Benefits

What To Do if You Have No Money

No Money for Immediate Necessities.

Where to get help if something has happened and you do not have enough money to meet immediate living expenses.

Applying for a Crisis Grant

A Crisis Grant aims to help people, on qualifying benefits, who are in crisis because of a disaster or an emergency. A disaster is something like a fire or a flood. An emergency can be when they have lost money or it was stolen. Crisis Grants award decisions will be made within 2 working days and there are a variety of methods available to support grant awards.

Applications for Social Welfare Fund grants can be made by telephoning the Grants Services team on 0141 276 1177, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

DWP can offer support to people waiting for their first payment of benefit and who, in the absence of any other financial support, need an advance of that benefit to tide them over until the benefit is in payment. DWP will also continue to provide Budgeting Loans for those on income related benefits and Budgeting Advances for those on Universal Credit.

How can Social Work Services help?

Social work may be able to assist in a small number of cases by providing you with a limited payment for immediate needs. This payment can be in cash or kind such as fuel cards, food or nappies. They will need to know why you have no money. We will check whether you have been to a social work office before and whether you currently have a social worker. We will also check whether there have been previous requests and what these payments were for. In the first instance we will expect that you have been to the DWP and have requested, but been refused, a Crisis Grant. We will require proof that a claim has been made. If you do not have proof of the decision, the person you speak to at your local social work office will phone the DWP to confirm the decision. We will then consider your particular circumstances. For example:

  • do you have any dependant children?
  • are you young, vulnerable and pregnant?
  • are you vulnerable and have recently moved out of social work care?
  • are you vulnerable with mental health problems?

If you are not in any of the above categories but still feel that you need assistance, you may be able to access a payment. This would only be in “exceptional circumstances”, such as leaving a violent relationship or if there has been a fire in your home or it has been flooded. If you are unsure whether we can help you, you should contact your local social work office for advice. If you cannot get to your local office, another social work office may be able to make a payment to you. They will only do this, after contact has been made with your local office.

What happens next?

If you have been refused a Crisis Grant and social work decide to give you assistance this will normally be enough to last for one day.

If you have any questions about benefits, a GAIN Welfare Rights Adviser can help you. Click here to find your nearest GAIN agency or call the GAIN Helpline on 0808 801 1011 Mon- Fri 10am - 8pm and Saturday 10am to 2pm. Calls are free from land-lines and some mobile numbers.

Glasgow City Council Social Work Services