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Cheshire West & Chester Council PO Box 187
Ellesmere Port
All of this information must be provided: CH34 9DB
Name: ______________________________________________ Tel: 0300 123 7065
Address: ____________________________________________
Email: help@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
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______________________________ Postcode: ____________
Date of birth: _________________________________________
National Insurance Number: ____________________________ Reference Numbers:
Telephone number:____________________________________ Council Tax:_____________________________
Application for HELP
Help in an Emergency for Local People
What is the Help Scheme?
This is a discretionary scheme which is administered by Cheshire West and Chester Council.
You can apply for support through this scheme if you meet certain conditions and there has been an emergency
which affects you, your family or your home.
• You must agree to accept any support which is offered and will be asked to sign an agreement to this effect.
• You must reside in the CW&C area or have an address in the area where you will move to within the next month.
• You will only be able to meet the criteria for a payment if you are deemed to be vulnerable. The definition of who
is vulnerable is decided under our HELP policy.
• You will not be entitled to a payment if the budget for the month is exhausted.
• You will not be entitled to a payment if you have received a payment within the last 12 months from the HELP
scheme or any other council’s local scheme.
• Payments may be made through alternatives rather than cash or cheques.
If we are able to make a payment this will be made in a manner and over a period which we consider is most
appropriate in your circumstances.
Do I need to repay any monies I receive?
If the information you provide in your application is accurate and you abide by the terms of your support agreement
you will not be asked to repay any monies received or the cost of any vouchers.
You may be asked to repay the value of your award, and we will take action to recover the award from you if:
• The information you have provided is inaccurate
• You have received a previous award which you have not told us about
• You do not reside in the area
• You do not comply with the terms of your support agreement
• You do not provide evidence when asked to do so to prove any expenditure.
What evidence do you need?
• Anything we deem to be reasonable to support your application.
• We will ask you to prove who you are and where you live
• We will ask for your telephone number because we will need to speak to you to progress your application for
HELP.
We will need proof of
• the emergency or crisis • address • income
• national insurance number • right to reside in the country • savings
• date of birth • residence • evidence of purchase
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Please answer the following questions.
Please give full and complete answers as this will help us make a decision on your application quickly.
You Your Partner
Title Mr Mrs Miss Ms: ___________________________ Title Mr Mrs Miss Ms: ___________________________
If other, please state: _____________________________ If other, please state: _____________________________
Last name: _____________________________________ Last name: _____________________________________
First name: _____________________________________ First name: _____________________________________
Address: _______________________________________ Address: _______________________________________
_______________________________________________ _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________ _______________________________________________
Have you made an application from the HELP scheme before? Yes No If yes:
When did you make this application? ___________________________________________________________________
Where did you make this application? __________________________________________________________________
What was this application for? _________________________________________________________________________
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Have you ever received a payment from any other council for help in an emergency? Yes No
If so when did you receive this? ________________________________________________________________________
Where were you living at the time? ______________________________________________________________________
Vulnerability
You can only apply for a payment through the HELP scheme if you are considered to be vulnerable.
Please tick if any of the following apply: You are leaving prison
You are over state pension credit age Young person aged 16 to 18?
You have a child who lives with you You are a care leaver
You are either physically or mentally impaired and War pensioners who qualify for Housing Benefit or
receive either the higher or middle rate Disability Council Tax Reduction Scheme
Living Allowance or the enhanced rate of Personal If you do not fit into any of the categories, please
Independence Payment tell us why you are vulnerable.
You are terminally ill ___________________________________________
You are claiming on behalf of somebody who is ___________________________________________
vulnerable, if so tell us why they are vulnerable?
Please provide evidence to show why you should be classed as vulnerable according to the list above.
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About children who live with you
You should include any child that you or your partner receive Child Benefit for. By ‘child’, we mean anybody under
the age of 20 who you get Child Benefit for.
First child Second child Third child Fourth child
Last name:
First names:
About other people who live with you
Does anyone else live with you who you have not already mentioned on the form?
No Yes Answer all of the questions in this section.
Please list all other people who live with you.
First person Second person Third person Fourth person
Last name:
First names:
What type of income
do they have?
Include any earnings,
benefits, disability allowance,
student loans and so on.
Total amount they
receive:
£ £ £ £
How often do they
receive this (for example
every week or month)?
Are any of the people you live with married to each other, in a civil partnership with each other, or living together as if
they were married or in a civil partnership?
No Yes Tell us their names.
is the partner of
is the partner of
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About your home
Do you own your home? Yes No
Do you pay rent to a landlord? Yes No If yes, is the property furnished Yes No
Do you live with relatives? Yes No
Do you live in any of the following types of accommodation?
Hostel
Caravan, mobile home, houseboat
Hotel
Board and lodgings
Residential, nursing or care home
Other _______________________________________________________________________________
Additional Information
Please us this space to tell us anything else that you feel will help us in making our decision.
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All applicants will need to complete this section about income and savings.
WEEKLY INCOME
Date your next Date your next
payment is due payment is due
Earnings £ Private Pension £
Partners Earnings £ Pension Credit £
Income Support/ESA £ Attendance Allowance £
Working/Child Tax Credit £ DLA Care £
Jobseeker’s Allowance £ DLA Mobility £
Child Benefit £ Income from any other £
Maintenance £ source
State Pension £ TOTAL £
WEEKLY EXPENDITURE
Food costs £ Car Tax and Insurance £
Mortgage or rent £ Prescriptions £
Council Tax £ Catalogues £
Insurances £
Water Charges £ Priority Fines
Gas £ Magistrates Fine £
Electricity £ CCJ £
Other Fuel £
Debts
Registered childcare costs £
Loan Shark £
Clothing £
Loans from family £
School Meals do you qualify for
free school meals Yes No £ Payday Loan £
Maintenance/CSA £
Arrears
Digital TV/Internet £
Mortgage £
TV Licence £
Rent £
Telephone £
Council Tax £
Mobile Telephone £
Other Expenses £
Travel Expenses £
Petrol £
SAVINGS/CAPITAL DETAILS
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HELP Emergency payment
If you require support from the HELP scheme for:
• Living expenses after a disaster which has affected you, your family, or your home.
• Travel expenses because you are stranded away from home
• Emergency credit on a pre payment fuel meter
Payments will not be made for lost or spent money.
Please complete Part A of this form.
HELP Resettlement payment
If you require support from the HELP scheme to:
• Help to establish yourself in the community after a stay in an institution, care home or prison.
• Help to remain in the community rather than go into an institution or care home
• Help to ease exceptional pressure
Please complete Part B of this form.
Part A HELP for Emergency Payments
Complete this section if you need HELP in an emergency.
An emergency payment can be considered to cover any short term needs arising because of a disaster. An award
may be made for a specific period of time to meet your immediate living expenses. Normally vouchers will be used
instead of cash, which can be exchanged for various specific items, such as food.
A disaster is an event of sudden and great misfortune for which you could not be prepared, which results in
significant damage, destruction, loss of possessions or property.
If you wish to apply for HELP please tell us what has happened.
Please tell us what disaster has affected you and the affect it has had.
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Have you tried to get any other help? If so what help have you applied for or received?
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Please tell us what you are applying for and what you need this for?
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Please note due to a limited budget, we may not be able to meet your entire request, and if you qualify you
may be offered a voucher to meet some of your needs.
What are the risks to you and your household if we are unable to make a payment?
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When was the last voucher awarded? _________________________________________________________________
Who awarded the voucher? ___________________________________________________________________________
Please provide any other information which you consider may be useful in support of your application
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Travelling Expenses
If you need help for travelling expenses please tell us:
• the reason you are travelling _________________________________________________________________________
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• how will you travel __________________________________________________________________________________
• where you are travelling from and to __________________________________________________________________
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Part B HELP for Resettlement Payments
There is a limit to the maximum amount we will be able to award.
The amount you an claim will vary according to our budgets, but you may not be given the full amount
requested.
In considering limited budgets and the environment we will use reconditioned furniture and white goods
outlets whenever possible, and will operate a voucher system.
You may be able to receive a support payment in the following circumstances:
• If you are leaving accommodation in which you received substantial care or supervision. Examples of this type of
accommodation are:
• care home
• hostel
• local authority care
• prison or detention centre
Not only must you be leaving this type of accommodation but you must also be reestablishing yourself in the
community. We can also consider a payment if you will be caring for someone who is leaving this type of
accommodation but can only do so with the help from the scheme.
• If you need help to stay in the community rather than go into the above type of accommodation or are providing
care to someone already in the community but who may have to go into the above type of accommodation
without any further help.
• If you and your family are under exceptional pressure, we may be able to help ease that pressure.
Leaving accommodation and reestablishing yourself in the community or the partner/carer of
someone leaving accommodation
Please tell us who you are claiming for? _______________________________________________________________
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What date did you go into this place? __________________________________________________________________
What date did you leave or expect to leave? ___________________________________________________________
Please confirm the address you are living at or will be living at:
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Please provide details of any resettlement programme you are on.
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If you need help to stay in your home, what help do you need ?
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Please list below any items you require and the anticipated cost
ITEM COST
Have you received a payment for any of these items before?
If so when, and from whom? ___________________________________________________________________________
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If so what happened to the items? ______________________________________________________________________
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Are you awaiting a decision on a claim you have made? Yes No
If yes, please tell us the date the claim was made _____________________
Where was the claim made? ____________________________________________________________________________
If you and your family are under exceptional pressure please explain what this is and what help you need.
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Do you receive any support from anybody now? If so from whom?
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DECLARATION
I declare that the information I provided to Cheshire West and Chester for my application for HELP is correct.
I agree to accept the terms of the support which is offered and understand that the cash value of any payment I
receive will be recovered from me in full if I do not cooperate.
Data will be used to decide whether you qualify for HELP. Data will be used within the council, and will be shared
with other councils and with partner agencies. Data will be used to prevent fraud, to chase debts to the council and
to provide support.
Signature _________________________________ Date ____________________________
HELP AGREEMENT
Our support staff will aim to work with you in order to identify a solution which is unique to your needs and could
help you and your family.
They may ask you to make a claim for additional benefits, to work with a housing adviser, to work with a debt
adviser, to work with an employments adviser, to do voluntary work or training, or to work with a health adviser.
They may also ask you to work with a team who specialises in helping families to stay together, or to work with a
drug or alcohol specialist.
This list is not exhaustive and the support staff can ask you to work with any other team that they deem necessary in
order for you to qualify for a payment under the HELP scheme.
Any solution will be unique to you, and unless you already have support in place a payment will not be made unless
you give us a commitment to work with us.
I agree to the following :
• I understand that a visiting officer may call at my home, to identify my problems and to agree some solutions with
me. I agree to make myself available.
• I will provide any evidence I am asked for in support of my application, within one calendar month of the date of
request. This may be about me, my family or home, the crisis, our circumstances, our health, and any income
and savings which are available to us.
• I agree to repay any amount of the cash value of any award if I am asked to do so, or if I fail to adhere to this
agreement.
• I agree to open a savings account with the Credit Union if this is part of my support package.
• I agree to work with Cheshire West and Chester Council and any other partners who may be able to assist me to
improve my position.
• I agree to provide evidence (within one calendar month of the date of the request), to show that any payment I
have received has been spent on the goods or services that I asked for help with.
Accessing Cheshire West and Chester Council information and services
2012CP115_application for help.qxd
Council information is also available in Audio, Braille and Large Print
formats. If you would like a copy in any of these formats or in another
language, please email us at equalities@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
We are also able to provide a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter to
support customers with accessing Council services.
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