Get help if you're in an emergency financial situation

You can apply for emergency support payments if you need money to help with living expenses, for example, after a disaster.  

The payments are meant to help with one-off needs rather than ongoing expenses.

If you're struggling with daily expenses, we may refer you to another part of our team for long-term advice and support. We may also do this if you make 3 or more separate applications for emergency payments.

Additional criteria for emergency support payments

To qualify for emergency support payments, you must:

• not have enough resources to meet your essential short-term needs in an emergency or after a disaster, such as a fire or flood
• have no other means of preventing serious risk to the health and safety of you or your family members

You do not need to be in receipt of a qualifying benefit to get an emergency support payment.