Example
Mr C applied for a crisis grant. He advised that he had lost his wallet containing £200.00, and as a result of this he had no money to cover his essential living costs until his next Universal Credit payment.
The council declined Mr C’s application due to his application history. Mr C submitted a review request but the council did not change their decision. They assessed that Mr C had received an award for lost money in the past (over 12 months ago) and also noted that he had withdrawn his full benefit amount.
Mr C asked us for an independent review of the council’s decision. We spoke with Mr C, who provided details about why he had such a large sum of money. We considered this information and assessed that Mr C was eligible for a grant, met the qualifying criteria and the high priority level. We changed the council’s decision and awarded Mr C £181.71. We provided feedback to the council as we did not feel this case was handled in line with the SWF guidance, as the applicant had only received two awards in the 12 month rolling period. We also highlighted that their decision letters were not clear and that a section of guidance that was included in their letter had been edited which changed their meaning.