the search tool on gov.uk – just enter your postcode.

You can then see the help you can get from the Household Support Fund, who's eligible and how to apply.

It's worth doing this sooner rather than later, as there is a limited amount of cash to give out.

The funding is available up to the end of March but some councils have closed applications earlier or may run out of cash if there's a lot of demand.

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