crisis fund

inoffblack1

crisis loans are normally paid on the same day you do not need to be on any benefits but you have to be going through real hard ship aswell or there'll turn u down i would also suggest a community care grant which is a one off payment of up to £1000 that does not have to be paid back but takes about 6 weeks to get a dicision go to your local job centre and pick up a form no harm in trying good luck

Loan_Ranger

Secretary of State's directions and guidance. It is intended for use mainly by Decision Makers and independent Social Fund Inspectors.

(Students can claim a crisis loan no qualifying benefit is required.)
72. Full time students who are not in receipt of IS, JSA(IB), PC or payment on account of such benefits are eligible for CLs during term time or in any vacation only to alleviate the consequences of a disaster.

(Budgeting loans are only for people receiving a qualifying benefit.)
1. Budgeting Loans (BLs) are intended to help those in receipt of Income Support (IS), income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA(IB)), Pension Credit (PC) or payment on account of such benefits to spread the cost of intermittent expenses over a longer period.

(Hunger is bad for your health! therefore you are high priority)
225. If an award of a CL is the only means of preventing serious damage or a serious risk to the health or safety of the applicant or a member of his family the application will by its nature be of high priority.

18. Crisis Loan (CL) applications should, where possible, be dealt with on the date that the need arises.

Applications made over the telephone
21. From 1st October 2002, where a customer makes an initial enquiry by telephone and agrees to make their application by telephone, they will only need to sign the application if a payment is to be made.
22. If the decision is negative, the customer will receive that decision by telephone avoiding unnecessary journeys to the office and will also receive by post full written confirmation of the decision and notification of the right to a formal review.
23. Remember that this service is intended for customers who make their initial contact to the office by telephone: customers who are already in the office must never be told to go home and telephone.
24. Customers who have difficulty making themselves understood on the telephone must be offered an immediate office interview instead.
25. When a customer contacts the office about a CL by telephone, confirm at the outset that he/she:
• understands what will happen i.e.:
− if the decision is negative they will receive it by telephone, with full written confirmation by post;
− if the decision is positive and they require an immediate payment they will be required to attend the office with satisfactory evidence of their identity to confirm their statement and agree repayment terms and conditions;
• is happy to make the application by 'phone.
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My advice:
Simply telling a claimant that they won't qualify and hanging up isn't allowed.
Jobcentres and their 'Benefit Delivery Centres' (the 0800 No. is a 'BDC') must register your claim for a CL if you ask/tell them to, it is unlawful for them not to do so because you will require evidence of their decision before making a review appeal with JCP (this should only take a couple of days when it's for 'living expenses' because the health and safety criteria apply), they are required to send you written confirmation of their decision (by post) usually within 2 working days. Take the name and location of the "Decision Maker", if they fail to register your claim - complain to the BDC Manager, preferably in writing. Also get their fax number so that you can fax any supporting evidence (bank account, student grant letter etc.) to them which the "Decision Maker" might request - local Citizens Advice Bureaux or Welfare Rights Advisory Centres will usually do this for you, they can also fax through your agreement to the repayment terms thus saving you a trip to the local JCP office. (see CL para 26.)

If the review decision is negative, you can ask for a further review by "the independent Social Fund Inspector", (again, this should only take a couple of days when it's for 'living expenses because the health and safety criteria apply). This year, 57 % of SFI reviews overturned JCPs' decisions in favour of the claimant!

Not getting through: The 0800 number (list available here, but ask your local JCP for the correct number) is frequently too busy and all that you get is a recorded message telling you to try again later (before hanging up on you), Fridays should be avoided, it can be impossible to speak to someone, begin early - BDCs' open 08:30 to 16:30. If you still cannot get through you can phone your local JCP and ask for an urgent interview, tell them that you are too ill to spend all day in a phone box and that you can't afford credits on your mobile due to your financial plight and mention that the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as amended, makes it unlawful to treat a disabled person less favourably for a reason related to their disability, and requires the making of reasonable adjustments in certain situations to remove or mitigate any detriment. In addition, it gives public authorities a duty actively to promote disability equality. It makes it possible to sue a service provider which does not make reasonable adjustments. Citing disability discrimination and / or public authorities’ disability equality duty is unfortunately unlikely to have much immediate impact on front-line call-takers (ask to speak to the Manager), but it is a very powerful social policy tool. It also offers a potential remedy for individual clients.(Try this page for more advice, it was written by a genuine CAB adviser).

I hope that this helps and that it is not too late.

L.R.