please help! I've become a single parent of three 16,15 and 16 months, I have to move out of my home to one closer to the older childrens school and college as my ex took the family car and I just can't get them there! I'm on income support, and I get caters allowance as my youngest sons has ADHD, I am going to see the new house this Sunday and its a strong possibility it will be suitable, now the difficult part, I need £675 deposit and £675 rent for when I move in, I've been advised to apply for a budgeting loan so I've called for the form today, I'm just worried as I don't know how to fill forms in! Do I make my situation seem worse? Because to be honest it's bad anyway! I'd need help with moving too as I now don't have. Car to move the smaller stuff in! I really need someone who is clues up on this because I just don't know how I'm going to manage to fill it in properly, if someone can help I would be most grateful! I must add that my ex also took the fridge freezer the washing machine and the tumble dryer! What a gent! So for the last four weeks I have had to live with three children like someone out of the middle ages not buying much food as it would go off quickly! Really need some advice!

We had to do this a while back and they said they would not pay the rent on the house or even deposit!! i would go CAB with it and get them to help you with the form

No you don't need to make your situation sound worse. Budgeting loans in general are awarded if there is sufficient funds in the budget and you satisfy the criteria and Social fund debt is under the limit. As a family unit, the maximum you will get is £812.00. It's cut and dry with a budgeting loan, they do not take into account the urgency of your need or health issues of you and your family. It will be repaid by making deductions from your benefit.

They cannot help with a deposit, but they can help with rent in advance. There are deposit schemes out there run by local councils - you should enquire about those for the deposit.

If you answer some questions for me, I can advise you.

How long have you been claiming income support, more than 6 months or less than 6 months?

Do you currently owe any money to the Social Fund (budgeting loan, Crisis loan)? If so, how much?

Do you have any other debts or arrears that you pay out on a regular basis? - you don't need to give me details, just yes or no is sufficient.

I have been on is since 10th nov 2010

I don't owe any money as I've never claimed any benefits before this.

I have debts yes x

I will go and see the council about help with rent in advance on Monday I didn't know about this x

Budgeting loan

Who is eligible?

You may be able to get a Budgeting Loan if you or your partner have been claiming or getting payment of one of the following benefits for at least 26 weeks:

• Income Support
  
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
  
• Pension Credit
  

and you need help to pay for any of the following:

• furniture or household equipment
  
• clothing or footwear
  
• advance rent or removal expenses for a new home
  
• travelling expenses
  
• things to help you look for or start work
  
• improving, maintaining or securing your home
  
• repaying hire purchase or other debts you took out to pay for any of the above
  

How much do you get?

You can apply to borrow between £100 and £1,500. The final amount of Budgeting Loan you get will depend on:

• whether you are single
  
• whether you are a couple
  
• whether you are single or a couple, with children
  
• any existing money you owe to the Social Fund
  
• your ability to repay the loan
  
• your savings - your award will usually be reduced by the amount of any savings you or your partner or civil partner have above £1,000 (or £2,000 if one or both of you is over 60)
  

The following can't be taken into account:

• the urgency of your need
  
• any health problems you or your family might have
  

Who is eligible?

You can apply for a Community Care Grant if you are either:

• already getting Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Pension Credit, or payment on account of one of these benefits
  
• likely to start getting one of these benefits within the next six weeks because you're moving out of care
  

and any one of the following applies:

• you're moving out of residential or institutional care to live independently
  
• you're moving to a new home which will be more suitable for you following an unsettled period in your life and are being resettled by an organisation like a local council or voluntary organisation
  
• you need help to stay in your home and not go into residential care or hospital
  
• you need help because you and your family face exceptional pressure, such as family breakdown or because one of you has a long-term illness
  
• you look after someone who is ill or disabled, or has been released from custody on temporary licence
  
• you need help with expenses such as visiting someone who is ill, or to attend a relative's funeral
  

How much do you get?

The amount you might get depends on your circumstances.

Effect of savings on awards

The amount of Community Care Grant you may get is reduced if you have savings of:

• over £500 where you and your partner are aged under 60
  
• over £1,000 where you and/or your partner are aged over 60
  

Crisis Loan – who can apply

You can apply for a Crisis Loan if you:

• are aged 16 or over
  
• don't have enough money to meet your (or your family's) immediate short term needs in an emergency or as the result of a disaster
  
• think there will be serious damage or risk to your (or your family's) health or safety without the loan
  

A Crisis Loan can help cover the following short term needs:

• meeting daily living expenses
  
• rent in advance
  
• board/lodging charges
  
• residential charges for a hostel
  
• pre-paid meter fuel debt
  
• travel expenses if you are stranded away from home
  

A Crisis Loan can also help if either of the following applies:

• you have suffered a disaster like a fire or flood that has caused a lot of damage and you need help to meet other expenses like replacing household items and clothing
  
• you have been awarded a Community Care Grant and you're moving out of institutional or residential accommodation and don't have enough money to pay advance rent to a non-local authority landlord
  

How much do you get?

There is no set amount for a Crisis Loan. The amount you may be able to borrow will depend on:

• your individual circumstances
  
• any savings you have
  
• whether or not you have any outstanding loans from the Social Fund
  

These were taken from the direct gov website.

A budgeting loan is highly unlikely to cover you request for the deposit and rent in advance. You would be more likely to get help throuh a crisis loan for that and you must have been in receipt of a means tested benefit for a minimum of 26 weeks without even a break of 1 day (this can include if you were a partner on someone elses claim).

Can I apply for more than one of the above ?

Yes you can apply for all 3 but the award of them will be based on your individual entitlement.

A budgeting loan will cover the rent in advance. It's one of the tick boxes on the form. It will also help with removal expenses. It won't cover a deposit, neither will a Crisis Loan or a Community Care Grant - both CCG's and CL's were overhauled last month. For a Crisis Loan, there has to have been a disaster or an emergency to pay for rent in advance. For a Community Care Grant, there needs to be a need for community care. You apply for a Crisis Loan and a Community Care Grant on the same form now. The budgeting loan in a stand alone application.

You've been on IS for long enough to qualify (26 weeks). You have no current social fund debt. That means you will be eligible for £812 on a budgeting loan, and you are likely to get it. (I'm assuming you have no savings!).

It is extremely important that you tell them on the form about your debts. The reason they ask this is because if a person has other debts to pay, they will reduce the repayment rate of your budgeting loan, so that you will be paying it back at a lower cost each week (and spread over a longer period) than if you had no debt. Where you have no debt, they will apply the highest deduction to your benefit.

That's right I have no savings, I'm so grateful for your help, my sister has just called and I've told her what's happening, I've not told anyone how bad its got and not wanted them to see how bad it's got, she's paid for my internet and telephone to be put back on, taken our clothes to be washed and been and got me a small pug in cool box so I can buy milk ECt ECt, I will tell them about the debts.

Im just printing off the forms, I wonder if the fact I've been left with no fridge ECt ECt and I'm having to move nearer to my sister for support and help will help with the ccg or cl? If I am eligible for the bl then I'm happy! Feels like there's a little bit of light at the end of this nightmare! You don't know how much you have all helped I'm so grateful and can sleep a little easier this evening xxx

I will let you know how I get on xx

On its own, no. A fridge tends to be classified as non essential (extremely hard to get an award for a fridge, unless you are an insulin dependent diabetic). I even had a case once where the person was an insulin dependent diabetic and he was refused an award for a fridge on the grounds that he used his neighbours fridge, and there was no reason that arrangement could not continue. It went all the way to the IRS and was still unsucessful. You would also need to be able to demonstrate an emergency or a disaster (such as a flood) for a Crisis Loan, or demonstrate that you had a need for community care for a community care grant.

You can still apply though - the worst that will happen is they will turn you down. With the BL, these are rarely turned down when you meet the criteria.

deffo worth tryin for fridge thoe as when we did last yr when hubby was made unemployed ours packed in and couldnt get another we explained it to them and got a crisi loan to help get a new one so worth a try, good luck to you and like above be honest about debts and who get what and how much it helps with the repayment decision xx

A crisis loan don't help with household items anymore unless there is a disaster. They stopped Crisis loans for all household items in April of this year, but there is an exception in the events disaster, such as a flood etc.

Still - the worst they can say is no - so always worth a shot.

Hi people! Update from me, I went to see the house and took it straight away! It was too good an opportunity to miss, and the landlady said she could wait a month for the deposit. So I heard back from social fund today, crisis loan peeps said thanks but NO thanks! But I was expecting that anyway, so I called the budgeting loan people and it was done today and they have offered me £812"!!!! Can't believe it I'm so thrilled! I've just got to wait for the offer to come through and sighn the papers and then it will go into my account, thanks so much to all of you who offered advice I couldn't have done it without you! I thanks you and my family thanks you!!! Xx x x x

Excellent news, well done you for persisting. I hope it goes well for you from now on.

HB x

There you are, see! Your funds will credit into your account within 3 days of them receiving back the signed offer letter.

It is highly likely that the reply envelope will be a second class reply so if you need to get the declaration to them quickly you can call the social fund department to ask them for a fax number and a n appointment with a custoner service person at the JCP office so that it can be faxed over for you.

Budgeting loan

 

Who is eligible?

 

You may be able to get a Budgeting Loan if you or your partner have been claiming or getting payment of one of the following benefits for at least 26 weeks:

• Income Support
  
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
  
• Pension Credit
  

 

and you need help to pay for any of the following:

• furniture or household equipment
  
• clothing or footwear
  
• advance rent or removal expenses for a new home
  
• travelling expenses
  
• things to help you look for or start work
  
• improving, maintaining or securing your home
  
• repaying hire purchase or other debts you took out to pay for any of the above
  

How much do you get?

 

You can apply to borrow between £100 and £1,500. The final amount of Budgeting Loan you get will depend on:

• whether you are single
  
• whether you are a couple
  
• whether you are single or a couple, with children
  
• any existing money you owe to the Social Fund
  
• your ability to repay the loan
  
• your savings - your award will usually be reduced by the amount of any savings you or your partner or civil partner have above £1,000 (or £2,000 if one or both of you is over 60)
  

 

The following can't be taken into account:

• the urgency of your need
  
• any health problems you or your family might have
  

Who is eligible?

 

You can apply for a Community Care Grant if you are either:

• already getting Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Pension Credit, or payment on account of one of these benefits
  
• likely to start getting one of these benefits within the next six weeks because you're moving out of care
  

 

and any one of the following applies:

• you're moving out of residential or institutional care to live independently
  
• you're moving to a new home which will be more suitable for you following an unsettled period in your life and are being resettled by an organisation like a local council or voluntary organisation
  
• you need help to stay in your home and not go into residential care or hospital
  
• you need help because you and your family face exceptional pressure, such as family breakdown or because one of you has a long-term illness
  
• you look after someone who is ill or disabled, or has been released from custody on temporary licence
  
• you need help with expenses such as visiting someone who is ill, or to attend a relative's funeral
  

How much do you get?

 

The amount you might get depends on your circumstances.

Effect of savings on awards

 

The amount of Community Care Grant you may get is reduced if you have savings of:

• over £500 where you and your partner are aged under 60
  
• over £1,000 where you and/or your partner are aged over 60
  

Crisis Loan – who can apply

 

You can apply for a Crisis Loan if you:

• are aged 16 or over
  
• don't have enough money to meet your (or your family's) immediate short term needs in an emergency or as the result of a disaster
  
• think there will be serious damage or risk to your (or your family's) health or safety without the loan
  

A Crisis Loan can help cover the following short term needs:

• meeting daily living expenses
  
• rent in advance
  
• board/lodging charges
  
• residential charges for a hostel
  
• pre-paid meter fuel debt
  
• travel expenses if you are stranded away from home
  

A Crisis Loan can also help if either of the following applies:

• you have suffered a disaster like a fire or flood that has caused a lot of damage and you need help to meet other expenses like replacing household items and clothing
  
• you have been awarded a Community Care Grant and you're moving out of institutional or residential accommodation and don't have enough money to pay advance rent to a non-local authority landlord
  

How much do you get?

 

There is no set amount for a Crisis Loan. The amount you may be able to borrow will depend on:

• your individual circumstances
  
• any savings you have
  
• whether or not you have any outstanding loans from the Social Fund
  

These were taken from the direct gov website.

 

A budgeting loan is highly unlikely to cover you request for the deposit and rent in advance. You would be more likely to get help throuh a crisis loan for that and you must have been in receipt of a means tested benefit for a minimum of 26 weeks without even a break of 1 day (this can include if you were a partner on someone elses claim).

I thought the maximum allowed break between qualifying benefits was no more than 28 days..Am I wrong in thinking this?