Apply for assistance with living expenses (social assistance) when living in a special form of accommodation

If you live in a special form of accommodation and your income or assets are not sufficient to cover your necessary living expenses, you can receive assistance with living expenses (social assistance) under certain conditions.

As a rule, you will receive assistance with living expenses as a social welfare benefit if you are in need of help and:

• neither basic income support for jobseekers (citizen's allowance),
• or 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 assistance with living expenses (usually with their parents) and
• are unable to secure their livelihood despite being entitled to maintenance.

You can also receive assistance with living expenses if you meet the above requirements and live in a special form of accommodation.

The benefits for assistance with living expenses include

• the flat-rate standard rate to ensure subsistence, for example for food, clothing or personal hygiene. People living in special housing generally receive the standard rate of standard needs level 2.
• Education and participation benefits for children and young people, for example for
  • School trips,
  • personal school supplies,
  • school travel tickets,
  • supplementary learning support,
  • lunches in schools and daycare centers or
  • club fees, music lessons and similar.
• Needs for accommodation and heating in the amount of your actual rent and heating costs (if appropriate).
• Persons in special forms of housing can claim expenses for housing above the adequacy limit set by the local authorities, provided this is necessary due to the special needs of the person with disabilities and the limit is not exceeded by more than 25 percent. No social assistance can be granted above this amount. However, integration assistance benefits may be considered.

• In exceptional cases, assumption of debts to:
  • Avoidance of homelessness,
  • To secure your accommodation or
  • To remedy a comparable emergency situation, e.g. debts to the energy supplier (usually on loan).
• Needs for your health and long-term care insurance contributions and, under certain conditions, for your pension provision (where appropriate).

In addition to your standard rate, you can receive benefits for additional living expenses if

• You have reached your retirement age and meet the requirements for a severely disabled person's pass with the mark "G" (walking disability),
• you have not yet reached retirement age but meet the requirements for a severely disabled person's pass with the "G" mark and are fully disabled under pension law,
• you are an expectant mother from the 13th week of pregnancy,
• you are a single parent,
• you have reached the age of 15, are disabled and receive assistance for appropriate education or training as part of integration assistance or
• you are dependent on a special diet due to a serious illness, which leads to higher costs than a "normal" diet,
• hot water is not produced by a central heating system but by a decentralized device installed in the home, special form of accommodation or other accommodation,
• you have expenses for the purchase or loan of school books or equivalent workbooks for a pupil due to the respective school regulations or school requirements (if there is no exemption for learning materials).

If you do not live alone, the Social Welfare Office will take into account the total income of the members of the household in order to determine your need for assistance. For this purpose, the income of all household members living together in the same home can be taken into account (provided they live together). This includes, for example

• Earned income,
• maintenance payments and
• pension income.

In special forms of housing, only the income of family members and partners is generally taken into account.

Child benefit paid for minors and any maintenance payments for a child are attributed to this child in order to cover their needs.

Certain assets are not considered to be protected assets, for example:

• Smaller amounts of cash (financial assets per adult: EUR 10,000, per child: EUR 500) or
• an appropriate house property.

These are not included in the calculation of benefits. Apart from a few exceptional cases, you will not receive benefits for past periods.

• You are in need of assistance:
  • You are in need of assistance if you cannot fully cover your living expenses from your own resources and strength.
• You receive an old-age pension but have not yet reached the age limit for the standard old-age pension orare fully incapacitated for work for a limited period of time:
  • 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 labor market for the foreseeable future (more than 6 months).
  • Reduced earning capacity is usually determined by the pension insurance fund.

• You are not a student or trainee
• You do not receive any:
  • Basic income support for jobseekers (citizen's allowance),
  • Basic income support in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity or
  • Benefits for asylum seekers.

If you do not agree with the approval or rejection notice, you can lodge an appeal within one month. Further information on how to lodge an appeal can be found in the notification.

Assistance with living expenses can be applied for from the responsible social welfare provider. However, it must also be granted without an application if the social welfare provider (e.g. district or independent city) or the agencies commissioned by it learn that a person is in need of assistance or in an emergency situation and the requirements for granting assistance are met.

You can register your need for assistance with living expenses online via the social platform.

• The decision depends on the income and financial circumstances, for which a corresponding form may also need to be submitted.
• Submit all the necessary documents together with the form.
• The social welfare office will decide on your needs.
• The Social Welfare Office must decide on your notification of need and inform you of the result. This is done in the form of a decision, which is usually sent to you by letter.
• If your need is determined, you will receive an approval notice, if it is not determined, you will receive a rejection notice.
• In both cases, the notification must contain the reasons for the decision as well as information on the possibility of lodging an appeal. It must also state the deadline within which you can lodge an appeal.
• The approval notice must also state the amount of the benefit to be paid and 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. You can also specify a third party account for the transfer.
• Please note: You are obliged to inform the social welfare office immediately of any changes to your income and financial circumstances.

The processing time depends on the individual case. It is a maximum of six months from the date on which all documents are complete.

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