Get help through Hackney Money Hub
Hackney Money Hub is a new team within Hackney Council. Our friendly and non judgemental team has decades of experience supporting people who are struggling with finances, looking for extra help or advice with the benefits system.
On this page:
How we can help
We start by checking you’re receiving all the benefits you’re entitled to. We know our communities are missing out on £28 million a year of unclaimed benefits. We have helped many households to increase their incomes.
We help you to think about other steps you could take to improve your long term financial situation such as:
- moving to a more affordable property
- taking in a lodger
- starting or increasing the hours that you work
Our team is also able to help a very small number of people with one-off grants to those in extreme hardship. All our grants are discretionary and we can only use them as a last resort. We expect residents to consider other options for support, such as a budgeting advance if you’re in receipt of Universal Credit or trying to get help from other places.
Examples of the help we may be able to provide include:
- if you’re unable to afford a meal or fuel we may be able to provide you with a one-off voucher – we can also direct you to charities that can help
- if you are moving into a home without any furniture or where lack of furniture is causing serious impact to your health and wellbeing
- support to help you to move from one property to another if you’re already renting in Hackney
As demand is very high, we have to prioritise this help for those in exceptional circumstances who have no other options available.
If you’re homeless and need support to find somewhere to live or are currently threatened with homelessness visit Homelessness and temporary accommodation. It’s the quickest way to access support.
You must complete the Turn2Us benefits calculator before you make an application to Hackney Money Hub.
When you have completed the Turn2Us calculator, you are given a nine-digit reference number.
Use the “Copy to clipboard” button to copy the 9 digit reference number including hyphens. You need this reference number to complete your Hackney Money Hub application.
Complete the benefits Turn2Us calculator
See our guide to using the benefits Turn2Us calculator to apply to Money Hub (google doc)
To begin you need:
- your nine-digit Turn2Us reference number
- your national insurance number
- consent from the individual if you are applying for someone else
Check your inbox or junk folder for a confirmation email from the Hackney Money Hub.
This contains resources on steps you can take today to manage the rising cost of living.
The email is an automated message. We are not able to respond to any questions.
Our experts review your situation and contact you for additional information to support your application.
In the meantime, get money owed to you by applying to any benefits that you are eligible for but have not claimed according to the Turn2Us calculator.
To find out how, see how to claim benefits using Turn2Us (google doc)
Hackney Money Hub one-off discretionary awards
For people who have suffered an emergency, disaster or are under exceptional pressure with nowhere else to turn we can add to our benefits support with one-off discretionary awards. To provide this help we use Discretionary Housing Payments, our Council Tax Reduction Discretionary fund, Household Support Fund (funded by the Department for Work and Pensions), and Discretionary Crisis Support scheme.
Each of these schemes is discretionary and we have limited budgets. In the majority of cases we’re unable to award any discretionary funds. Instead we focus on helping residents to claim the benefits they’re entitled to and consider other options that can help them.
The links below provide more detail about who is eligible for each scheme and how we decide who we can pay. When you apply we will decide how best we can help you and which funds we can use to do so.
Council Tax Reduction Discretionary Fund policy (google document)
Hackney Council’s Discretionary Housing Payments policy (PDF 2mb)
The Hackney Discretionary Crisis Support scheme public policy document (PDF 224kb)
Request a review of a decision
If you do not agree with a decision made by the Money Hub, you can either ask us:
- for a more detailed explanation of our decision – called a statement of reasons
- to change the decision – called a review
If you ask us to review your decision a new officer and a manager reviews your case and the evidence. They may decide that the original decision is correct, or they may overturn it. We will notify you in writing of the outcome of your review with detailed reasons.
Request a review of a decision
If you are unable to complete the online form, call 0208 356 3111 – we will help you complete the review request over the phone.
The review decision is final – Money Hub help is discretionary, so there is no statutory right to appeal.
If, after a review, you think that we have not followed our policies correctly, or acted illegally, you can:
- submit a complaint via the council’s complaints procedure
- take the council to Judicial Review
- ask the Valuation Tribunal to decide if we have applied our Council Tax Reduction scheme correctly
Here to help
Address
Telephone
Opening times
- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday – 9am to 5pm (telephone)
- Wednesday – 9am to 4pm (telephone)