Hardship arrangements for those unable to pay for managed quarantine or testing

Question

Accepted Answer

Hardship arrangements

You should plan for – and meet – the managed quarantine and testing costs associated with your travel.

However, if you believe you will suffer severe financial hardship if you have to pay the full cost of your managed quarantine or testing fees before you travel, then hardship arrangements may be available to you.

If you’re found to be eligible for hardship arrangements, you may be offered a repayment plan (where you pay for the cost of managed quarantine in monthly instalments) for some or all of your fees.

In exceptionally limited circumstances, you may be eligible for a fee reduction or fee waiver.

Hardship arrangements are only available if your travel is for essential purposes.

Essential travel includes:

work (where you’re returning from work that could not be completed in the UK)
education (including for students coming to study in the UK)
urgent medical treatment (where it cannot reasonably be obtained in the UK) and
compassionate reasons (for example, where you’ve been to visit a close family member who is dying or critically ill, to attend the funeral of a close family member or to avoid injury or illness or escape the risk of harm)

Before you apply

We’ll expect you to take all reasonable steps to try to pay for the cost of managed quarantine or testing yourself before you apply for hardship arrangements. This could include exploring whether you could get a loan, including from friends and family, using a credit card or your overdraft.

You’ll be asked to provide evidence that you’ve explored these options when you apply.

What we’ll consider

When we assess your application for hardship arrangements, we’ll consider a range of factors including:

your income
your savings
your access to credit and/or loans
whether your family or friends can lend you the money
your family circumstances, such as whether you have children or are a carer
your essential living costs, such as rent

If you’re part of a couple (or live with your family), we’ll take your partner’s and family’s financial situation into consideration when assessing your eligibility. You must give details of their savings and income during the application process.

Eligibility for hardship arrangements

Hardship arrangements are only available if you’re travelling for essential purposes.

You can only apply for hardship arrangements if you do not already have existing hardship arrangements in place.

This means if you’re already on a deferred repayment plan for managed quarantine services or mandatory testing, or you’ve previously had your fees reduced or waived, you will not be able to apply again except in very limited circumstances (for example if you’re an international student who has to enter the UK more than once for essential purposes, or if you’re applying on behalf of a member of your immediate family who will not be travelling with you).

You must only apply for hardship arrangements if you believe you are eligible. If you provide false information, or leave out key information when applying, you’ll be committing fraud and may be prosecuted. If you have not booked and paid for a quarantine or testing package before arriving in England, and have not been granted a hardship arrangement, you may be fined up to £4,000. You’ll also have to pay for your managed quarantine or testing on arrival.

Who is eligible

Hardship arrangements are only available to UK citizens or individuals with residency rights (for example, international students who possess a student visa).

You may be eligible for hardship if one or more of the following apply:

you have an annual household income of under £13,800 before tax
you or your spouse/civil partner (if not legally separated) have no, or limited, savings
you have dependents and significant care-related expenses
you’re on income-related benefits
you’re above state pension age and are on a fixed income

If your annual household income is less than £13,800 and your household’s savings are less than the cost of your managed quarantine and testing fees, you’ll be eligible for some form of hardship arrangement. If your annual household income is higher than £13,800 you may still be eligible for hardship, but you’ll need to provide additional evidence to support your application, such as details of your essential outgoings.

Please note that you should include any overtime or bonuses in your income.

Who is not eligible

You will not be eligible for hardship arrangements (unless exceptional circumstances apply) if:

you have a pre-tax annual income over £50,000 or an annual household income over £62,400
you or your spouse/civil partner (if not legally separated) have savings that could be used to pay for the cost of your managed quarantine or testing
you’re able to take out a credit card or loan to pay for the cost of your managed quarantine or mandatory testing
your travel is not for essential purposes
you have existing hardship arrangements in place

If you have savings

Savings include:

money at home, in the bank, in a building society or in a credit union account
premium bonds or investments such as shares

Any savings that can be accessed within 14 days must be used to pay for your managed quarantine or testing fees upfront.

If you have savings which will take longer to access (up to 90 days), you must take steps to access these before you travel and use these to pay your fees as soon as your savings are available.

If you have enough savings to pay for part of your managed quarantine or testing, you must use these first and apply for hardship arrangements for the remaining amount.

How to apply

To apply for hardship arrangements if you plan to travel, you’ll need to complete an online application form. We will then contact you to discuss your application before you travel.

When to apply

You must apply for hardship arrangements at least 14 days before you’re due to arrive in England.

If you’re travelling at short notice, you’ll need to explain your situation when you apply.

What information you’ll need to provide

You’ll need the following information when you apply:

details of your income and your household’s income
details of your benefits (if applicable)
details of your savings and your household’s savings
a phone number and/or email address to contact you
your passport number
your date of travel
the number of people travelling

If you normally live outside the UK, you must convert your savings and monthly income into pounds sterling (GBP) using the current exchange rate when making your application.

You must provide information on all of your accounts, including if you have multiple current accounts, savings accounts and credit cards.

What happens after you apply

We’ll let you know whether or not you’re eligible for hardship arrangements.

If you’re eligible, we’ll tell you what hardship arrangements are available to you, including whether you’ll receive a deferred payment plan, fee reduction or fee waiver.

If you’re told you’re eligible for a deferred payment plan, you’ll discuss how much you will be expected to pay each month and for how long.

You can choose to accept or decline these arrangements. If you decline these arrangements, you will need to book and pay for managed quarantine or testing before you can travel to the UK.

Payment arrangements

If you’ve agreed a repayment plan with our debt management partner, you’ll need to give them your bank details so that they can take the payments.

Under the repayment plan, the first instalment will be taken within 30 days and subsequent payments will be made on the same day each month. You’ll be able to choose the day of the month.

If you have savings that take longer to access (up to 90 days), you must use these to pay your fees once you’re back in the UK. Failure to do so will result in debt collection action being taken against you.

Reviewing your circumstances

If you’re granted a repayment plan, your circumstances will be reviewed every 6 months.

If you cannot pay the agreed amount each month, your repayments may be reduced and the timeline for your repayment lengthened.

If your financial circumstances change before your review, you’ll need to phone or email our debt management partner. They’ll discuss your circumstances and decide if you need to make a different repayment plan. You can contact our debt management partner by email or phone:

email contact@1stlocate.com
if you’re travelling from a red list country, phone: 0344 543 9060
if you’re travelling from a country that’s not on the red list, phone: 0344 543 9140

If your change in circumstances means you can afford a higher repayment rate, your monthly payments may be increased and the timeline for your repayment shortened.

You must only apply for hardship arrangements if you believe you are eligible. If you provide false information, or leave out key information when applying, you’ll be committing fraud and may be prosecuted. If you have not booked and paid for a quarantine or testing package before arriving in England, and have not been granted a hardship arrangement, you may be fined up to £4,000. You’ll also have to pay for your managed quarantine or testing on arrival.

Exceptional circumstances and reviews

If you apply for hardship arrangements and are found not to be eligible, you may be able to apply to have your application reviewed if you feel there are exceptional circumstances that mean you would suffer severe financial hardship as a result of the cost of managed quarantine or testing.

Exceptional circumstances might include where:

you’ve received notices threatening legal action due to non-payment of bills or housing costs (you will need to explain why you haven’t paid these)
you are subject to an attachment of earnings order
your savings are allocated to essential childcare costs or costs for care of an elderly relative
you have circumstances that mean your essential outgoings are unavoidably higher than usual
you are subject to a bankruptcy order

You will be asked to provide additional evidence to support your request for your application to be reconsidered.

Hardship arrangements for those unable to pay for managed quarantine or testing

This guidance was withdrawn on 21 March 2022

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales