If you are under 60 there is a waiting period before you qualify for help with mortgage interest payments through benefits. This is 39 weeks in general; however, there are some exceptions to the 39 week rule.

People who fall into one of the following categories could get help sooner:

• people who took out their current mortgage on or before 2 October 1995
• people whose current mortgage replaces a previous mortgage on the same property with the same lender which was arranged on or before 2 October 1995
• single parents whose partner has died or abandoned them
• carers looking after people claiming Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance care component at the highest or middle rate certain benefits
• people with pre-existing medical conditions or HIV that prevented them from taking out mortgage protection insurance or receiving payment under a protection scheme
• prisoners on remand awaiting trial or sentencing.

Anyone falling into these categories could qualify under more generous rules. This would mean they get no help for the first eight weeks, have 50% of eligible interest payments paid between weeks nine and twenty six weeks (inclusive) and then have 100% of their mortgage interest payments met after that.