Crisis payments are for people on low incomes to get urgent help because of a financial crisis. They are intended to meet occasional short term emergency needs. Please read before applying.
To get help, you must be able to demonstrate that you are experiencing a recent crisis.
Examples of a crisis:
- Disasters – Unforeseen and result in significant damage to possessions or property, such as serious fire, flood, explosion etc
- Accident, Health Emergency or Mental Health crisis – leading to unplanned spending
- Domestic Abuse – where immediate help is needed to move to alternative safe accommodation
- Breakage of an essential item – such as medical equipment, boiler, white goods
- Lost or Stolen Money – where emergency living expenses are needed
- Gap in Income – a short term gap in income, for example, due to redundancy
Before you start your application
When you apply, you will need:
- your personal details, including your National Insurance number
- evidence of your financial situation, such as a recent bank statement showing at least one month’s transactions
- evidence of any savings accounts showing that you have less than £3000 in savings
To be considered, you must be able to demonstrate that you are on a low income. For the purposes of this scheme a household can be considered a low income if any of the following applies:
- You are a single income household of less £30,000 (ie you are the only person living in your household)
- You are a joint income household of less than £40,000 (ie there is more than one of you living in your household)
- You are in receipt of a means tested, passporting benefit, including Universal Credit, Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit), Housing Benefit, or Council Tax Reduction
- You have satisfied an affordability test of your household income and expenditure and accessible capital, and you can demonstrate that the household does not have sufficient resources to resolve the immediate crisis without going without essentials, incurring unmanageable debt or exacerbating financial harm
Types of support available
We may provide support as:
- a payment into your bank account of up to £250. Higher awards may be given in exceptional circumstances
- a voucher for food
- energy vouchers, if you're on a pre-payment meter
- white goods or essential furniture
How decisions are made
Each application will be assessed depending upon your individual circumstances. Not all awards will receive the above type of financial support but will be referred for further advice and support.
In all cases, you will be referred to our partners to provide tailored advice to help improve your long-term financial situation. It is an expectation that you will work with our partners to receive this support.
We aim to make a decision within 48 hours once you have given us all the information we need.
How to apply
Before you start, ensure that you have read all of the above information and have all the required information.
Note - you can only apply twice a year.
The quick code for the scheme is 425B8R.
