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Community care grants are designed to help people on income support, jobseeker's allowance, employment or support allowance or pension credit who need extra financial help to live independently.

What is it?

Community care grants are awarded by the social fund. You can apply for a community care grant to help with the cost of setting up home, or staying in your home. For example, you could use a community care grant to pay for:

• furniture
• bedding
• connection charges for utilities such as gas and electricity
• removal costs
• clothing
• household equipment
• certain essential travel expenses (for example, to go to a funeral or visit someone who is ill).

You won't be able to get a community care grant to pay your deposit or rent, but you can apply for a budgeting loan to pay rent in advance to secure accommodation. In certain very limited circumstances, you may be eligible for a crisis loan, for example if you are moving into private landlord accommodation and have been awarded a community care grant following a stay in residential or institutional care.

If you get a community care grant you won't have to pay it back.

Can I apply?

There is no automatic right to a community care grant. It can be difficult to get one but it is worth applying. You may be eligible for a community care grant if you:

• are 16 and over, and
• are getting income support (IS), income based jobseeker's allowance (JSA), income based employment and support allowance (ESA) or either guarantee or savings pension credit (PC) on the day you apply, or
• are leaving care and expect to be entitled to these benefits when you leave any of the institutions listed below.

In addition, you must need a community care grant for one of these reasons.

• You or a member of your family must be about to leave a residential or institutional accommodation (such as a children's home, foster home, homeless accommodation, a hospital or a young offenders institute).
• You or a member of your family must be in need of help to stay in your home (for example if you are elderly or disabled and need adaptations done to your home).
• You are setting up home after a period when you have had an unsettled way of life (for example, you were homeless). You must be getting help to resettle, for example, from a local charity or housing association.
• You and your family are facing extreme pressure such as a family breakdown or long-term illness.
• You need to look after someone who is a prisoner or young offender while they are on temporary release.
• You need travel expenses to visit someone who is ill or to attend a relative's funeral.

If you are part of a couple, whoever is claiming the benefit has to make the claim. If you have more than £500 in savings between you (or £1,000 if one of you is over 60) the amount you get will be reduced.

How do I apply?

Community care grants are given out by the social fund. You can make an application at your local Jobcentre Plus office, in person or over the phone. Claim forms are also available online at the DWP's A to Z of Welfare Benefits website. You can apply up to six weeks in advance and can ask for any amount from £30 (or less, if you need money for travel expenses).

What are my chances of getting a grant?

Get advice if you need a community care grant. There is a limited amount of money available so it isn't easy to get a payment. An adviser may be able to:

• check which type of grant or loan you have the best chance of getting
• help you convince the social fund that you should be a priority (the rules about who gets priority are very complicated)
• explain the forms and help you work out how much you should ask for
• help you to appeal if the social fund says it can't help you.

Use the Advice Services Directory to find advice agencies in your area that can support your application.

What if my application is refused?

If your application for a community care grant is refused or if it is partially successful and you are not happy with the amount awarded, you can ask the social fund to review its decision. To do this, you must:

• apply in writing
• apply within 28 days of the date the decision was given
• explain clearly the reasons why you think the decision was unfair.

Your local DWP will offer you a face-to-face or telephone interview so you can discuss your application with a different decision maker from the one who refused the grant. If the social fund does not change its mind when it reviews the decision, you can then ask the Independent Review Service (IRS) to look at your application again. This is all done in writing and there is a greater chance of success at this stage. The IRS can change the decision if they think it was wrong. Visit the IRS website for more information.

If you are not happy with any decision made on your application and want to ask for a review, get advice immediately. It is often difficult to get decisions about the social fund changed, but an adviser could help you increase your chances of getting a grant.