If you and your family are affected by an emergency event, you may be able to get a Civil Defence Payment from Work and Income.

These are available for people affected by a Civil Defence emergency such as Cyclone Gabrielle.

You don’t have to be getting a benefit and in most cases it doesn’t matter what your income is or what
assets you have. Non-residents may be eligible for this payment.

These payments can help with the cost of:

• Emergency food, clothing and bedding if yours has been damaged or destroyed by the cyclone Costs if you’ve had to leave your home
• loss of income because you can’t work due to the cyclone
• If you have evacuees staying with you in places such as a private home, marae or community centre.

Who can get it?
You may be able to get a Civil Defence Payment if either:

• a Civil Defence emergency has been declared, or
• the event meets the guidelines for a Civil Defence emergency.

You must be in one of these situations because of the emergency:

• you had to leave your home (e.g. you’ve been evacuated or you’re on stand-by)
• you were away from your home at the time of the emergency and can’t return you need help with food, bedding or clothing
• you can’t go to work.

You must also:

• not be able to cover your costs from insurance (or you haven’t been paid yet)
• not have access to any other help, e.g:
  • public donations
  • other government relief funds
  • charitable relief funds.

If you’re not sure whether insurance will cover your costs, you may still qualify for a Civil Defence Payment. However if you get a Civil Defence Payment and then your insurance pays for any costs covered by this, you’ll need to pay us back.

What you can get depends on your circumstances. You can apply for help with more than one type of cost. These payments are available for a limited time.

Full information is available on Work and Income website

Call Work and Income on 0800 400 100 7am–5pm Monday to Friday 8am–5pm Saturday.