How to find support when you've lost everything

When Serhii’s house was completely destroyed by shelling, he was temporarily sheltered by acquaintances. The man is a pensioner who found himself in difficult life circumstances.

He needed legal assistance to apply for compensation for destroyed housing under the eVidnovlennia (eRecovery) programme, obtain internally displaced person (IDP) status, and receive victim status within criminal proceedings.

A lawyer from the Danish Refugee Council helped determine the sequence of actions and supported him at every stage:

1. in applying to law enforcement authorities with a statement and, as a result, obtaining victim status and an extract from the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations;
2. in applying to the Administrative Services Centre to register information in the State Register of Rights to Immovable Property;
3. in explaining the mechanism for submitting an application to the Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property in accordance with the type of compensation he required;
4. in applying to the Social Protection Department to obtain a certificate confirming internally displaced person status;
5. in applying to the bodies of the Pension Fund of Ukraine with the IDP certificate in order to receive living assistance.

After some time, the Compensation Commission issued an inspection report regarding the destroyed property. As a result, Serhii obtained IDP status and was able to formalise compensation for his destroyed housing. The man will now be able to secure a new home of his own and, while waiting for it, receive additional living assistance as an internally displaced person.

DRC provides free legal aid in Sumy region thanks to funding by the European Union.