Temporary Additional Support

There are certain types of essential costs that can be included for Temporary Additional Support. These costs must be ongoing and regular expenses, and essential to meet you and your family's daily living needs.

Essential costs can be:

• Accommodation costs, e.g:
  • rent
  • board
  • home ownership costs
• Child support you have to pay through Inland Revenue that's formula assessed
• Employment-related costs, e.g:
  • public transport to work
  • childcare if the caregiver is working
  • vehicle repayments or running costs
• Essential household items, e.g:
  • bed or mattress
  • lounge or dining suite
  • fridge or freezer
  • TV
  • washing machine
• Health and disability costs, e.g:
  • prescription fees
  • dryer
  • vehicle repayments, or
  • childcare if the caregiver is disabled or seriously ill.

Not all essential costs are listed here. Talk to us if you're not sure whether a cost can be included as an essential cost.

How much you get depends on your situation and it can be paid for up to 13 weeks.

This payment is not taxed.

What application form you fill out depends on what payments you’re already getting from us.

You may be granted financial assistance from the date you request it. If you can't apply online today, call us.

You have 20 working days from the date you first contact us to complete the application process.

New client or only getting childcare payments

If you're not getting any payments from us, or only getting childcare payments, you can either:

• apply online through MyMSD, or
• fill out a paper Extra Help application form.

If you can't apply online or fill out the form, call us.

Apply online

Apply online through MyMSD. We'll check if you can get any other payments at the same time and tell you what else you need to do.

Fill out paper application form

You can fill out the Extra Help application form. You'll also need to provide proof of your costs. 

You can get your application form and proof of costs to us by either:

• dropping them in to your nearest service centre
• posting them to your nearest service centre, or
• uploading them to MyMSD (you'll need to call us first).

After you've applied you may need to call us to book an appointment. This could be a phone appointment or a face-to-face appointment.

If this is your first time applying for a benefit or ongoing payment, you need to bring your original government-issued ID into a service centre so we can check it. If you have:

• a face-to-face appointment, you can bring this with then.
• no appointment or a phone appointment, you can bring your ID into a service centre without an appointment.

Types of documents we accept

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Existing client

If you're already getting payments from us, eg, a benefit or Accommodation Supplement, you can complete a Temporary Additional Support application form. You'll also need to provide proof of your costs. 

You can get your application form and proof of costs to us by either:

• dropping them in to your nearest service centre
• posting them to your nearest service centre, or
• uploading them to MyMSD (you'll need to call us first).

After you've applied we may book an appointment with you if we need more information. This could be a phone appointment or a face-to-face appointment.

If you can't fill out the form, call us on 0800 559 009. 

Temporary Additional Support is paid for 13 weeks. If you still need it after 13 weeks, you have to re-apply.

If you're already getting Temporary Additional Support and your costs change, you need to let us know.

If you're not sure what costs are included in your Temporary Additional Support, you can check in MyMSD.

If your other payments from us change, it could affect how much you get for your Temporary Additional Support. This includes main benefits (e.g. Jobseeker Support or Supported Living Payment), and extra help payments (e.g. Accommodation Supplement or Disability Allowance).

If your costs change it could affect your extra help payment. If your extra help payment changes your Temporary Additional Support will also change. If your costs go down (e.g. your prescriptions), your Temporary Additional Support may go down, because you're paying less. If your costs go up (e.g. your rent), your Temporary Additional Support may go up, because you're paying more.

If you're getting a main benefit, your Temporary Additional Support may change if your main benefit changes. If your main benefit payment goes up, your Temporary Additional Support may go down. If your main benefit goes down, your Temporary Additional Support may go up. Main benefits are reviewed every year on 1 April, and they usually go up from this date.