Continuation Application Denied - What You Can Do Now

Q: What does an urgent application to the social court cost?

Court proceedings under the SGG are free of charge for entitled persons. You can file the application even without a lawyer - on the record at the legal application desk of the social court.

You filed your continuation application on time - and still a rejection arrives. From next month no money is supposed to flow. That is a shock, and it often comes for reasons that can be challenged effectively with an objection. This guide shows you why this happens and what you should do specifically.

The Most Important Points in 30 Seconds

The continuation application (Weiterbewilligungsantrag, WBA) is your application for Bürgergeld for the next approval period, usually 12 months (§ 37 SGB II).
Most common rejection grounds: missing documents (§ 66 SGB I), assets above the allowance, alleged own income.
You have one month to file an objection from receipt of the notice.
If from next month nothing arrives and you can no longer pay rent and food: urgent application to the social court under § 86b SGG.
The Jobcenter must give you a hearing before any rejection (§ 24 SGB X). A missing hearing is a procedural defect.

We review your decision within 24 hours. Free and non-binding.

Why Is a Continuation Application Even Rejected?

Bürgergeld is always granted only for one approval period (Bewilligungsabschnitt) - that is the period covered by the notice, as a rule 12 months. If you want to continue receiving benefits afterwards, you must file a continuation application. Without this application, the Jobcenter does not check anything. That is in § 37 SGB II.

The rejection is not a personal attack - it almost always follows a pattern. The Jobcenter rechecks three things: your cooperation (all documents in?), your assets and your income. If one of these is enough, the application is rejected or the benefit is "refused". The difference is important:

Refusal under § 66 SGB I: you have (allegedly) not cooperated. Here the Jobcenter must request you in writing beforehand and set a deadline.
Substantive rejection: the Jobcenter thinks you are not in need (too many assets, too much income).

Concrete Example From Practice

Frau M. from Leipzig receives a notice on 20 April: her continuation application from 1 May is rejected. The reason: she has not submitted account statements in full. In fact, she had sent three of four statements - the fourth was not yet available online from her former bank. The Jobcenter never gave her a written hearing on this, only an automatic reminder. From 1 May: no standard need, no rent. Two children in the household.

This is a classic case for objection and urgent application. Because from May the family is left without money - and that is existentially threatening.

Your Rights in Concrete Terms

1. Right to a hearing (§ 24 SGB X). Before the Jobcenter takes a decision burdensome to you, it must give you the chance to comment. If this hearing is missing, the notice is unlawful - the defect can be cured in the objection procedure, but it is your point of entry.

2. Deadline for submitting documents under the cooperation duty (§ 66 Abs. 3 SGB I). When the Jobcenter demands documents, it must set a reasonable deadline in writing and point out the consequences. Without this qualified request, a refusal under § 66 SGB I is open to challenge.

3. Objection within one month (§ 84 SGG). From receipt of the notice you have one month. The objection is free of charge and can be made in writing or recorded for the file at the Jobcenter. One sentence is enough at first: "I file an objection against the notice of … . Reasons to follow."

4. Urgent legal protection at the social court (§ 86b Abs. 2 SGG). If an objection does not help quickly enough and your existence is threatened, you can file an urgent application to the social court in parallel. The court can then oblige the Jobcenter to pay provisionally. Decisions often follow within a few days to weeks.

5. Access to the file (§ 25 SGB X). You may inspect your file. This is helpful for seeing which documents the Jobcenter actually has and which internal notes have been entered.

Asset Allowances 2025 - Often Miscalculated

Many rejections are based on "excessive assets". The grace period (Karenzzeit) is often forgotten. In the first year of receiving Bürgergeld an increased allowance of 40,000 EUR for the first person plus 15,000 EUR for each further person in the household community applies. After the grace period (typically by the time of the first continuation application) the allowance changes - it is then 15,000 EUR per person in the household community.

Example: A couple with one child has a joint allowance of 40,000 EUR + 15,000 EUR + 15,000 EUR = 70,000 EUR during the grace period. If their total assets are below that, a rejection due to assets is unlawful.

Important: a self-occupied property of appropriate size and an appropriate motor vehicle are not part of the assets to be counted. Retirement provision contracts have additional protection rules.

Current Case Law

On refusal for missing cooperation, the social courts have repeatedly decided: a refusal is only permissible if the Jobcenter specifically states which document is missing, sets a reasonable deadline and points out the consequences of non-cooperation. Blanket requests ("Please submit complete documents") are not enough. [URTEIL-REFERENZ]

On urgent legal protection: the Bundesverfassungsgericht has repeatedly emphasised that for benefits securing existence, high requirements apply when rejecting applications in urgent proceedings. When the existential minimum is at risk, the courts must decide swiftly. [URTEIL-REFERENZ]

What To Do Now

1. Keep the notice, note the date of receipt. Look at the envelope or the PostIdent slip. From this day on the one-month deadline runs.

2. File an objection - as soon as possible. You do not have to send the reasons immediately. An informal one-liner is enough. Send the objection by recorded delivery or hand it in personally with a stamped receipt.

3. Collect documents. Which documents were demanded? Which have you already submitted? Collect proof - emails, uploads, postal receipts. This is your evidence in the objection.

4. If from next month no money comes: check the urgent application. When the rent is due and the fridge is empty, do not wait for the objection procedure. An urgent application to the social court is free of charge and can be filed informally.

5. Submit the objection reasoning. Take two or three weeks. Go through point by point: missing hearing, wrongly calculated assets, cooperation actually provided.

6. Do not go silent. Even if it is hard: respond to all further letters. The Jobcenter may draw negative conclusions from silence.

Typical Mistakes To Avoid

Objecting only orally on the phone. That does not count. Objection must be in writing or recorded for the file at the Jobcenter.
Hoping for "goodwill". The one-month deadline is a strict cut-off. Once it expires, the notice becomes final - even if it was unlawful.
Filing the urgent application too late. If you only wait until the electricity bill bursts, "urgency" becomes harder to justify. Better to go to the social court immediately.
Sending documents only by ordinary post. Without proof of receipt, the Jobcenter will, in case of doubt, claim it received nothing. Always with delivery confirmation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to give reasons for the objection?

No, not immediately. An informal objection is enough to keep the deadline. You can submit reasons later. Helpful: "Reasons to follow within 4 weeks."

Will I receive money during the objection?

Not automatically. The objection against the rejection of a benefit grant usually has no suspensive effect. That is why the parallel urgent application is important in acute hardship.

What does an urgent application to the social court cost?

Court proceedings under the SGG are free of charge for entitled persons. You can file the application even without a lawyer - on the record at the legal application desk of the social court.

I forgot the grace period rule and stated too much money. What now?

Check whether all types of assets were really counted. Retirement provisions, an appropriate car, a self-occupied home are protected. Often the "excess" assets shrink considerably on closer inspection.

Can the Jobcenter pay retroactively if I win?

Yes. If your objection or your action is successful, the benefit is paid retroactively from the day on which it should have been granted.

Have Your Notice Reviewed Now

A rejected continuation application is not the end of the road. In most cases, with a precise objection and - where necessary - an urgent application, the benefit can be saved. What matters is speed, because the one-month deadline runs relentlessly.

We review your decision within 24 hours. Free and non-binding.