Applying for a budgeting loan (slightly) before 6 month qualifying period

lepidopterist

Hello!

Thanks to my good friends at Barclays Bank (long story, see the "cancelling a CPA" thread in posts I've started if you want to know more), I now find myself £250 short on this months rent.

I see that as of this month, Crisis Loans are no longer A Thing, and have been replaced by Budgeting Loans. I do not currently qualify for a Budgeting Loan, because I have only been on Income-based JSA for 5 months and two weeks, rather than the full six months required to apply for a BL.

QUESTION - can I *apply* for a Budgeting Loan today that will only come into effect once I've been on IB-JSA for six months?

All help gratefully appreciated!

lepi

Thomas_Hardy

There would be no point to doing this - your claim would be rejected.

fluffymovie

lepidopterist wrote: »

Hello!

Thanks to my good friends at Barclays Bank (long story, see the "cancelling a CPA" thread in posts I've started if you want to know more), I now find myself £250 short on this months rent.

I see that as of this month, Crisis Loans are no longer A Thing, and have been replaced by Budgeting Loans. I do not currently qualify for a Budgeting Loan, because I have only been on Income-based JSA for 5 months and two weeks, rather than the full six months required to apply for a BL.

QUESTION - can I *apply* for a Budgeting Loan today that will only come into effect once I've been on IB-JSA for six months?

All help gratefully appreciated!

lepi

Crisis loans haven't completely gone really - they have been replaced by Local Welfare Assistance so certain aspects of the service are being dealt with by either your local council, or your county council.

The Jobcentre are keeping hold of budgeting loans which are primarly to see you from the date you claim for a benefit, to the date that it is paid.

I would advise you to contact your local council to see if there is any support they can suggest and ask about Local Welfare Assistance.

pmlindyloo

fluffymovie wrote: »

Crisis loans haven't completely gone really - they have been replaced by Local Welfare Assistance so certain aspects of the service are being dealt with by either your local council, or your county council.

The Jobcentre are keeping hold of budgeting loans which are primarly to see you from the date you claim for a benefit, to the date that it is paid.

I would advise you to contact your local council to see if there is any support they can suggest and ask about Local Welfare Assistance.

According to CAB (Adviceguide) budgeting loans are still available under the usual circumstances.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/benefits_e/benefits_help_if_on_a_low_income_ew/help_for_people_on_a_low_income_-_the_social_fund_and_other_welfare_schemes.htm#budgeting_loans

However, you do have to have been on a relevant benefit for 26 weeks.

lepidopterist

Hi all - thanks for your advice, folks!

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INITIAL QUERY - IGNORE ALL THIS!

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Turns out my six months starts on Friday. I've got a Budgeting Loan application form from the Job Centre; it seems very... uncomplicated, which surprises me. Especially Part 3 of the form "About What You Need", which simply has a row of tickboxes for various financial requirements (rent, relocation costs, furniture, etc), and a field to enter the amount you want to borrow.

That can't be it, surely? The thing is, I'm absolutely desperate; my landlord is a good man, but I've never been late with the rent before. I absolutely need this loan, and ASAP. I would like to supply more information concerning my current situation; bank statements, acknowldegment of complaint letters, that sort of thing.

Is this advisable? Is it even possible? Would it speed up or hinder the process?

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EDIT - NEW QUERY BEGINS NOW

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OK, so I've been reading up on this fascinating document - http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/ssa/social_fund_s16_leaflet_contents-pg/social_fund_leaflet_s16_further_information-pg.htm

This seems to suggest that the only criteria used to judge whether a budgeting loan is successful or not is the ability to repay, and is judged (for someone with existing debts, like myself) as being 5% of my weekly JSA over a 104 week period?

So in my case the maximum would be (71 * 0.05) * 104 = £369.20.

Is that right? If I apply for £350, am I likely to get it?




Thanks for your help

AsknAnswer2

You do not need to send in any documentation with the claim form, no. The rates a person can get are fixed and are as follows:

single person £348
couple £464
family £812

As long as you have no existing budgeting loan debt and your total social fund debt (if you've been awarded crisis loans in the past) is below £1152, you are very likely to receive the full £348 that you as a single person are eligible for.

Do not submit the application until you have hit your 26 week mark - it will be declined and you will need to re-apply.

Hope this helps

Wicked_witch

I recently applied for a budgeting loan and was surprised at how little information they wanted, having been used to filling in massive forms for everything else. They don't want to know what specifically you want or any other financial info (presumably because the checks have already been done when you applied for income support). If you take the form to the job centre, they'll give you a free envelope as well, although it's second class so I put a first class stamp on mine.

[Deleted User]

Yes it is a very basic form now , no extra info needed really

There is a Social Fund Officer assigned and they go through the form and make the decision which is usually pretty straight forward

It used to be a MUCH longer form lol similar to the recent ( stopped ) community care grant forms listing every item needed and why

I used to work for the social fund dept & my job was to go through the forms and input them for the SFO to look at and make the decisions etc but my job would be extinct now due to it being so simplified ( probably cuts down the amount of staff needed and therefore saves resources ) I loved that job though & the days of the 'giro' lol x