Social Fund

The Social Fund is a system of grants and loans managed by the Social Security Agency to you help you cope with extra costs that cannot be covered from your weekly benefit entitlement.

Community Care Grants:

Community Care Grants are intended to help people in difficult circumstances cope with expenses.  This includes:

• moving out of care into the community
• staying out of care – hospital or other care
• visiting someone who is ill
• easing a domestic crisis
• moving to suitable accommodation

The following criteria applies to most lone parents:

• Families under pressure as a result of marriage or relationship breakdown, lone parenthood, a sudden traumatic experience such as the death of a family member, domestic violence, low income, mental stress, anxiety or depression.

As many of these circumstances will apply to lone parents we believe most lone parents should consider applying for a grant. A grant does not have to be paid back. You must be getting Income Support or Income-Based Jobseeker’s Allowance to be able to claim a Community Care Grant.

You can claim for a range of items including:

• Basic furniture such as beds, table and chairs,wardrobes
• Basic appliances including a cooker, fridge and washing machine
• Bedding and soft furnishings
• Cleaning and cooking utensils
• Moving expenses including fares and storage charges
• Clothing and footwear
• Expenses that occur because of a disability
• Minor repairs, redecoration or home improvements

Reviews:

Many applications are initially turned down but you should contact us for help with getting the decision looked at again - this is called a review.  Many review decisions mean that a grant is then awarded. 

If you are not happy with the review decision you can ask that a Social Fund Inspector from the Office of the Social Fund Commissioner looks at the decision. The Office of the Social Fund Commissioner is independent of the Social Security Agency and makes awards in the majority of cases and deals with most cases within two weeks. We recommend you seek advice if your application has been turned down – our Advice Workers can help you fill in the application form, draft a review letter and help you deal with correspondence from the Office of the Social Fund Commissioner.

Gingerbread’s Advice Service has found that most of the lone parents we deal with will be entitled to grants from the Social Fund. A Community Care Grant does not have to be paid back.

Budgeting Loans:

You can apply for a Budgeting Loan when you have been getting Income Support or Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance for six months – the loan can be used to pay for household items or to pay off credit debts. Budgeting Loans will have to be paid back from your Income Support and you should bear this in mind before applying. There is no automatic entitlement to a loan and the decision on whether or not you qualify is based on specific criteria such as how long you have been getting Income Support, how much you already owe the Social Fund and how many children you have rather than the discretion of the Social Fund.

Loans can be awarded for:

• furniture and household equipment
• clothing and footwear
• rent in advance and/or removal expenses
• improvement, maintenance and security of your home
• travelling expenses
• expenses to do with starting work or looking for work
• to repay credit or debts or hire purchase debts

You just have to tick a box on the form for one of the above categories and you do not need to go into the kind of detail that is needed on a Community Care Grant form.

Loans from the Social Fund are interest free and therefore are a more affordable option than commercial credit.The level of repayments can often be reduced if you feel that they are too high – contact us for details.

Our Advice Workers can help you fill in a form, give you more information and can give you advice on your options if you have applied and been turned down.

Crisis Loans:

A Crisis Loan is an urgent payment that can be made to people who do not have enough money to meet their immediate needs. The loan should be paid when it is the only way of preventing a serious risk to the health or safety of you or a member of your family.

Crisis Loans are interest free and you do not have to be on Income Support or means -tested Jobseeker’s Allowance to apply – they are repaid in the same way as Budgeting Loans as described above.

You can apply for a Crisis Loan if you have had a crisis such as a fire or a burglary for example or if you have lost your money or are waiting for a benefit to be assessed – you will need to show you do not have enough money for you and your family’s immediate living expenses or for an essential item such as a cooker or fridge for example.

You should take as much supporting evidence with you as you can. Decisions are usually made the same day and payments can be issued immediately at the Social Security or Jobs and Benefits office. You can ask for a review of a decision not to make an award – the review decision can also be made the same day.

Our Advice Workers can give you more information and can give you advice on your options if you have applied and been turned down. They can direct you to other sources of help as appropriate.

Sure Start Maternity Grant:

This is a one-off grant of £500 paid to people who are due to have, or have just had, or adopted, a baby. You can apply if you get one of the following benefits:

• Income Support or Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Working Tax Credit which includes the disability or severe disability element
• Child Tax Credit - where it includes more than the Family Element
• Pension Credit

You can claim from 11 weeks before the week your baby is due, until 3 months after the birth. You will need to show you have received advice from a health professional such as a G.P., midwife, or Health Visitor on your health and the health and welfare needs of your baby to qualify for the Sure Start Maternity Grant. This is usually done by having the relevant health professional sign and stamp the form. 

A Sure Start Maternity Grant does not have to be paid back.

Funeral Expenses Payment:

This is a one off payment designed to meet certain funeral expenses. If you have become a lone parent as a result of your partner’s death, you can claim this grant if you get one of the following benefits:

• Income Support or Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Housing Benefit
• Child Tax Credit - where it includes more than the Family Element
• Working Tax Credit where a disability or severe disability element is included in the award

The deceased person should have been your partner or a former partner or child (and there is no non-resident parent or they were receiving certain benefits), or a close relative and it is deemed to be reasonable for you to accept responsibility for the funeral. You can claim any time from the date of death up to three months after the funeral.

The grant does not have to be paid back but it might be recoverable from the deceased person's estate – an insurance policy for example.

For further information:

You can get free, impartial and confidential advice on the Social Fund from Gingerbread NI’s Freephone Advice Helpline – we can advise you on the application process, how to qualify, fill in any forms and advise you of all relevant benefits.

A PDF version of this information is also available.  Download it today by clicking on the image to the left.

For further information the Freephone Advice Helpline is available on:

The Advice is FREE; So is the call!

Alternatively, you are welcome to drop into our centres in Belfast and Derry to see us. Our addresses for the drop in service together with times of operation are as follows:

If we are unable to see you then we will arrange a mutually convenient time for you to return for an appointment.

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