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State subsistence benefit

Department of Social Welfare and Health Care
Raekoja plats 3, 51003 Tartu
+372 736 1300

State subsistence benefit

The state subsistence benefit (hereinafter the benefit) is a temporary measure that alleviates material deprivation of persons and families in need of assistance and supports the ability of persons to cope independently by providing minimum funds to satisfy primary needs.

 

Right to apply – a person living alone or a family whose place of residence registered in the Population Register of Estonia is the City of Tartu or whose actual place of residence at the time assistance is needed is in the administrative territory of the City of Tartu.

 

Right to receive – a person living alone or a family whose monthly net income, after the deduction of permanent housing expenses within the limits of the expenses established by the municipal council, is below the established subsistence level.

 

The subsistence level is:

  • for a person living alone or for the first family member of the family 200 euros per month;
  • for each minor child (under 18 years of age) 240 euros per month;
  • per the second and each following family member 160 euros per month.

     

 

In order to apply, the applicant submits an application for a benefit for a given month to a social work specialist of the regional centre of the Department of Social Welfare and Health Care of Tartu City Government of their place of residence  last business day of the given month.

 

In an application, the applicant specifies the names, personal identification codes and social status of the persons to be taken into account upon the granting of an allowance.

 

Documents that are to be appended to the application certify the following:

  • the identity, incl. the identity of the family members (upon application for the benefit for the first time; birth certificate, ID card);

  • the studies of the family members of over 16 years of age (upon application for the allowance for the first time; in the event of students, a valid student card or a certificate issued by the school);

  • the bank account of the person to which they wish the transfer of the amount of the benefit be made (in the event of transfer to the bank account of a third person, the applicant’s corresponding hand-written application);

  • the net income of the person living alone or of the family members received in the preceding month (if income cannot be certified, the applicant will verify it with their signature);

  • the amount of the maintenance support paid, the receipt of the maintenance support or a claim of maintenance support;

  •  the right to use the dwelling (if the applicant wishes that the housing expenses also be taken into account upon the granting of the benefit);

  • the housing expenses payable during the given month (an invoice from the apartment association, etc.);

  • the payment of the housing expenses compensated for in the preceding month;

  • the banking transactions of the person living alone or of the family members conducted in the preceding month or, upon application for the benefit for the first time, their banking transactions conducted in the six months preceding the application (bank statement).

Upon application for the benefit for the first time or changes in the composition of objects, the applicant submits a written list of the following objects used or owned by the applicant and their family:

 

The applicant must submit all the truthful and complete data, documents and other certificates that are necessary for ascertaining the right to receive the benefit.

 

The benefit is granted within five working days of the submission of all documents. The benefit is granted for the current month. No subsistence benefit is granted retroactively for the preceding months.

 

The benefit is paid within three working days of the day of making the decision.

 

Basis for calculation

  • the net income of the person living alone or of all the family members in the preceding month (I)

  • the housing expenses subject to payment in the current month within the limits and the standard allotted living space (HE)

  • established subsistence level (SL)

The formula for the calculation of the subsistence benefit (ST) is:          ST=(HE+SL)-I

 

Family members are deemed to be the following persons who live in the same dwelling and have a shared household:

  1. persons who are married or in a relationship similar to marriage;

  2. ascendants and descendants related in the first and second degree;

  3. other persons who have a shared household.

Income includes all income of the family that has not been specified as an exception in law. Income paid in advance or retroactively for several months may serve as a basis for the calculation of the benefit as the average income of the six months preceding the application.

 

Expenses include housing expenses that are taken into account within the standard allotted living space, which is 18 m2 of the net floor area per family member and additional 15 m2 per family. If the number of rooms in an apartment is equal to the number of inhabitants who live there permanently, but the net floor area of the apartment is larger than the standard allotted living space, the net floor area of the apartment will be used as a basis. If the net floor are of the apartment is smaller than the standard allotted living space, the actual area will be used as a basis. Upon granting of a subsistence benefit, the standard allotted living space in the event of pensioners who live alone may be considered to be up to 51 m2.

 

Housing expenses to be taken into account and their limits:

  1. the rent of a dwelling with a net floor area of more than 33 m2 up to 8 euros per m2 a month;

  2. the rent of a dwelling with a net floor area of up to 33 m2 up to 9 euros per m2 a month;

  3. the administration costs of the apartment building, including costs related to repairs, 2 euros per m2 a month;

  4. the repayment of a loan taken for renovation of the apartment building up to 1.50 euros per m2 a month;

  5. the cost of services for supplying water and leading off waste water up to 6 m3 per one-member family and up to 4 m3 per each following family member a month;

  6. the cost of the thermal energy or fuel consumed for the supply of hot water up to 15 euros per one-member family and up to 10 euros per each following family member a month;

  7. the cost of thermal energy or fuel consumed for heating up to 3 euros per m2 a month. If an expense receipt also includes the cost of heating of the following period, it will be compensated for in the following months within the limit until it compensates for the amount indicated in the expense receipt or a new expense receipt is submitted;

  8. the cost related to the consumption of electricity up to 20 euros per one-member family and up to 12 euros per each following family member a month;

  9. the cost of household gas up to 8 euros per one-member family and up to 6 euros per each following family member a month;

  10. the expenses for land tax, which are calculated based on the size of land that equals three times the area under the dwelling, up to 0.13 euros per m2 a month;

  11. the expenses for building insurance up to 0.20 euros per m2 a month;

  12. the fee for the transport of municipal waste up to 6 euros per one-member family and up to 4 euros per each following family member a month.

 

Obligation to pay housing expenses – the applicant who is granted the benefit to cover housing expenses is required to ensure payment of such expenses. If the applicant has not paid such expenses, the payer of the benefit has the right to pay the housing expenses for the applicant out of the benefit granted to the person.

 

Arrears of housing expenses – upon calculation of the benefit, pre-existing arrears in payment of housing expenses are not included in the housing expenses payable during the given month, and such arrears are not subject to coverage out of the benefit.

 

Granting of the benefit may be refused in the following events:

  1. to a person between the age of 18 and the pensionable age with the ability to work who is not working or studying and who is not registered as unemployed with the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund or who has, more than once and without good reason, failed to comply with the individual activity plan or turned down suitable work offered to them or refused to participate in social services or studies organised by the local authority to support the ability to cope independently;

  2. if the applicant or a child entitled to receive maintenance who lives together with the applicant or other descendant or ascendant who needs assistance and is unable to maintain themselves has the right to receive maintenance support but the applicant refuses to submit a document certifying the receipt of the maintenance support or refuses to claim the maintenance support;

  3. if the local authority finds that the property used or owned by the subsistence benefit applicant or their family or the lease, rental or sale thereof ensures sufficient funds for coping for the person or their family.

The recipient of the subsistence benefit whose family members are all minors has the right to receive, from the State budget funds, supplementary social allowance of 15 euros together with the subsistence benefit.

 

Application for receipt of subsistence benefit (in English)

Application for receipt of subsistence benefit (in Arabic)

In Arabic

The translation has been made under the “Exchange of information by Department of Social Welfare and Health Care of Tartu City Government about public services” project of the Department of Social Welfare and Health Care of Tartu City Government and is co-financed by the European Union through the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and by the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Estonia.

Last changed 29.09.2023