All applicants who are awarded a Crisis Payment will be required to engage with their local Citizens Advice who will provide financial advice and support. Failure to engage with this support will result in any further applications for a Crisis Payment being declined.
You may be eligible for support if you are facing an unexpected emergency or financial shock, such as:
- A flood, fire, or other disaster.
- An accident, physical health condition, or mental health crisis that has resulted in unexpected costs.
- Leaving an abusive relationship and moving to a safe home.
- An essential household or medical item breaking down.
- Money being lost or stolen, affecting your ability to pay for everyday necessities.
- A temporary reduction in income, such as job loss or reduced working hours.
Crisis Payment applications are reviewed and administered by the well-established Local Welfare Assistance Scheme (LWAS) team. Once your application has been submitted, the team will review it and may then make contact to discuss your circumstances in further detail. This is to ensure payments are made in line with the eligibility criteria of the fund.
Eligibility criteria
To apply, you must:
- Live in Suffolk.
- Be aged 16 or over.
- Have experienced a financial shock.
- Have an annual household income of £30,000 or less (single households) or £36,000 or less (couples), after tax.
- Have household savings below £1,500 (or below £6,000 if aged 66+).
- Not have received a Crisis Payment since 1 October 2026 (only one award is permitted per household in a 6-month period).
Suffolk County Council reserves the right to change the eligibility criteria as appropriate.
The Crisis and Resilience Fund supports Suffolk residents who are facing financial hardship due to an unexpected financial shock. All applicants are required to actively engage with their local Citizens Advice offices who will be in contact with the applicant within 8 weeks of submitting the Crisis Payment application. Citizens Advice will then work with the applicant to support with ongoing financial advice. Failure to actively engage will mean future applications to the fund will be declined.
Before you apply
Before beginning your application, please make sure you have all of the required information and documents to hand and ready to upload for you and any other adults in the household. There is not an option to save your application and return later so to save time, please have the correct documents ready. You will not be able to submit your application without the following information:
- Your National Insurance number. We cannot process an application without it. If you have lost it, read about how to find it from the Gov.UK website. If you do not have a National Insurance number, you can apply for one online.
- Bank statements will be required for all employed adults in the household. These may also be requested later for individuals if we are unable to confirm the receipt of a means-tested benefit.
- Proof of address which must be one of the following accepted documents:
- Council tax or utility bill dated within the last 12 months.
- Current full UK driving licence (provisional licence not accepted).
- Benefit, state pension, hospital or GP letter.
We will use the information you provide to check your details using council and central government systems to check your identity and eligibility for a Crisis Payment.
The application process
The quickest way to make an application is via the webform, using your smartphone, tablet or computer. If you have all the information required to make an application the webform will take 15 minutes to complete.
Before you apply you will need all the information listed above to hand, for you and members of your household. There is not an option to save your application and return to it later. You will not be able to submit your application without this information.
If you need help uploading evidence, read how to prepare your documents.
Once your application has been submitted it will be reviewed and assessed by a member of our team. Please provide the correct contact information as our team may need to contact you if they have any queries about your application.
If you are contacted by the team to provide further information you must provide this within 7 working days otherwise your application will be declined and you will need to re-apply.
If your application is approved, payments can take up to 10 working days to clear in your bank account. The team receive high numbers of applications and will not be able to respond to any enquires during the application assessment period.
How to apply
The quickest way to make an application is using the webform via your smartphone, tablet or computer.
If you have submitted an application and are awaiting an outcome, please do not submit a new application until your existing one has been determined and communicated back to you. Failure to do this may result in further delays to your application.
