Crisis Grants

Crisis Grants

You can apply for a Scottish Welfare Fund Crisis Grant if you're in a crisis situation. For example, if you've had a flood or fire in your home.

The Crisis Grant is tax free and you don't need to pay it back.

Eligibility criteria

You may be eligible if you've a crisis or an emergency. This could be:

• a flood or fire in your home
• if you're a victim of domestic abuse and need help to move
• if you're a grandparent or relative who has taken over care of a child and waiting for transfer of benefits
• you're facing a gap in your normal income because of a redundancy or change at work
• you're facing financial problems while you wait for your first Universal Credit payment

What a Crisis Grant helps with

A Crisis Grant helps with your most urgent living costs including:

• food
• heating costs
• travel costs (for example, if your child is ill and in hospital and you need to travel to get there)

How to apply

Before you contact our team, read our customer care standards which includes our unacceptable actions policy (PDF) [254KB] . 

Contact the Scottish Welfare Fund team.

What happens next?

We'll make a decision about your application within 2 working days.

We'll normally contact you by phone and follow this up with a letter.