IS20 - A guide to Income Support

Making a claim

Interim payments

Interim payments can only be made if you: [Legislation (40)]

• have not been able to claim Income Support but it looks as though you may be entitled
• have made a claim for Income Support and it looks as though you may be entitled, but it is not possible for a decision on your claim to be made straight away
• have been awarded Income Support but it cannot be paid on time. This could be at the start of the claim or after payments have already been made.

Interim payments are discretionary and take into account such things as possible hardship. They will normally be made only for a short period. There is no right of appeal against a decision on interim payments.

Interim payments cannot be used to by-pass normal decision-making rules. For instance, you cannot get an interim payment if you have:

• received a decision on your claim but disagree with it
• been awarded benefit but not received a payment because you have not reached your normal payday.

You cannot normally be paid an interim payment if you have been refused benefit but are waiting for an appeal to be decided.

If you receive an interim payment you will get a letter explaining how this payment will be treated when your Income Support entitlement is later worked out.

It is better for a customer to receive an interim payment (which is a payment on account of their benefit) than to be given a crisis loan, which places them in debt with the department

Payments from the Social Fund

If you do not qualify or are unable to manage until your first payment of Income Support is to be made, you may be able to get an interestfree Crisis Loan from the Social Fund. Details of the Social Fund can be found in guide SB16 A guide to the Social Fund. You can get it from your Jobcentre Plus office or social security office.

A Crisis Loan may be paid to cover the short-term needs of you and your family if you are left without means or are faced with an immediate need to replace a specific item or pay for a service as a result of an emergency or disaster. A payment can only be made if it is the only way to prevent serious damage or serious risk to the health and safety of you or your family. An exception to this would be made if the Crisis Loan is for rent in advance to a private landlord and you are also being awarded a Community Care Grant to help you re-establish yourself in the community after a stay in institutional or residential care. Such a loan may cover your living expenses but would generally be limited to a short period. Payment is at the discretion of the decision maker, but the sort of situation that you might get a Crisis Loan for includes:

• a disaster, causing damage, loss or destruction to your family’s property
• loss of money, for example, through a burglary
• emergency travel expenses for someone who is stranded away from home.

If you are offered a Social Fund loan, you will also be told the terms of repayment.

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