Everything about applying for social assistance benefits

You can apply for social assistance benefit in three ways:

1) Via the UWV website

You can apply for social assistance benefit digitally on the UWV website. Visit the UWV website > . You need a DigiD to make the application. After logging in, fill in a form with questions. Make sure you have this information to hand when you start filling out the form:

• Your Citizen Service Number (BSN)
• Information about the income you have now. For example, another benefit, income from the job you now have, a tax refund, alimony, etc.
• Your living situation. This concerns the amount of your rent or mortgage.
• Your last employer or the employment agency for which you work or worked. The start and end date of the employment contract is important.
• The details of your partner and children. This concerns the citizen service number (BSN), date of birth and income.
• Sometimes we also need information about other people who are registered at your address.
• Proof of registration with UWV for you and your partner.
• Your savings, valuable assets, debts and bank accounts.

When you have completed the form, click send. Then immediately schedule a registration interview with the municipality of Tilburg. Do this within two working days.

Make an appointment >

It is very important that you make this appointment. Only when you have done this we will start working on your application. You have the registration interview with an employee of Work and Income. Together you will review your situation to see whether you are entitled to benefits.

2) Call the Werk & Inkomen service desk

You can reach the desk every working day between 08:30 and 16:30. Call to 14 013 and ask for the Work & Income Department, Benefit Assessment team. You get an employee on the phone. This asks for your name, date of birth and citizen service number. He or she also asks you to tell us something about your situation.

Together you first check whether it is possible to arrange your application and the appointment digitally. If that is not possible, you will schedule the appointment by phone. During that meeting you will also discuss which forms you still need to fill in and which information we need.

3) Come to the Work & Income desk

You can also visit the Work and Income desk to make an appointment. For example if you are not very handy with the computer, you do not know Dutch very well or if you do not have a DigiD. An employee will then help you plan a registration interview. Take your proof of identity with you when you come by.

If you have submitted all data after the registration interview, the employee will start working on your application. He/she checks whether everything is correct and whether everything meets the legal requirements for social assistance benefits. Sometimes some data is still missing. You will receive a letter stating which information we still need from you.

You may submit the data digitally or by post. You can also come to the counter. You can also have copies of the letters made there.

The municipality must decide within 8 weeks whether you will receive the benefit. This is so in the law. The 8 weeks start when you have submitted everything we need to check whether you are entitled to a benefit.

Example:

• 1 January you applied for the benefit digitally, by telephone or at the counter
• You immediately schedule the registration interview. This can usually be done within a few working days.
• During the registration interview, you will review your situation together with a Work and Income employee.
• After the registration interview you will receive a letter stating what you have to submit. The date at the top of the letter is January 8.
• You have two weeks to submit everything. You must therefore have submitted everything no later than January 22. If you do not do this, you run the risk that your application cannot be assessed. Do you expect that you will not be able to hand in everything on time? Do you need help? Please contact the employee who is working on your application.
• As soon as the employee has received your data, he or she will check whether the data you have submitted is complete. If they are not complete, you will receive a new letter stating what is still missing.
• When you have submitted everything, the decision period of the municipality starts. From 22 January (if everything is complete) the employee has 8 weeks to make a decision. The employee will do everything in his power to make a decision within 4 weeks. This way you know sooner whether you will receive a benefit. Sometimes we don't make it to 4 weeks, because some situations are complicated. Your situation then needs more attention and time. As a result, we sometimes need the full 8 weeks to make a good decision.

The commencement date of social assistance benefits is the day on which you make the application. For example, is that January 1? That is the day on which the benefit starts. A social assistance benefit cannot start earlier, unless there are urgent and special reasons for this. The benefit can start later than the application date. This is, for example, if you register 4 weeks before the end date of your other benefit or the expiry of your employment contract.

Are you homeless or homeless? Then go to the Work & Income service desk for a registration interview. After the application interview, we will ask you to submit supporting documents about your place of residence. The municipality checks whether you are staying at this address or at the place of residence indicated by you. Is it all right? Then we will process your application. If it turns out that you are entitled to social assistance benefits, you will receive a letter address from the municipality and a post box at Koningsplein 10, Tilburg. This address is valid for 3 months. In these three months we ask you:

• actively look for a house (room, apartment or house) where you can live and register. You must also be able to demonstrate this.
• to register with social shelter traverse
• to register with housinginzicht.nl.

Every month you fill in a Declaration on Residence. This is a form on which you indicate where you are staying per day. If you are staying somewhere, we ask the person you are staying with to also sign. We will put the form in your mailbox for you.

Do you spend most of your time with one regular person? We will then see if it is possible to register at that address.

No, you do not (yet) have to be registered in Tilburg to apply for benefits. For example, if you move to Tilburg from another municipality and are not yet registered, you can already apply for the benefit.

You can apply for social assistance benefits in the municipality where you live or will live. The municipality where you lived before your detention is responsible for helping you after the detention period. In the municipality of Tilburg, directors of the reintegration of (former) prisoners of the Care and Safety House Midden-Brabant help you.

Help from a director
If you stay in the Penitentiary Institutions (PI) in Vught, Grave or Dordrecht during your detention, one of the directors will come to you for an interview. During this conversation you will review your situation together. You make agreements about what help you need as soon as you get out of detention. Think of arranging an ID, a house, work and income, debts, care, health insurance and agreements with the judiciary. If you are staying in another PI, you will receive a letter stating what we can help you with when you are released. The director's contact details are also included.

It is important that you arrange as many things as possible yourself. The director will help you with this. He or she ensures that the organizations you deal with work well together. Think, for example, of Work and Income, the case manager of the PI, the probation officer and other organizations you deal with. They already start doing this during your detention.

Apply for benefits
Do you want to apply for a benefit? Or do you want to restart the benefits you had? Pass this on to the director of the Care and Safety House. He will contact the Work and Income department of the municipality of Tilburg. They will arrange a telephone appointment for you. An employee of Work and Income will call you on the day of the appointment. Together you go through a form with questions (the information form). The employee will also ask you to hand in a number of documents that are required. Once all the information is complete, the employee will check whether you are (again) entitled to the benefit.

Are you under 27 years old? Then different rules apply when applying for your benefit. Then you are obliged to first check whether you can follow a course or find work. You have four weeks to do that. This is called the 'search period'. After the search period you can officially submit an application. It is important that you do your best during these four weeks to find an education or work. There is no search period if you:

• is/have attended a VSO/PRO school
• the municipal study allowance gets
• have not completed any training and/or if you have no work experience
• is supported by a social organization in the city. For example: Traverse or IMW.

You can apply via work.nl. Here you enter your personal details. You will then receive a message that you cannot submit the form. It also says that you can schedule a registration interview within 2 working days via www.tilburg.nl. During that application interview, a legality consultant will explain the search period to you. You will then receive a form stating which information we need from you.

Does the eligibility consultant estimate that you can work or return to school? He or she will then report you to a customer director. The customer director will then contact you to see what help you need to get started (again). The agreements you make about this will be included in an action plan.

Height of benefit for young people aged 18 to 21

The above rules also apply to young people aged 18, 19 and 20. The amount of the benefit is much lower (youth standard). This is because your parents have a maintenance obligation for you until you are 21 years old. This means that we expect your parents to also make a financial contribution in addition to your benefit.

If there are reasons why this is not possible, the municipality can supplement your benefit with special assistance, so that you have enough money to make ends meet.

The municipality will then check whether this money can be recovered from your parents. Sometimes this is not possible. For example, if your parents have passed away, live abroad or if they themselves have a low income or social assistance benefit that prevents them from paying this.

Under 21 years old

You are not entitled to social assistance if you live (temporarily) with a care organisation. According to the law, your parents are still obliged to pay for your living expenses. This also applies to pocket money and clothing allowance.

Can't your parents pay? For example because they have social assistance benefits themselves? Then you are probably entitled to special assistance. You can also request this from the municipality.

Older than 21 years

Then you are entitled to assistance if you meet the conditions. Keep in mind that your benefit is lower than that of someone who does not live with a care organization because you also incur fewer costs for staying in the institution. Do the fixed costs of your home continue during your stay at the care institution? Then you can apply for special assistance for this.

Do you have an income other than social assistance benefit (for example from work, unemployment law (WW), sickness benefit (ZW), alimony, pension)? And is your income lower than the amount of the social assistance benefit? Then you may be entitled to additional social assistance benefit. The amount depends on your age and living situation. 

Do you meet all the conditions for a supplementary social assistance benefit? Then you will receive a monthly income statement on which you enter your income. You also always enclose a copy of your pay slip or other proof of your income with this income statement.

Do you have unemployment benefits? Then you can apply for social assistance 4 weeks before the end date of this benefit. Your social assistance benefit will then commence on the end date of your unemployment benefit.

Example: your unemployment benefit runs from 1 October to 31 December. You can then apply for social assistance benefit from 3 December. If you receive the benefit, you are entitled from 1 January, the day after your unemployment benefit has stopped. Make sure you apply for your social assistance benefit 4 weeks in advance. Then we have sufficient time to assess your application and to allow the benefit to commence on time. If you apply for the benefit at the very end of your unemployment benefit, the start date is no different than if you apply well in advance, but you may not receive the payment until later.

You can apply for social assistance benefits if you do not have a bank account. You can request a basic bank account together with your legality consultant. We also call this 'covenant account'. You will then receive your benefit on that account.

You get a basic bank account if for whatever reason you can't get a checking account. You must meet the following conditions to be eligible for this bank account:

• You cannot apply for a regular bank account for whatever reason.
• You are at least 18 years old.
• You have a permanent place of residence or residence in the Netherlands or a postal address with a recognized assistance organization or government agency.
• You have a valid ID.

The basic bank account is actually a regular bank account. Just like with any bank account, you can transfer money within the Netherlands, withdraw money from your own bank, pay in stores in the Netherlands and receive account information.

Debit card from the municipality of Tilburg

Are you unable to arrange the basic bank account? Then you can get a debit card from the municipality. This card is called the BNG Prepaid PIN card. That way you can still receive your benefit. With this debit card you can pay in shops and withdraw money at ATMs. You can request this pass from your legality consultant. This debit card comes with a personal PIN code. You will receive this in a sealed envelope. You must sign for receipt of this debit card.

Yes, you can get help via the service desk (link to application) or via Social Work.

No, you do not request benefits from the municipality. You do this at the tax office.