Apply for assistance with living expenses (social welfare)
Service description
As a rule, you will receive assistance with living expenses as a social welfare benefit if you are in need of help and have a disability:
- neither basic income support for jobseekers,
- still receive basic income support in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity.
Children under the age of 15 receive social assistance if they:
- live together with people who receive subsistence assistance (usually with their parents) and
- are unable to secure their livelihood despite being entitled to maintenance.
Assistance with living expenses includes:
- the flat-rate standard rate to ensure subsistence, for example for food, clothing or personal hygiene. A separate standard rate is set for each family member.
- Education and participation benefits for children and young people, for example for
- School trips,
- personal school supplies,
- Student tickets,
- supplementary learning support,
- Lunch in schools or
- Club fees, music lessons and the like.
- Needs for accommodation and heating.
- In exceptional cases, assumption of debt for:
- Prevention of homelessness,
- Securing your accommodation or
- to remedy a comparable emergency situation, for example debts to the energy supplier.
- Requirements for your health and long-term care insurance contributions and, under certain conditions, for your pension provision.
In addition to your standard rate, you can receive benefits for additional needs for living expenses. You can apply for these additional needs if you:
- fulfil the requirements for a severely disabled person's pass with the mark "G" and are not able to work under pension law,
- expectant mother from the 13th week of pregnancy,
- are single parents,
- have reached the age of 15, are disabled and receive assistance for appropriate schooling or training within the framework of integration assistance,
- are dependent on a special diet due to a medical condition, which leads to higher costs than a "normal" diet,
- produce hot water in a decentralised manner (e.g. boiler) rather than through a central heating system, or
- you are a pupil and have expenses for the purchase or loan of textbooks or equivalent workbooks due to the respective school regulations or school requirements.
If you do not live alone, the social welfare office will take your entire family income into account to determine your need for assistance. The income of all family members living together in the same home is taken into account, for example:
- Earned income,
- Maintenance payments and
- Pension income.
Child benefit paid for minors and any maintenance payments for a child are allocated to this child to cover its needs.
Certain assets are not considered to be protected assets, for example:
- smaller amounts of cash (financial assets per adult: EUR 10,000) or
- a suitable house plot.
Apart from a few exceptional cases, you will not receive any benefits for past periods.
Procedure
Assistance with living expenses is paid from the time the social welfare office is informed of the entitlement to benefits. This information is usually provided in the form of an application.
- Arrange a counselling interview at your local social welfare office. Take all the necessary documents with you to this consultation.
- Fill out the application for assistance with living expenses during the counselling session.
- The social welfare office will decide on your application and inform you of the result. This takes the form of a decision, which is usually sent to you by letter.
- If your application is approved, you will receive a notice of approval; if it is rejected, you will receive a notice of rejection.
- In both cases, the notification must contain the reasons for the decision and information on the possibility of lodging an appeal. It must also state the deadline within which you can lodge an appeal.
- The notice of authorisation must include the amount of the benefit to be paid as well as the start date of the payment. From the date stated, the social welfare office will transfer the money to your account at the beginning of the month.
- Please note: You are obliged to inform your social welfare office immediately of any changes to your income and assets.
Who should I contact?
Your local social welfare office
Prerequisites
- You are in need of help and:
- temporarily fully incapacitated for work or
- receive an old-age pension but have not yet reached the age limit for the standard old-age pension.
-
You are in need of assistance if you cannot fully cover your living expenses from your own means and resources.
You are temporarily fully incapacitated for work if you are unable to work regularly for at least 3 hours a day under the usual conditions of the general labour market for the foreseeable future (more than 6 months).
- You will not receive any:
- Basic income support for jobseekers,
- Basic income support in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity or
- Basic benefits for asylum seekers.
- You are in need of help and:
Which documents are required?
- Valid identity card or passport, confirmation of registration if applicable
- Proof of a temporary full reduction in earning capacity in the form of a pension certificate or medical certificates
- Proof of income, for example pension, sick pay, child benefit, maintenance payments or advance maintenance payments
- Proof of assets, for example savings
- Tenancy agreement and subsequent amendments, in particular with regard to the amount of rent
- Proof of expenses, in addition to the amount of rent and rent payment, especially advance payments and bills for ancillary costs and heating costs, documents on insurance premiums
- Proof of health and long-term care insurance, i.e. details of health insurance company and insurance status or contract for private health and long-term care insurance
Please note: The scope of the documents required, especially for proof of income and assets, depends on the individual case. Your local social welfare office will request further documents from you, such as current bank statements, divorce decrees or maintenance titles.
What deadlines do I have to observe?
The deadlines set by the social welfare office for the submission of documents must be adhered to. If you are unable to do so for understandable reasons, you must apply for an extension of the deadline. Otherwise, the social welfare office may refuse to pay you benefits because you have failed to comply with your statutory obligations to co-operate.
This also applies to the appeal deadlines, i.e. if you do not agree with the decision - not only with the rejection decision, but also with the authorisation decision (amount of the resulting benefit entitlement).
Processing time
Depending on the individual case.
Legal basis
Applications / Forms
Forms: available from your social welfare office
Informal application possible: Yes
Personal appearance required: No
Online services available: No
Further information
Short text
- Subsistence assistance Authorisation
- Persons who are not able to support themselves from their own resources (income and assets) and resources (use of labour) or with the help of others (e.g. parents, children) are entitled to social assistance:
- are fully disabled or incapacitated for work for a limited period or
- are expected to stay in an inpatient facility for longer than 6 months or
- receive an old-age pension but have not yet reached the age limit for the standard old-age pension.
- benefits for living expenses:
- the flat-rate standard rate to cover living expenses,
- Needs for accommodation and heating,
- In exceptional cases, assumption of debts in connection with housing and energy,
- Requirements for contributions to health and long-term care insurance and old-age provision,
- Education and participation benefits for children and young people and
- any additional requirements and one-off requirements.
- Calculation basis: Income of all family members (especially parents and children) including maintenance payments or child benefit as well as pension income or earned income
- Certain assets are not taken into account (protected assets), for example smaller amounts of cash or an appropriate house property
- With a few exceptions: no benefits for past periods (no retroactive benefits)
- Responsible: local social welfare office
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