This factsheet explains the basic rules for income support. If, after reading it, you want to find out more or need help with making a claim see the Where can I get more help or information? section below.
Income support is paid to certain people who are not expected to look for work. These include carers and certain lone parents. It is intended to provide for basic living expenses and can be paid on top of other benefits such as carer's allowance. You can also get money to help with mortgage payments.
To get income support you must:
You can claim income support if you are in one of the following list of qualifying groups (if you are a student see below):
Before the introduction of employment and support allowance (ESA) on 27 October 2008 you could get income support if you were sick/disabled and unable to work. Existing claimants remain on the income support for the present but will begin to be transferred over to ESA from October 2010.
At some point between October 2010 and March 2014, if you are on income support because of sickness or disability, you will be reassessed under the new Work Capability Assessment instead of the personal capability assessment. If you are found to have a limited capability for work in this assessment, you will be moved (migrated) onto ESA.
For more information on income support migration see the DWP website at www.dwp.gov.uk/adviser/updates/ib-reassessing-claims/
The term "right to reside" is not defined but is dependent on your immigration status and nationality. You might have a right to reside under United Kingdom rules, EC law or because you are a British citizen.
The habitual residence test is a test to see if you normally live in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Republic of Ireland or the Isle of Man). The test will be applied if you have been living abroad.
There is no legal definition of 'habitual residence'. Relevant factors are where you normally live, where you expect to live in future, your reasons for coming to this country, the length of time spent abroad before you came here, and any ties you still have with the country where you have come from.
However, the test should not be applied if someone:
If these do not apply, a Decision Maker (DM) will decide whether you are habitually resident or not. Get advice if you fail this test.
The amount of income support you can get will depend on your circumstances. You can view the current benefit rates for income support on our website at www.disabilityalliance.org/benrate.htm.
Income support assessments are divided into three parts.
These are paid to you for the people in your household. The amounts paid depend on your age, whether you are single, a lone parent or part of a couple (whether married or living together or a civil partner).
Your household only includes your partner. Anyone else living with you such as a friend or other relative may be able to make their own claim for income support.
You may get the following personal allowances:
single and under 25 – £51.85
single and age 25 and over – £65.45
lone parents age 18 and over - £65.45
couples age 18 and over - £102.75
If you have a child or young person living with you then you may be able to get child tax credit. See our Factsheet F9 - a guide to tax credits for more information.
Some people, already on income support are getting personal allowance payments for their children. These will eventually be phased out and replaced by child tax credit.
You can get extra amounts in the form of premiums if you satisfy certain conditions.
You can get any or all of the following premiums if you satisfy the rules for them:
carer premium
disabled child premium
enhanced disability premium
family premium
severe disability premium
In addition to these premiums you can get one of the premiums listed below. If you qualify for two of the premiums on this list you will get the one which pays you the most. The list starts from the lowest paying to the highest:
family premium lone parent rate
disability premium
pensioner premium
You or you partner must be entitled to carer's allowance, even if you are not actually paid it because you receive another benefit. This premium is payable for each person who qualifies.
You must be under the qualifying age for pension credit and one of the following applies to you or your partner:
If you have a partner you will be paid a higher couple rate of this premium.
You must have a dependent child or qualifying young person under age 20 who is getting disability living allowance or who is registered blind. The premium is paid for each child who qualifies.
You may get this premium if you are already on income support. You cannot get this premium if your are making a new claim for income support.
You or your partner must satisfy one of the following:
If you have a partner you will be paid a higher couple rate of this premium.
You must have a dependent child or qualifying young person under age 20.
You may get this premium if you are already on income support. You cannot get this premium if your are making a new claim for income support.
This premium is paid instead of ordinary family premium. You may get it if you have been on income support since before 6.4.98.
You cannot get this premium if your are making a new claim for income support.
You or your partner must be the qualifying age for pension credit or over. If you have a partner you will be paid a higher couple rate of this premium.
You or your partner must satisfy all of the following:
There is a couple rate if both of you qualify.
You cannot get benefit if your capital or savings (or you and your partner's capital or savings) is above £16,000. Your benefit will be affected if your capital or savings (or you and your partner's capital or savings) is above £6,000 (£10,000 if you live permanently in a care home).
If your capital is between the lower and upper limits, a ‘tariff income’ is assumed. One pound a week for every £250 (or part of £250) above the lower limit is included as your income.
For example, if you have capital of between £6,250.01 and £6,500, £2 a week is included as your income. Each time capital gets into the next block of £250 (even by as little as one penny) an additional £1 is included as income.
Some of your earnings are not taken into account when working out means tested benefits. This is normally £5 if you are single or £10 if you have a partner. You will have £20 of your earnings disregarded if you qualify for the disability premium, the carer premium or are a lone parent.
Some benefits are not taken into account when working out means tested benefits. These include attendance allowance, child benefit and disability living allowance.
You use form B16 if you are self employed and form A1 for all other cases. You can get these forms from your local Department for Work and Pensions office or Jobcentre Plus office or you can download them from the Jobcentre plus website at www.direct.gov.uk.
You can also make an online claim at www.dwp.gov.uk/eservice/ or phone the following:
Telephone: 0800 0 55 66 88
Textphone: 0800 0 23 48 88
Welsh language: 0800 0 12 18 88
Lines are open from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Charges may apply to calls from mobile phones, but the contact centre will call the customer back if requested.
If you are a full time student you may be able to get income support if you are:
You cannot now claim income support on grounds of disability or incapacity unless your claim began or links back to before 27.10.08.
If you are a disabled student you may be able to get employment and support allowance. For more information on this see Factsheet F31 - employment and support allowance overview.
If you have a partner who is not a student he or she may qualify for income support if they are in one of the qualifying groups.
If you claim as a full time student your eligible student loan will be taken into account, regardless of whether you claimed it or not. Tuition fees and certain grants are ignored.
If you are a part time student you can claim if if you fit into one of the categories listed in section 2.
Whether your course is full or part-time usually depends on how it is classed by the institution. However, if you are on a course of government-funded further education in England or Wales it is full-time if it involves more than 16 guided learning hours a week. In Scotland, it is still full-time if structured learning packages make up the hours to over 16 a week, up to a maximum of 21 hours a week.
You can claim income support if you fit into one of the categories listed in section 2.
You can get help with income support at your local advice centre, such as a citizen's advice bureau. You can get more information about this from Factsheet F15 - finding a local advice centre.
There is a great deal of information about income support and the rules for other means tested benefits in our Disability Rights Handbook, available to buy at www.disabilityalliance.org/drh35.htm.
You can obtain copies of our factsheets and publications by contacting Disability Alliance on 020 7247 8776 (this is not an advice line) or by fax on 020 7247 8765. All factsheets are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/fact.htm. All publications are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/shop.htm.
www.disabilityalliance.org - 5 July 2010
