The official, free, and trustworthy sources for UK money admin
Twelve sites for benefits, debt, energy, and bills — all free, mostly government or charity-run, and worth knowing before you pay anyone for advice.
Official
gov.uk
The only correct source for benefits, taxes, and most admin.
If a website that looks like gov.uk asks you to pay for a Universal Credit application, NI number, or driving licence — it's a scam. The real gov.uk doesn't charge for any of these.
- Official
- Free
- No third parties
MoneyHelper
Government-backed money guidance, replacing the old Money Advice Service.
Free, impartial, covers pensions, debt, mortgages, benefits, redundancy. Useful when MoneySavingExpert's marketing tone is too much and you want a calm explanation.
- Government-backed
- Pensions specialism
- Free webchat
Ofgem
The energy regulator — useful for the price-cap calendar.
Sets the energy price cap quarterly. Their website is plain but accurate; useful for confirming whether a 'fixed deal' is actually below cap or above it. Not for comparison shopping.
- Price cap data
- Regulator
- Authoritative
HMRC online
Personal tax account — the only place to check what you owe.
Personal tax account, PAYE coding, self-assessment, marriage allowance, student loan repayments. If you've ever been on emergency tax, this is where the refund appears.
- Personal tax account
- Self-assessment
- Tax refunds
Comparison & advice
MoneySavingExpert
Martin Lewis's site — the closest thing to required reading on UK money.
Loud styling, genuinely useful content. Best in class for energy switching, council tax challenges, banking tricks, and consumer rights. Free, ad-supported, no upsells.
- Free
- Weekly newsletter
- Forum
Uswitch
Energy and broadband comparison — be aware they take a fee.
Useful when there's a real switching market (less so since 2022 energy crisis). Compares broadband, mobile, insurance. They earn a referral fee, so cross-check on MoneySavingExpert's Cheap Energy Club.
- Comparison engine
- Switch in-app
- Referral-funded
Compare the Market
Insurance comparison — pair with one rival, never use just one.
Each comparison site has different deals; running two for car or home insurance routinely finds £100+ differences. Combine with Confused.com or GoCompare. The meerkat is a marketing budget, not a quality signal.
- Insurance focus
- Meerkat Meals
- Wide panel
Charities
Citizens Advice
Free, independent advice on housing, benefits, debt, employment.
In-person bureaux in most towns, plus phone and online. The first call to make on any unfamiliar admin problem. Their guides are clearer than most paid alternatives.
- Free
- Local bureaux
- All topics
StepChange
The biggest free debt charity in the UK.
Free Debt Management Plans, free debt advice, no upselling. If a 'debt help' company is charging you, switch to StepChange. They negotiate with creditors on your behalf for free.
- Free debt advice
- Debt Management Plans
- No fees ever
National Debtline
Free phone-based debt advice from a trained adviser.
Sister charity to StepChange — same free advice, structured around a phone call rather than online. Useful if you'd rather talk through it.
- Phone advice
- Free
- Trained advisers
Calculators
Turn2us — Benefits Calculator
Free, anonymous, finds £6bn/year of unclaimed benefits.
Ten minutes, no signup, tells you what you're entitled to. The biggest single underclaimed thing on this site is Council Tax Reduction — most people who qualify never apply.
- Anonymous
- 10 minutes
- All UK benefits
Entitledto
The other big benefits calculator.
Worth running alongside Turn2us — they sometimes return slightly different results. Both are free; using both takes 20 minutes and catches edge cases.
- Free
- Detailed breakdown
- Council tax reduction