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Hardship Assistance - Urgent Costs and Living Expense Assistance

We outline food payments, special needs grants, temporary support, benefits in advance, benefit redirection and other hardship assistance options provided by Work and Income.
Updated 26 December 2023

​What assistance is available?

Hardship Assistance is the term Work and Income use to describe emergency grants and one-off payments. There are two main types of payment:
  1. Special Needs Grants
  2. Advance Payments (also known as Recoverable Assistance Payments, or RAP)

Our guide also explains Emergency Benefits - they do exist, but are not common place for New Zealanders so should not be relied on as the first option for support. We cover:
  1. Hardship Assistance - Six Options You Can Consider​
  2. ​How to Apply for Hardship Assistance

Know This First: The Recoverable Assistance Programme (RAP) is essentially the same as an Advance Payment, but it's for anyone not receiving a Work and Income benefit. It's essentially the same service as an Advanced Payment. In this guide, any mentions of 'Advances' also include Recoverable Assistance Payments.

When you apply for Hardship Assistance, Work and Income will also do an assessment to see if you qualify for Temporary Additional Support. We detail this below.

Hardship Assistance - Six Options You Can Consider

Special Needs Grants

  • Special Needs Grants are one-off grants that are usually paid when you have an essential cost or emergency. Most Special Needs Grants don’t need to be repaid.
  • You can receive a Special Needs Grant for a variety of things, but the most common one is food.
  • The Work and Income website has a reasonably comprehensive list of special needs assistance categories here.

​Food Grants

Food Grants are the most common form of Special Needs Grant, which we explain in detail:
  1. This type of assistance allows you to go to the supermarket and buy food. There are a few limits (e.g. no alcohol or cigarettes), but in general, you are free to buy what you need.
  2. To qualify you’ll need to explain why you can’t buy food this week and in particular, what makes this week different.
  3. You may see quotes about allowances and limits posted online, but ignore these. You can always apply for a food grant, and if your circumstances justify it, Work and Income can always grant assistance - just be open and honest.
  4. If Work and Income do decline your application, they will explain why and offer to refer you to a Food Bank.
  5. If you are unhappy with the decision they’ve made and the reasons, ask to speak with the Service Centre Manager or ask for a Review of Decision form.

​Temporary Additional Support

  • Temporary Additional Support is a type of weekly payment that acts as an overall top up to your benefit payments and any supplementary assistance. Every time you apply for Hardship Assistance, Work and Income should ask you to complete a Temporary Additional Support application.
  • If you qualify, you'll receive an extra payment for 13 weeks. After 13 weeks, you'll be invited to reapply, but you'll need to show what steps you've taken to try and increase your income or reduce your costs.
  • Some examples include looking for work, creating a budget, or looking at switching power suppliers.
  • The great thing about Temporary Additional Support is that you can include many costs that aren't otherwise included with your benefit. This can include things like car repayments, hire purchase payments for essential whiteware and in some cases, personal loans.
  • In summary, it all comes down to why you have the cost in the first place, and if they are essential.
  • Important: You'll need to provide paperwork to back up your costs, but if you are in need of assistance, making an application is the right thing to do.​

​Advances and Recoverable Assistance

An "Advance" is effectively an advance payment of benefit. What you are doing is asking Work and Income to pay some of your benefit in a lump sum, and then reducing your payments for the coming weeks until you have caught up.

In reality, most people see it as an interest-free loan with the repayments deducted from your future benefit payments. Advance payments of benefit can be quite flexible, and there are many things you can get help with. Some common examples include:
  • Bonds and rents
  • Dental treatment
  • Dentures and hearing aids
  • Electricity, gas and water arrears
  • Fridges, freezers and washing machines
  • Glasses

You can find the full list of what's available on the Work and Income website.

Know this: Like other hardship assistance, there is both an income and asset limit for you to receive assistance.

Important: While there are some guidelines for Work and Income staff to follow, there are no set limits for how much you can get. Depending on what you need help with, you might be asked to get a couple of quotes to prove you have the most cost-effective option.

Advance limits: Theoretically, you can only receive a maximum of six weeks of your benefit rate in advance, but if there are exceptional circumstances, then going over this can quickly be approved by the service centre manager.

Understand the Repayment Process
  1. As part of the application process, you'll be asked to negotiate a weekly amount to "repay" your advance by deduction from your benefit. Work and Income's preference is for you to repay the advance in less than 24 months, but if you are struggling, then you can negotiate a lower rate.
  2. The most common form of an Advance Payment is for bond and/or rent arrears. To receive this, you'll need proof from your landlord that you are behind in payments, and how much you need to catch up.
  3. As with Special Needs Grants, payment is made directly to your landlord, so you may need them to complete a form saying they are willing to accept payments from Work and Income. A Case Manager can guide you through this process; most good landlords won't cause problems.

​Benefit Redirections

One final thing worth mentioning is benefit redirections - this means having some or all of your benefit paid to someone else. Benefit Redirections are useful if you don't have a bank account of your own, but MoneyHub (and Work and Income) discourage such an arrangement. You should have control of your own money and not rely on another person. 

Banks can make it difficult to open an account if you have bad credit or no identification. Our research suggests Westpac and Kiwibank are good options, and Work and Income staff can provide proof you need an account for your benefit if required.

Some power companies and landlords will ask you to set up a benefit reduction to ensure they get their payments each week. In such instances, this can be useful if you are paying things off or if you are struggling with managing your money. Keep in mind that if your benefit payments stop, so does the redirection to the recipient. This means it's easy to fall behind with rent, power and other essentials.

​Emergency Benefits

  • It's very common for people to ask Work and Income for an Emergency Benefit. What they usually mean is urgent assistance while they wait for their benefit to start, or something paid immediately.
  • Hardship Assistance is designed to meet this gap, and there isn't a specific Emergency Benefit that can be paid right away.
  • However, the Emergency Benefit does exist - it's a payment that can be made to people who don't qualify for other types of assistance. Almost always the reason is due to residency status (in that the applicant is not a permanent resident of New Zealand). However, in exceptional circumstances, you can be granted an Emergency Benefit if you believe things are out of your control.
  • If you don't think you'll qualify for other types of Work and Income assistance, then its worth making an appointment to discuss your circumstances and apply for an Emergency Benefit. It can be a long and complex process, but applying may help in the long run.

​How to Apply for Hardship Assistance

  • Like a lot of Work and Income assistance procedures, the best way to start your application is online with MyMSD. Depending on what you need help with payment might be made right away, or you might speak to someone on the phone.
  • You can also visit an office and see someone face-to-face, but there can be a wait for a few days if it's a busy time of year.
  • To qualify for assistance you don’t need to be receiving a benefit, but you will need to meet an income and asset test - this means you’ll need to have very little of your own resources to call on before Work and Income can help.
  • You’ll be asked to explain what you need help with and why you can’t meet the cost yourself. Just be honest about the situation - Work and Income aren’t judging you; they need to make a case for why they considered payment was justified. As is the case with every payment Work and Income makes, there needs to be evidence.

​How Hardship Assistance Payments are Made:

  • ​When you are granted assistance, payment is usually made to a Work and Income Payment Card.
  • This card is like an Eftpos card which you can then take to the supplier of the things you need to make payment.
  • In some cases, Work and Income will just make a payment directly to the supplier and give you a receipt to prove payment has been made.
  • If the supplier isn’t registered with Work and Income already, you might be expected to organise some paperwork for them to accept payment. If in doubt, ask the retailer if they accept Work and Income payments, or check with Work and Income which local suppliers are already registered.
  • You can get a payment card from your nearest Work and Income office.​

Limits and Exceptional Circumstances:

  • Most types of Hardship Assistance have annual limits of the amount you can be paid. This isn’t like a credit limit or a loan when you are guaranteed payment up to that amount. Instead, it is the maximum you can be granted (unless exceptional circumstances exist).
  • For example, if you are a single person receiving Jobseeker Support, to go over your annual limit, your case manager will need to justify why your situation is different to any other single person also receiving Jobseeker Support.
  • It's always best to be honest; telling Work and Income that you "messed up and had to pay an overdue power bill" is better than making up a story about a "banking error" or “losing” your cash.​

Hardship Assistance: Your Obligations:

  • After you've had more than a couple of hardship grants in a set period, Work and Income might ask you to undertake some "Hardship Obligations". These are activities you need to complete before you can receive any further Hardship Assistance.
  • ​Typically this will involve creating a budget or speaking to someone about making a repayment plan, but can also include meeting with a budget advisor.
  • If you are struggling financially, meeting with a budget advisor can be a great idea. They can help you sort out repayment plans, reduce interest rates and get you back on track. They can also help you with advice about declaring bankruptcy or pursuing a No Asset Procedure.
Asking for help
  • If you are struggling, the best thing you can do it make an appointment and have a chat. Contrary to what you read in the media, Work and Income exist to help people.
  • If you don't feel you are getting anywhere with your Case Manager, call the contact centre and ask to send a message through to the Service Centre Manager. They are usually very experienced and will do their best to help - or at least explain what your options are.​
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