Benefit centre contacts

24 Comments To This Article… add one

• malcolm

  January 24, 2014 at 12:31 pm Reply edit

  cost me £3.30 on your helpline to get a £35.00 crisis loan on my mobile ,icant afford a landline..
  making money off thoes in most need stinks.why such eccessive charges ?

• james burke

  August 6, 2013 at 12:51 am Reply edit

  Iv lost my disabilty benifet when collecting my medication what do i do???iv lost everything

• chloe

  June 10, 2013 at 10:23 am Reply edit

  Hi is there a number I can ring for Sunderland bdc I cannot access the 0845 number as my free calls won’t use it… Is there a 0191 number??

• Marie herbert

  May 30, 2013 at 10:46 am Reply edit

  Hi I applied for a social fund loan and sent the form bsck saying I accept what they offered me could u plesse tell me how long it will be untill its in my account thanks

• david walker

  May 29, 2013 at 4:38 pm Reply edit

  I was wondering if you could tell me how my new claim for jobseekers allowance has still not been payed after making the claim six weeks ago,the jobcentre keeps telling me to contact benefit delivery centre but everytime i ring i get put on hold and it uses all my mobile credit.iv never been so skint,i cant afford food,im having to refuse job interviews as i cant get there,yet iv worked all my life,payed taxes and N.I contributions and some people have been on job seekers all there life,its a disgrace,im currently seeking legal advice as i shouldnt have to starve in my own country when they accept assylum seekers with open arms and give them what they want!

• Loans Help

  May 29, 2013 at 4:50 pm Reply edit

  hi David,

  6 weeks is a long time…

  Have they given you a reason for the delay?

  If you are in severe hardship you can speed up the process, assuming that you have already provided all of the information that they will need to make a decision on your application?

  Most benefit customers are aware that it used to be possible to apply for an Alignment to Benefit Crisis Loan from the Social Fund, and that this was one of the areas if support that was targeted and removed when the new welfare reforms started to take effect on April 1st 2013.

  Not as many people are aware that whilst the Alignment to Benefit Crisis Loans were ended and the Discretionary Social fund disbanded, that a new provision was set up to try to eliminate the need for a Crisis Loan. These are called Short Term Benefit Advances and work in a similar way to the old Crisis Loans.

  The idea is that if you are unable to wait for your claim to be processed, and you or your family face a risk to your health and safety, that you can apply for payment of your benefits even before your application is processed.

  What IS odd, is that the process to deciding if you can have a Short term Benefit Advance is much shorter that the benefit claims process, however it is practically the same except that it has 2-3 MORE steps, but can be completed in 48 hours…

  Here is a quick-fire guide on applying for a STBA

  Call the Benefit Centre dealing with your application to Benefits and ask SPECIFICALLY for a “Short Term Benefit Advance “ or call a contact centre on 08456088637

• An application is taken over the phone and passed to a dedicated team
• The team go and find your application to Benefits and will attempt to process the claim on that day
• If the claim CAN be processed (even if its not due to be) it will be processed and payment issued THAT DAY
• If the clam CANT be processed fully, a clerical assessment is made as to whether your claim is likely to be accepted.
• If your claim is likely to be accepted a STBA is considered and awarded THAT DAY

The Short Term benefit Advance system is discretionary, and you have to meet specific Criteria to be able eligible for a payment:

Have recently made a new claim – or have an existing claim to any of the following benefits – Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment Support Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit, Pension Credit, State Pension or Carers Allowance.

• Be likely to receive enough benefit for the STBA loan to be recovered from
• Be able to repay the loan from your benefits within 12 weeks ( this can be extended to 24 weeks, however this is in exceptional situations
• Be able to show that if a loan is not made, that you or your family at serious risk or danger.
• Not be able to find alternative funding anywhere else.

Even if your STBA application is not accepted, in most cases payments of benefits can and will be made much faster than just leaving your application to Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support, Pension Credit or Employment and Support Allowance in the main process, as it will ensure that your application is looked at within days rather then weeks.

Hope that help david?

Feel free to come back for any additional help