Income Support - basic qualifying criteria

[KizzyKazaer]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018708

Who can get Income Support

It's for people who all the following apply to:

  - are between age 16 and the age they can get Pension Credit (for more info on Pension Credit, see next post)
  - have a low income
  - work less than 16 hours a week, depending on the amount of your wage
  - aren't in full-time study (but there are some exceptions)
  - don't get Jobseeker's Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance
  - don't have savings above £16,000
  - live in Great Britain

You may get Income Support if you are one of the following:

  - a lone parent
  - on parental or paternity leave
  - a carer
  - a refugee learning English who arrived less than a year ago

Important Note:  For new claimants, people who are sick/disabled and are deemed unable to work (or to have 'limited' capability for work as deemed by the DWP) now have to claim the Employment Support Allowance, the 'components' of which have replaced the Income Support 'premiums' related to disability.  Some people may still be receiving Income Support for reasons of sickness/disability if they are getting the benefits that ESA has replaced - Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance.  These claimants are currently being transferred to ESA in a process that will be completed in 2014.   See our ESA sub-board for more detailed information.

Young people in relevant education may also get Income Support. Generally this means full-time education up to GCE A-level or Scottish Certificate of Education (Higher level). This might apply if you:

 - are a parent
 - don't live with a parent or someone acting as a parent
 - are at serious risk of abuse or violence
 - are a refugee learning English

Families and Income Support

You can claim Income Support for yourself and your partner.

Jobcentre Plus will treat you as a couple if you live with your husband, wife or civil partner - or someone as if they were your husband, wife or civil partner.  Jobcentre Plus will refer to this person as 'your partner'.

Income Support is no longer paid for children if you're making a new claim. To get money for children, you must now claim Child Tax Credit instead.

Only one person in a family can claim Income Support at any one time. There are several types of premiums (extra amounts) you may get based on your and your partner's circumstances.
   
Lone parents and Income Support

There are changes to Income Support that may affect your entitlement if you're receiving it because you're a lone parent.

If you have just started claiming Income Support you may not have had an interview with a personal adviser yet. Personal advisers can help you consider your options for returning to work and tell you about the support available. You can ask for an appointment to see an adviser at any time - contact your Jobcentre Plus office. The support available includes information about:

- Sure Start
- Families Information Service
- other benefits, like tax credits and Healthy Start
- helping lone parents back to work

You can still claim Income Support if you're:

- sleeping rough
- living in a hostel
- living in a care home

Young people who are being looked after by a local authority can't get Income Support.

When you claim Income Support you must be in Great Britain and normally live here. If you have moved here to make a settled home, that counts as living here.

You must not be under immigration control.

There are some exceptions to these rules. Contact Jobcentre Plus to find out more. 




(edited for additions - KK)

[KizzyKazaer]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/PensionCredit/DG_10018692

Pension Credit

This is an income-related (means-tested) benefit for pensioners living in Great Britain. It is made up of two parts -
Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit.

Guarantee Credit

The Guarantee Credit works by topping up your weekly income to:

    £137.35 if you are single
    £209.70 if you have a partner

These amounts may be more if you are disabled, have caring responsibilities or certain housing costs, such as mortgage interest payments.

Qualifying Age

The age from which you can get the Guarantee Credit – the qualifying age – is gradually increasing in line with women's State Pension age. To find out the age when you may be able to apply for Pension Credit, you can use the State Pension age calculator:

http://pensions-service.direct.gov.uk/en/state-pension-age-calculator/home.asp

Changes to the State Pension age are likely to affect the Pension Credit qualifying age.

While you must have reached the qualifying age, you can still claim if your partner is under the qualifying age. If you or your partner are both over the qualifying age either one of you can apply.

‘Partner’ is used to refer to:    your husband, wife, civil partner or the person you live with as if they were your husband, wife or civil partner.

Age 65 or over - Savings Credit

If you are aged 65 or over and living in Great Britain you may be entitled to Savings Credit. You may get the Savings Credit on its own or with the Guarantee Credit. You may be entitled to Savings Credit if you:  are aged 65 or over and have made some provision towards your retirement such as savings or a second pension.

If you have a partner, at least one of you must be 65 or over to get the Savings Credit.

The Savings Credit can be up to:

    £20.52 a week if you are single
    £27.09 a week if you have a partner

You may still get the Savings Credit even if the money you have coming in is up to about:

    £188 a week if you are single
    £277 a week if you have a partner

These amounts may be more if you are disabled, have caring responsibilities or certain housing costs, such as mortgage interest payments.

Get a Pension Credit estimate

Use the Pension Credit calculator to get a Pension Credit estimate. This online calculator is quick and easy to use and will tell you how much Pension Credit you might get.

http://pensions-service.direct.gov.uk/en/pension-credit-calculator/calculate.asp

How to apply for Pension Credit

You’ll receive a letter before you reach your State Pension age or Pension Credit qualifying age if you also receive a benefit from either:  Jobcentre Plus, The Pension Service or the Disability and Carers Service.

The letter will tell you what you need to do next.

For anyone else the easiest way is to apply by phone. You can call The Pension Service on 0800 99 1234 or textphone 0800 169 0133. Lines are open 8.00 am to 8.00 pm Monday to Friday (except public holidays).

When you phone, you need the following information:

- your National Insurance number
- information about your savings, investments and income
- details of the account into which you would like any Pension Credit payments to be paid

An adviser will help you apply for Pension Credit and let you know what happens next.

The Pension Service can also help you apply for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit at the same time as your application for Pension Credit.

   

[RococoSoul]

I was told you can claim IS if you are awarded the higher rates of DLA, does anyone have info on this please? And also I didn't think you could claim IS if you claimed IB, so any info on that as well please, if anybody has it 

[hossylass]

Yep, if you get the higher rate of care and you live on your own and nobody claims carers allowance then you can get IS on top of IB.

If you are on long term IB with no age increments (£94.**) then you get £71.** IS (the ** are pence - cant remember) so the total is £165 or there abouts.

[RococoSoul]

What are the age increments? I get slightly more than £94 

[KizzyKazaer]

If you're receiving long-term IB, there are two 'Age Additions' which apply if you were under 45 when you became too ill or disabled to work:
 
£6.55 lower rate - for claimants that were aged between 35 and 44 inclusive

£15.65 higher rate - for claimants that were aged under 35

Hope that helps!

[KizzyKazaer]

I didn't think you could claim IS if you claimed IB

The two aren't mutually exclusive - it's just that IB is taken into account in full as an income when IS is being assessed. 

Later, I'll post up an example award of IS for the circumstances Hossy described, breaking it all down so you can get an idea of how IS is calculated...

[RococoSoul]

 

[KizzyKazaer]

I thought I'd start a new thread so I can add a variety of examples:

http://ouchtoo.org/index.php?topic=2167.0

 

[Sunshine Meadows]

 

[RococoSoul]