If you receive assistance with living expenses or basic income support in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity, you can receive benefits for certain one-off needs.
Even if you do not receive the above-mentioned benefit because you can cover your ongoing needs from your own resources and means, but your resources are not sufficient to cover the one-off needs, you may be entitled to benefits for one-off needs under certain conditions.
One-off needs include
- Initial furnishings for the home including household appliances, for example
- when moving into your own home for the first time,
- after a house fire,
- when renting for the first time after serving a longer prison sentence,
- a move from shared accommodation,
- when leaving a women's or men's home or
- after separation and division of household contents
- Initial equipment for clothing, for example
- after a house fire or flood
- during pregnancy and childbirth, including
- Initial equipment and
- Maternity clothing
- in the event of total loss or new requirements due to exceptional circumstances. This also includes significant weight loss.
- Purchase and repair of orthopaedic shoes
- Repair of therapeutic appliances and equipment and
- Hire of therapeutic equipment.
If you do not live alone, the social welfare office will take into account the entire income of the members of the joint household (e.g. spouse not living separately) in order to determine your entitlement to benefits. This includes, for example
- Earned income
- Maintenance payments
- Pension income
Certain assets are not considered to be protected assets, for example
- so-called "small cash amounts" (current account, savings books, building society savings contract, cash, etc.)
- per adult: EUR 10,000,
- per child: EUR 500 or
- an appropriate owner-occupied property.
Responsible authority
The social welfare office
Social welfare office is,
- if you live in an urban district: the city administration
- if you live in a rural district: the district administration
Note: Some rural districts have transferred responsibility to larger towns in their district. If you live in a rural district, the district administration office or the municipal administration of your place of residence can tell you which authority is responsible.