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INCOME SUPPORT
Income Support is available
for people on a low income who are
not required to be available for work.
How much money you have coming in and any
capital or savings you have will affect whether
or not you can get it and, if so, how much
you can get. If you have more than £8,000
in savings you cannot get Income Support (or
more than £12,000 if you are aged 60
or over). Savings of more than £3,000
will reduce the amount you get paid.
You must be over 16 years
of age to get Income Support. You cannot
work more than 16 hours per week and, if you
have a partner, your partner cannot work more
than 24 hours per week.
For more information on Income
Support
CLICK HERE
WORKING FAMILIES' TAX CREDIT
This is a tax credit for people
who are in paid work. You may be eligible
if:
-
you are a single person,
or
-
you are a married couple
living together, or
-
you are a man and woman
living together as if you were married,
-
you are in paid work
(including working as a self-employed
person) for the required number of hours.
Note - The amount you receive
will depend on your annual income, and you
must be 16 or over to be able to apply for
tax credits.
For more information, please
call the Tax Credit Helpline on 0845 609 5000.
JOBSEEKER'S ALLOWANCE
Jobseeker's Allowance is paid
to you if you are available for work and
actively seeking work. To get it you must
be under 65 (men), or under 60 (women)
and either not working, or working
on average fewer than 16 hours per week.
For more information on Jobseeker's
Allowance contact your Jobcentre or Social
Security Office.
CHILD BENEFIT
Child Benefit is a benefit
for people raising children. It is paid for
each child and it is not affected by the income
or savings you have.
You can claim child benefit
if you have a child under 16, or have
a child under 19 who is studying full-time
up to A-Level, NVQ level 3 or equivalent,
or if your child is under 18 and registered
with the Caerers Service or Connexion Service
for work or work-based training for young
people.
You do not have to be the
child's parent to claim Child Benefit,
but you must have responsibility for the child.
For more information on this
benefit call the Child Benefit Centre on 08701
555 540.
COUNCIL TAX BENEFIT
Council Tax Benefit is paid
by your local council to help with your Council
Tax. You do not have to be on any other benefits.
It doesn't matter if you already get a discount
on your Council Tax. Even if you work full
time you may be able to claim Council Tax
Benefit.
You can claim Council Tax Benefit
if you are on a low income and liable for
Council Tax.
If you have savings of more
than £16,000 it would be unusual to
be able to claim Council Tax Benefit.
Savings of more than £3,000
usually affect how much Council Tax Benefit
you will get.
There are a number of other
factors that could affect if you are eligible
for Council Tax Benefit.
For further information contact
your Local Council or Social
Security Office.
HOUSING BENEFIT
Housing Benefit is paid by
your local council to help towards paying
your rent, which you may pay to your Local
Authority, housing association or a private
landlord.
You do not have to be claiming
any other benefits to make a claim, but should
have a low income.
Even if you work full time
you may be able to claim Housing Benefit.
If you have savings of more
than £16,000 it would be unusual to
be able to claim Housing Benefit.
Savings of more than £3,000
usually affect how much Housing Benefit you
will get.
For more information on this
benefit contact your Local Council or Social
Security Office.
DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE
This can be claimed if you
need help to look after yourself. It doesn't
affect Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance
claims. Different rates apply depending on
the extent to which your disability affects
you. A claim is not affected by income or
savings.
Disability Living Allowance
can be claimed by anyone aged at least
three years old with severe difficulty
in walking or anyone aged at least five years
old who needs help getting around. It cannot
be claimed by anyone aged 65 years or over.
For a successful claim you must have needed
help for three months and are likely to need
it for another six months.
You may not be able to claim
if you are in hospital or residential care.
For more information on this
benefit contact your Local Council or Social
Security Office.
INCAPACITY BENEFIT
This benefit is relevant when
you are unable to claim Statutory Sick Pay.
You can only claim it if you were under the
state pension age when you became sick. There
are various types of benefit:
 To
claim the basic rate of Incapacity Benefit
you must have paid National Insurance for
the relevant qualifying period and have been
incapable of working due to sickness or disability
for four days in a row (including weekends
and Bank Holidays).
You
can also claim if you have been off work for
28 weeks and are under 20 years old or 25
if you have been in education or training.
You must also have fallen sick after turning
16 years old or 20 if you were in education.
Short
term Incapacity Benefit is paid at a lower
rate if you have been off work for four days
or more and are no longer entitled to Statutory
Sick Pay.
Short
term Incapacity Benefit is paid at a higher
rate if you have been off due to sickness
for more than 28 weeks but fewer than 52 weeks.
Long
term Incapacity Benefit is paid if you have
been off work for more than 52 weeks.
For more information on this
benefit contact your Local Council or Social
Security Office.
CARERS ALLOWANCE
This allowance is paid to the
carer. If you spend at least 35 hours a week
caring for someone who claims or is waiting
to hear about a claim on one of the following,
you may be entitled to the allowance:
Attendance
Allowance
Disability
Living Allowance
Industrial
Injuries Disablement Benefit Constant Attendance
Allowance
War
Pensions Constant Attendance Allowance.
To claim you must be over
16 years of age but under 65. You may
not be able to claim if you earn over a certain
amount and you cannot claim if you are in
full-time education. It is important to be
aware that receiving the allowance may have
an effect on any other benefits you claim
or on benefits claimed by the person you care
for.
You can download an allowance
application form by clicking
here.
For more information on this
benefit contact your Local Council or Social
Security Office.
STATE RETIREMENT PENSION
A State Retirement Pension
is payable to women aged 60 and over
and men aged 65 and over. The single
person's allowance is currently £67.50
a week and the married couple's is £107.90
(although both partners may be entitled to
a single person's pension). To qualify you
need to have paid enough National Iinsurance
contributions throughout your working life.
To give you a rough idea you need to have
earned at least the same amount as the basic
pension for most of your working life.
For more information
on this benefit contact your local Social
Security Office or
visit this site.
If you have not yet
reached retirement age and would like to check
what your pension entitlement is likely to
be, you can get a Retirement Pension Forecast
by completing the online form here.
SERPS
The State Earnings Related
Pension Scheme is a top-up to the basic
state pension and is payable to former employees
only. It replaces earned income between the
basic state pension level and £500 per
week.
For more information please
CLICK HERE.
PENSION CREDITS
Pension Credit is an entitlement
for people aged 60 or over living in Great
Britain and in receipt of a State Pension.
Similar to other tax credits the benefit
is income related but no deductions will be
made for those with savings of up to £6000.
For more details visit the Pension
Service website.
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