Applying for special social assistance

If you have a low income and it is impossible for you to pay exceptional and unexpected costs, you may be entitled to extra financial support from the municipality. This is called special social assistance (bijzondere bijstand).

Special social assistance is subject to the following conditions among others:

you are lawfully living and staying in the Netherlands.
you do not have enough income and funds to pay the costs yourself.
you are at least 18 years old.
you have expenses due to an exceptional or urgent situation, such as surgery or moving house.
you cannot cover the costs in any other way.;

Your municipality can tell you what other conditions apply in your situation.

This is how it works for you

Your (future) place of residence falls under:

Municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee

Here is some information from your municipality.

Municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee: Applying for special social assistance

Special assistance is intended for special costs. These are additional, necessary costs that you have to incur, for example due to illness, a handicap or for some other special reason. These must concern costs that you cannot pay yourself or from another facility (such as insurance or reservation). The costs can be one-off, but also recur weekly or monthly.

Examples of special costs are administration costs, but also, for example, a meal provision if you cannot prepare your food yourself.

Description

Own contribution and financial capacity

Even if your income is higher than the minimum income, you can sometimes receive special assistance. Your income can be a benefit from the municipality or another institution, a salary or a pension. Is your income higher than the social assistance standard that applies to you? Usually you have to pay part of the costs yourself. This is also known as 'carrying capacity'. Capacity depends on the level of your income and assets and that of your family members.

Assets

The municipality also takes into account your assets and the assets of your family members, such as savings or your own house. You do not have to use up your entire assets before you can receive special assistance. A certain minimum power can be disregarded. If your need for special assistance is greater than that minimum, you can receive special assistance for the excess.

Loan

The special assistance sometimes consists of a loan. How much you have to repay on the loan depends on your income and the amount of your social assistance benefit.

The municipality determines whether you will receive the assistance. This can be done as a gift or as a loan.

The main conditions for applying for special assistance are:

You have a low income.
You have little capital.
You cannot pay the unexpected costs yourself.
The costs are necessary.
You are not entitled to any other benefit or allowance.

Request special assistance from the municipality. This can be done online with the application form that you can find under the heading Forms below.

The application must be submitted before the costs are incurred. If you apply for special assistance if you have already incurred the costs, the application will be rejected.

If you have to incur the same costs for a longer period of time, you can request this in one go.

Keep all bills and receipts safe! You will only receive special assistance if you can show that you actually incurred the costs.

The application must be accompanied by copies of:

identity documents for you and possibly your partner and family members;
proof of your income, assets and debts of you and possibly your partner and family members.

The municipality assesses on a case-by-case basis whether you receive special assistance and in what form. When applying for special assistance, the following will be considered:

Do the costs really arise?
Are the costs necessary?
Are you unable to pay the costs (entirely) yourself, not even from the Individual Income Allowance?
Is there no other institution that reimburses the costs, such as your health insurance company?

You will receive a message from the municipality within 8 weeks.

You can object to the decision on your application. Do this within 6 weeks. Do you subsequently disagree with the decision on the notice of objection? Then file an appeal with the court.

More information