Low income discounts on the Isle of Wight ferry

2/3/2024

Isle of Wight residents on low incomes can get the ferry for a much cheaper price

This is just a quick blog post to shout about a ferry deal that I suspect lots of people don't know about. It is what the kids call a gamechanger for anyone on things like Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Jobseekers Allowance, Pension Credit and Council Tax Support.

It is only available to people who live on the Isle of Wight.

If you have stumbled on this page and don't fit into those categories that you need one of these guides instead:

(Yes, we've written a lot about the Isle of Wight ferries).

Anyway, back to the main subject of this blog post.

The Discounted Fares Scheme For Low Income Households

Six years ago, a discount scheme was created for people on the Isle of Wight who receive benefits (we will move onto the small print of what that means shortly).

One guide I read suggested that is 14,000 people - or about 10% of the Isle of Wight's population. (The exact figure is hard to work out, as the eligibility varies depending on which ferry company you are using).

Each of the three ferry companies operate a similar scheme for low income households. However, they all use different names for it:

Wightlink call it the Discounted Fares Scheme.
Red Funnel call it the Assisted Fares Scheme
Hovertravel call it the IOW Council Affordable Fares scheme

Why are there three names for it? Honestly, I have no idea but it may be because they all do it slightly differently.

How much money will I save?

A lot! Current prices that we've been able to find are:

"a maximum fixed price of £59.10 return (or 20% off our lowest standard web fares if cheaper)" for a return car journey with Red Funnel. These fares are fixed and can be a day return or an overnight journey. Standard Isle of Wight ferry fares are 'flexible', meaning they fluctuate with demand like an airline. On a good day, you might pay £50 for a day return ferry if you use a discount code or a voucher. On a bad day, you might pay more than £300 for an overnight return with a car.
"a fixed fare of £12.30 return...for travel as a foot passenger between East Cowes and Southampton" with Red Funnel. The standard fare is £23-£25. Note that it can't be used on the Red Jet from (West) Cowes.
Wightlink don't publish the price but on this page say that it is a "fixed price discounted scheme and will apply to cars, motorbikes or foot passengers wishing to travel on any of our routes across the Solent" (I'm not sure why it's written in the future tense). If you know what the prices are, please add a comment below. My hunch is that it will be similar to the Multilink fares, but I'm not sure on that.
Hovertravel charge £15.50 return (book via this link). Standard fares are £31-£41 depending on whether you do a day return or overnight stay.

who is eligible and how can I apply? Is it lots of faff?

Each ferry company has a different criteria but the amount of paperwork and faff is not that significant:

Red Funnel say that you need to "supply proof that you have been in receipt of Universal Credit in the last 30 days". It's worth saying that Universal Credit is available to lots of people who are working, so Negative Nigel from Newport can avoid snide remarks about this being a "deal for lazy people". You need to fill out a form on this page once and then they will let you know if you've been accepted onto the scheme within seven working days. You don't have to do this every time you travel.
Wightlink say that "Eligible applicants for the scheme include Isle of Wight residents claiming the following benefits: Council tax support, Housing Benefit". I'm not 100% sure on whether they mean one or both of those benefits. You fill out a form on this page which will "generate an automated verification email which will be sent to the Isle of Wight Council to assess your eligibility". As with Red Funnel, you just do this once - not every time you travel.
Hovertravel has a wider eligibility that includes: "Housing benefit, Council Tax Support, Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance (income based only) Employment Support Allowance (Income Related Only), Pensioners in receipt of Pension Credit (Guaranteed Credit only), Universal credit (but only if the claimant has an established entitlement of Housing Costs in their UC award)". Hovertravel do things a little differently in that you "book online or via call centre" and then proof "must be shown at the time of boarding along with matching photo ID". You have to book via this link to get the discount.

Can friends and family visit me with these discounts?

No, I don't think so. I'll update if I hear otherwise.

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