Benefits for people on a low income

Transcription

1 Benefits for people on a low income 1 Benefits for people on a low income If you re living on a low income, you may be able to get benefits to help with your living costs, your rent and your Council Tax. You may also be entitled to help with other costs like prescriptions, and one-off expenses. This factsheet includes basic information on the following benefits: 1. Income Support pg 1 2. Pension Credit pg 2 3. Jobseeker s Allowance (JSA) pg 2 4. Working Tax Credit pg 3 5. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit pg 3 6. The Social Fund pg 4 7. Other help if you are living on a low income pg 5 Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to claim other benefits see our website pages and factsheets: Benefits for people bringing up a relative s or friend s child Benefits for older people Benefits for people who are sick or disabled, or are caring for others There are also benefits for specific circumstances like bereavement or pregnancy. You can contact our advice service for detailed information and advice on your own situation. If you are unhappy with a benefit or tax credit decision you can ask for it to be looked at again. You can also appeal against most decisions, either straight away or after the decision has been reconsidered. Time limits usually apply check your decision letter. You can contact us for advice on challenging a decision or get help from an advice agency such as the Citizens Advice Bureau. 1. Income Support Income Support is a means-tested benefit paid to certain groups of people who do not have enough money to live on. If you get Income Support you can automatically get maximum Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and other help, for example, with health costs and free school meals. If you have a mortgage, you can get some help towards your interest payments (usually after 13 weeks). Useful contacts Income Support Jobseeker s Allowance Working Tax Credit Social Fund

2 Benefits for people on a low income 2 If you are over state pension age, you will not be able to claim Income Support but can claim Pension Credit instead (see below). To get Income Support: you must work less than 16 hours a week or not work at all your partner (if you have one) must work less than 24 hours a week or not work at all. You can qualify for Income Support if you are bringing up a child under seven on your own (under five for new claims from 21 May 2012) or a foster child under 16, or if you are receiving Carer s Allowance. There are other categories of people who do not have to be available for work and may be able to claim Income Support if their income is very low. You can contact our advice service to find out whether you might be able to claim. To claim Income Support phone or claim online at: Q. My grandchildren aged 7 and 9 have been living with us for the last two years. I do agency work on short-term contracts, and my husband stays at home to look after the grandchildren. We are both in our 50s. The only benefits we receive are Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit. Unfortunately, my husband is about to have an operation on his back, which will put him out of action for at least six weeks. My last contract has ended, but I can t look for another job as I will need to be at home for a while to care for my husband and grandchildren. Can I claim any benefits? A. If you are looking after a partner or a child for whom you are responsible, who is temporarily ill, you can claim Income Support - provided your income and savings are low enough. If your savings are over you cannot get Income Support. If you have over 6000 but less than in savings, you may be entitled to Income Support, but some income from your capital is assumed. If you are receiving a fostering allowance, Residence Order allowance or Special Guardianship allowance for your grandchildren, these are ignored completely as income. Income Support is currently a week for a couple. You may also be able to claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. Don t forget to tell the Tax Credit Office each time your circumstances change. Otherwise, you may not get all the money you re entitled to, or you may get too much and have to repay some of it. 2. Pension Credit Pension Credit is a means-tested benefit for people over 60. The qualifying age is gradually rising in line with the women s State Pension. See our factsheet Benefits for Older People for more information about Pension Credit. 3. Jobseeker s Allowance (JSA) JSA is a benefit for people who are unemployed but judged to be capable of work. To get JSA you must show that you are looking for work. JSA is a benefit in two parts. If you have paid enough national insurance contributions in the past, you could qualify for contribution-based JSA. This is paid at a flat rate for the first six months you are unemployed. You can get it even if your partner is working or you have savings. Income-based JSA is means-tested. Whether you qualify for it will depend on your financial circumstances. It can be paid to top up any contribution-based JSA or on its own. If you have a mortgage, you can get some help towards your interest payments (usually after 13 weeks). To claim JSA: you must be unemployed or working less than 16 hours a week you must be actively looking for work your partner (if you have one) must either not be working or work less than 24 hours a week. If you are working 16 hours or more, you may be able to get Working Tax Credit instead (see below). To claim Jobseeker s Allowance phone or claim online at: Q. I have been claiming Income Support since my niece came to live with me. I have just received a letter from the DWP saying that as she is now 5, my Income Support claim will soon end and I will have to claim Jobseeker s Allowance instead. I m really worried about this, because I want to be around to pick her up from school each day, and anyway, I couldn t afford to pay for childcare. A. To qualify for JSA you must be available for work and actively seeking work. However, until your niece is 13, you can restrict the hours for which you are available for work to her normal school hours. Even if you only work during school hours, you will probably need to arrange some childcare for the school holidays. Your local Families Information Service will have details of what is available in your area.

3 Benefits for people on a low income 3 Contact your local Council or go to You should also bear in mind that if you get a job which is at least 16 hours a week, you may be entitled to Working Tax Credit and this can include an amount to help towards childcare costs. 4. Working Tax Credit If you are single and work at least 16 hours a week, you may be entitled to Working Tax Credit. If you have a partner you need to be working at least 24 hours a week between you, with one of you working at least 16 hours. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as if the working partner is aged over 60 or is disabled or the other partner is incapacitated or a full-time carer. Entitlement depends on your circumstances and income. Working Tax Credit can include extra amounts for disabled workers and people who work more than 30 hours a week. It can also help towards childcare costs, for example for a registered childminder, after school club or nursery. If you have been approved as a foster carer, you can be treated as self-employed, and you may be able to get Working Tax Credit. Your fostering allowances will usually not be counted as income, unless they are above certain limits. In some cases, a foster carer might be able to claim Income Support or JSA instead of or as well as Working Tax Credit. You should get advice on what would be best for you. A tax credit application can usually be backdated by up to one month. You will need to request this when you apply. You can use the online questionnaire at gov.uk to check if you might qualify for Working Tax Credit. For an application pack, contact the Tax Credits helpline on Q. I am single and bringing up my sister, who is now aged 5. I have recently come off Income Support and I have started my own catering business. I am not sure if I qualify for Working Tax Credit. Although I devote at least 20 hours a week to the business, most of my time is spent trying to drum up custom, contacting potential clients and so on. A. As you are single and responsible for a child, you can get Working Tax Credit if you work at least 16 hours a week. When working out your normal hours if you are self-employed, you can include not only the hours you spend providing orders or services but also those that are necessary to your self-employment. These include things like time spent advertising, visits to potential clients, time spent cleaning the business, and research work. 5. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit These benefits are to help people on a low income pay their rent and council tax. You may be able to get Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit even if you are working. The amount of help you get depends on how much money you have coming in and your family circumstances. Fostering allowances, Special Guardianship allowances and Residence Order allowances are ignored as income. If you have a private landlord, then your Housing Benefit will normally be based on the Local Housing Allowance. The Local Housing Allowance is based on rent prices for the area you live in and limits the maximum amount of help you can get. The amount you get also depends on the number of rooms the Housing Benefit rules say are needed for your household. This may not be the same number of rooms you are actually living in, and Local Housing Allowance rates are limited to payments for a maximum of four bedrooms. A fostered child does not count as part of your household. This may mean that your Housing Benefit could be restricted because the bedroom(s) you need for a fostered child don t count when the Housing Benefit Service decide how many rooms you need for a family of your size. If the amount of Housing Benefit you are entitled to doesn t cover all your rent, you may have to make up the difference out of any other income you have, or find cheaper accommodation. You may be able to get some additional money from the local authority. Current rates for all postcodes or council areas can be found at lha-direct.voa.gov.uk. These figures are updated monthly. This site also has a bedroom calculator which you can use to work out how many bedrooms your household is entitled to and therefore which Local Housing Allowance rate applies. There will be a number of important changes to Housing Benefit and Local Housing Allowance over the next few years. For more information go to or contact our advice service. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are local authority benefits which means you need to contact your local council for a claim form. Q. I ve lived with my grandson in a privately rented flat for the last two years. I m on Income Support and my Housing Benefit covers all my rent. I keep hearing about changes to Local Housing Allowance, but I don t understand what they are and whether they will affect me. A. A number of changes to Housing Benefit are due to take place over the next few years. In April 2011, a cap on Local Housing Allowance was introduced, based on the number of bedrooms your household qualifies for.

4 Benefits for people on a low income 4 This change is most likely to affect you if you are renting in an expensive area like central London, where rents are likely to be much higher than these limits. However, in addition to this, Local Housing Allowance rates in all areas have been reduced so that only the cheapest properties will be affordable to people on Housing Benefit. This means that, unless your rent is already one of the lowest 30% in your area, the maximum Housing Benefit you can be paid will be less than your rent. New Housing Benefit claimants and people moving to new accommodation have been affected by the changes as from April For existing claimants, the changes will apply from nine months after the anniversary of your claim. Unless you can make up any shortfall, you may have to consider moving somewhere more affordable. Your other options could include applying to the council for a discretionary housing payment to cover the shortfall or negotiating a cheaper rent with your landlord. Further changes will come in For many households, total benefit payments will be capped and this is likely to be achieved through cuts to Local Housing Allowance. Contact our advice service for more information. 6. The Social Fund The Social Fund helps people on a low income with one-off costs. Community care grants Community care grants are intended to help people on a low income with expenses so that they or a member of their family won t have to go into institutional or residential care such as a hospital, care home or foster care. They can also be paid to ease exceptional pressures on your family, for example, if the lack of an essential item is causing you stress or affecting the health of children in your household. To be eligible for this grant, you must: be receiving Income Support, income-based Job Seekers Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit have little or no savings. Usually a grant is given for specific items, which might include clothing, bedding and other household items. It can also be paid to help with certain travel expenses and removal expenses. Even if you are eligible you will only get a community care grant if the benefit office decides that your need is sufficiently important and there is enough money left in the district Social Fund budget. Community care grants do not have to be repaid, so you should always check if you are eligible to claim one when you have expenses you cannot meet. You can apply for a community care grant on form SF300 which is available from local benefit offices or online at Q. My granddaughter has recently come to live with me and my husband. She arrived with just the clothes she was wearing, and we have realised that we are going to have to spend hundreds of pounds on buying clothes, a bed, toys - the list goes on and on. Neither of us are working we receive incomebased JSA and we don t have any savings. Are there any benefits we can get to help with the cost of these items? A. You meet the conditions for a community care grant, and you can claim for all the items you have mentioned. Because community care grants are discretionary, it is important to explain fully the pressures affecting your family, and what could happen if you are unable to pay for the items you need. A letter of support from a professional, such as a GP, teacher or social worker, can help your case. If a community care grant is refused, or you get less than you applied for, you can ask the benefit office to look at the decision again. If you are still unhappy with the outcome you can ask for a review by the Independent Review Service for the Social Fund (IRS). This is an independent organisation completely separate from the benefit office. If you are thinking of challenging a community care grant decision, contact us or another experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. You may also be able to get financial help from the local authority and/or from a charity. See the Money pages on our website or contact our advice service for further information. Budgeting loans Budgeting loans can be paid to people living on means-tested benefits, to help with essential lump sum expenses. These include costs for moving home or buying new items such as household equipment, furniture and clothing. Budgeting loans have to be paid back to the Social Fund, but they are interest-free. You won t get a budgeting loan just because you are eligible to apply. The decision will be made following a review of your circumstances. You can apply for a budgeting loan on form SF500 which is available from local benefit offices or online at Crisis loans You can apply for a crisis loan if you have no other way of getting help in an emergency or disaster. The money has to be repaid to the Social Fund, but is interest-free.

5 Benefits for people on a low income 5 You can apply for a crisis loan on form SF401 which is available from local benefit offices or online at There are other types of Social Fund payments including funeral payments and maternity grants. For more information about the Social Fund, contact our advice service. 7. Other help if you are living on a low income Free school meals You can get free school meals for the child you are bringing up if you get one of the following benefits: income-related Employment and Support Allowance the guarantee part of Pension Credit. Child Tax Credit and your income is below a certain amount - although in most cases this does not apply if you are also receiving Working Tax Credit. The child will not be entitled to free school meals if you are being paid a fostering allowance for them. You can find out how to apply for free school meals by contacting your local council or your child s school. Help with health costs You can get free prescriptions, dental treatment and sight tests and help towards the cost of glasses/lenses if you or a member of your family get one of the following benefits: income-related Employment and Support Allowance the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit Working Tax Credit and/or Child Tax Credit - depending on your income. To apply for help under the NHS low income scheme, you need to complete form HC1 which is available from local benefit offices, NHS hospitals, dentists, opticians and pharmacists, and can also be ordered online at If you live in Scotland or Wales, prescriptions are free to everyone. Healthy start vouchers These can be exchanged for free milk, fruit or vegetables. You can get healthy start vouchers for children under four (or for yourself if you are pregnant) if you get one of the following benefits: Child Tax Credit and your income is below a certain amount - although in most cases this does not apply if you are also receiving Working Tax Credit. The Healthy Start leaflet has more information and a claim form. You can get it from your doctor or from the Healthy Start website at School clothing grants Some Local Education Authorities will help with the cost of school clothing for pupils whose families are on a low income. Local education authorities vary widely in their policies on who can get help and what items they will give help for. To find out what the policy is in your area, check with your local authority. Some school governing bodies or parents associations also provide help with school clothing. There are other sources of financial support available for families on a low income. These include help from the local authority and grants from charities. For more information see or contact our advice service. If your income is low, you may still be able to get help with health costs under the NHS low income scheme. The amount of help you get will depend on the amount of income you have. You will not be entitled to any help at all if you have savings of more than Please note: If you have come from abroad to live in the UK, you should check that your immigration status does not prevent you applying for benefits. If in any doubt, you should get advice from an immigration solicitor or your local Citizens Advice Bureau, as a claim can sometimes affect your right to remain in the UK. This fact sheet is intended to provide general information only, and should not be taken as a full statement of the law. This Advice fact & sheet Information was last updated Call: 0300 on April July (Telephone lines open 10am-3pm Monday-Friday)