Apply for assistance for the blind

If you are blind or equivalent to a blind person, you will receive financial support under certain conditions. This lump sum of money compensates for the additional expenses you incur due to your blindness.

Assistance for the blind is a social welfare benefit for blind people. This lump-sum cash benefit is intended to compensate for additional financial expenses caused by blindness.

You are entitled to apply if you are blind or equivalent to a blind person.

If you also receive home care benefits, state allowance for the blind, benefits for the war and accident blind or live in an inpatient facility (e.g. a care home), these can be offset against the assistance for the blind.

If you receive care assistance due to blindness outside an inpatient facility or receive a cash amount as a social welfare benefit, it is not possible to receive assistance for the blind at the same time.

The amount of assistance for the blind depends on the time and extent of the adjustment of pensions in the statutory pension insurance scheme. Assistance for the blind is adjusted accordingly.

The maximum amount of assistance for the blind is (as of 01.07.2024)

• before the age of 18: EUR 440.90 or
• from the age of 18: EUR 880.28

per month.

The costs of the benefits are borne by the responsible social welfare provider. Only people who do not have sufficient assets or income of their own receive assistance for the blind.

Landeswohlfahrtsverband Hessen (LWV Hessen), Department for People with Physical or Sensory Disabilities - Regional Management for Blind or Visually Impaired People -
 

You can receive assistance for the blind if the following conditions are met:

• Blindness (complete absence of sight) or not only temporary total binocular acuity of one fiftieth or less
• Proof of the severity of your visual impairment, for example through
  • Severely disabled person's pass with the mark "Bl" or
  • Assessment notice in accordance with the law on severely disabled persons,
  • ophthalmological findings or a medical certificate
• low income
• low assets
• In addition, certain other persons, such as the spouse, cannot reasonably be expected to cover the additional expenses caused by blindness from their own resources.

• Appeal within one month of notification of the administrative decision
• Action before the social court within one month of notification of the objection decision

• You contact the local social welfare provider.
• They will advise you or you can submit an informal application straight away.
• The competent authority may ask you to complete a form and submit further documents.
• Once all the documents have been submitted, the competent authority will check your entitlement to assistance for the blind on the basis of the information you provide.
• This also includes checking whether and to what extent your income and assets are taken into account.
• After the examination, you will receive a written approval or rejection notice.

No deadlines need to be observed. However, it should be noted that assistance for the blind is paid from the first of the month in which the application for assistance for the blind is submitted at the earliest.

The processing time for your application depends on various factors. Please contact your responsible social assistance provider, who will be able to give you more detailed information on the duration of the procedure.

A lot of further information can be found on the topic pages of the LWV Hessen on the topic "Blindengeld for blind and severely visually impaired people"

as well as on the topic "Top-up benefit according to § 72 Social Code, XII. Book (SGB XII) - Social assistance".