Notify Kela of changes in your circumstances
Remember to notify Kela of any changes in your circumstances, so that we can pay your social assistance correctly. Do not forget to check how any changes in your circumstances will affect other benefits that you receive from Kela.
If we do not receive any information on changes, you may be paid social assistance even if you are not entitled to it or at the wrong rate. Any overpaid benefit may reduce future payments of social assistance.
Contact Kela immediately if, for example,
- the amount of income available to you or your family changes
- the amount of assets available to you or your family changes
- there are changes in the benefits which you or your family receive or are about to receive
- there is a change in your or your family's expenses
- you move or become homeless
- you or a family member of yours who is between 17 and 64 years of age stops looking for work
- you get married or your marriage ends
- you move in with your partner, or you leave your partner and move away
- there are other changes in your family (e.g. the number of family members or persons liable for child support payments changes)
- you enter military or non-military service
- you are sent to prison
- you are admitted into institutional care for more than 30 days (e.g. a hospital)
- you or a family member travels abroad for more than a week.
If you cannot report changes in OmaKela, you can fill in the changed information on the social assistance application form TO 1e (pdf). Print out the form and send it and any supporting documents to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA or hand them in at a Kela service point. You can also pick up a printed copy of the application form at any Kela service point.
Do not forget to submit the supporting documents
When you notify Kela of changes, check what supporting documents you need to send with your application. If supporting documents are missing from the application, we will ask you to send them.
We will make a decision on your application within 7 working days of receiving the supporting documents. If we do not receive the missing supporting documents, we may have to turn down your application.
We will review the amount of social assistance
We will review your social assistance if there are changes in your situation that affect the amount of the benefit. You will then receive a new decision or notice of payment.
If the amount of social assistance increases as a result of the review, the benefit will be paid into your account within two business days of the decision.
The amount of social assistance may also be reduced if, for example, your income has increased.
If you have been paid too much social assistance, it may affect the amount of social assistance you can get over the next few months. In other words, you will not be required to pay back any overpaid benefit, but we can take it into account when we calculate future payments of social assistance. Future payments will then be smaller than would otherwise be the case.
Please note that we may recover excess payments of social assistance from you if you have intentionally given false information or failed to notify us of any changes.