“Crisis loans came to an
end in March 2013. But if you’ve run out of money and can’t afford to eat or
pay your rent, there are still financial hardship payments available from job
centres and local councils. Local councils are now responsible for helping you
if you’ve been hit by a disaster like a fire or flood and you’re suddenly
homeless or can’t afford food or necessities.
The type of help varies from
council to council.
If you are on benefits
there’s other money available, depending on your situation. The job centre
won’t necessarily tell you about this, so arm yourself with knowledge.
1) Hardship payments
If your money from
Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit has been stopped for some reason –
for example you’ve been sanctioned because you haven’t applied for enough jobs
– you might be able to get a hardship payment.
Apply by talking to your JSA
advisor. We strongly advise speaking to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau first –
getting hardship payments can be tricky and they’ll help you.
2) Short-term Advances
If you’re waiting for a
benefit claim to be processed and you need money right now you might be able to
get a Short-term Advance from the Job Centre.
How do I apply?
Talk to the job centre.
Who gets a Short-term Advance?
They’re available in all
parts of the UK
Do I have to pay back a Short-term Advance?
You’ll have to pay the
advance back in three months (six months in exceptional circumstances).
3) Budgeting Loans (soon changing to
Budgeting Advances)
Budgeting Advances help
you with big one-off payments like rent, clothes and furniture. You must have
been claiming benefit for six months to get one. If you haven’t been on benefit
long, you can still claim a Budgeting Advance if the money would help you get a
job i.e. with transport costs.
Who can get a budgeting advance?
People from all over the UK including Northern Ireland
How do I apply?
Download the SF500
budgeting loan form from the GOV.UK website.
When do I have to pay back a budgeting advance?
They normally have to be
paid back within 18 months.
How much can I borrow?
The minimum you can borrow
is £100. The maximum number of loans you have at one time can’t be more than
£1500.
Help – my claim has been refused
If you get refused for
financial hardship help, you can ask the job centre to review the decision. You
have to do this in writing, stating the reasons why you want the decision to be
looked at again. You then send this to your local job centre who will forward
it to the reviewing team. Once they’ve considered your case a reviewing officer
will contact you.
Find out more about appealing a decision about
benefits.
If that review is
unsuccessful, you can send a complaint to the Independent Case Examiner who
deals with all complaints against job centres.
If you don’t comply with
your Jobseeker’s agreement, you may have your JSA sanctioned for a number of
weeks. Your local Job Centre should ideally tell you if you’re losing your
benefit and explain why, but you may find the money just doesn’t come into your
account.
If you find your JSA money
has not come into your bank account, do the following:
Contact the Job Centre
straight away to find our why it has not been paid.
If a sanction has been
applied, ask why, and ask for information in writing.
Visit a local advice
centre such as Citizens Advice Bureau as soon as possible.
If a sanction has been
applied incorrectly, challenge it (your advice centre will help you).
If a sanction has been
applied correctly, you local advice centre may still be able to help you access
funds, food, and stop any further sanctions being applied to other benefits
like Housing or Council Tax. They may be able to get the length of the sanction
reduced.
You can also apply for a
hardship payment if you can demonstrate you’re suffering from hardship as a
result of the sanctions.”
No comments:
Post a Comment