Income Support

Income Support helps people who do not have enough to live on. It is for people who do not qualify for Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance.

Who can get it?

You will get Income Support if you are not in full-time employment and fall into a category of people who do not have to look for work. This includes:

• single parents if their children are aged under five years (currently seven in Northern Ireland, although this is expected to be lowered to five during 2014);

• people getting Carer’s Allowance;

• people looking after a member of the family who is temporarily ill; and

• people getting Statutory Sick Pay.

If you are too sick or ill to work, and are not entitled to Statutory Sick Pay, you should claim income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) instead of Income Support. The government phased out Income Support for sickness and disability. Claimants affected were reassessed to see if they instead qualified for ESA, with these reassessments due to be completed by spring 2014.

You may be able to get Income Support if you are working less than 16 hours a week and your income still falls below a certain amount. There are also some jobs you can do where you’re allowed to work for more than 16 hours, for example if you are working at home as a childminder.

You can claim Income Support for yourself and a partner who lives with you. Your partner must work less than 24 hours a week. If they work for 24 hours or more, you will not be able to get Income Support.

If you have savings over of £16,000 you will not be able to get Income Support.

Income Support and lone parents

The rules about which lone parents are eligible to claim Income Support (IS) changed in 2012. Lone parents may now move on to Jobseeker’s Allowance or ESA rather than Income Support (IS) when their child goes to school.

Entitlement to IS as a lone parent generally stops when your youngest child reaches school age. You may be able to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance instead, where you will be expected to sign on as available for work and show that you are actively seeking work. Special rules allow some full-time students to continue receiving IS as a lone parent until their course ends or their youngest child turns 16, whichever happens first.

The rules about the age of the youngest child should not affect lone parents who are able to claim IS for some reason other than being a lone parent. In particular, if you are looking after a disabled child you may also count as a carer for IS.

A lone parent who is also a carer can claim IS regardless of their youngest child’s age. However, there is a very specific definition of when a parent looking after a disabled child counts as a carer.

If you are currently claiming

If you are currently claiming IS and your youngest child exceeds the maximum age you may still be able to claim it if you are sick or disabled. The rules are very complex so you should get specialist advice on your situation.

You may also be able to claim IS if you are looking after children and:

• you are on parental or paternity leave from work but you’re not receiving any pay, and you were getting: Working Tax Credit; Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element; or Housing Benefit on the day before your leave began;

• you are looking after a child under 16 whose parent or guardian is temporarily away or has been taken ill; or

• you are fostering a child and you are single.

You cannot normally claim IS if you:

• are a full-time student (although there are some exceptions to this rule, and some part-time students may be able to claim);

• work more than 16 hours a week or your partner works more than 24 hours a week (unless you are a childminder, a volunteer worker or fall into another defined category);

• get Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA); or

• have capital and savings worth £16,000 or more.

Young people in full-time education up to A-level may also get IS if, for example:

• they are a lone parent;

• they do not live with a parent or someone acting as a parent; or

• there are serious risks to their mental or physical health.

Again, the exact rules for eligibility are complicated and specialist advice should be sought.

How much can you get?

The amount you get depends on your personal circumstances and your earnings and savings. IS is made up of a personal allowance for you and your partner (if you have one), plus certain premium payments for the elderly, disabled people and carers, and payments to cover certain housing costs (mortgage interest and certain other housing costs that Housing Benefit does not cover).

Once you have added together your personal allowance and any premiums and payments, if the total amount (known as the applicable amount, see pages 77-78) is more than your income, IS should make up the difference. So a single person aged 25 or over with no dependents will receive IS if their weekly income is less than £72.40 a week. If you have children, you also need to claim Child Tax Credit (see page 58).

You are not entitled to IS if your capital or savings, together with those of your partner, amount to more than £16,000, but savings between £6,000 and £16,000 are treated as providing £1 a week of income for each £250 or part thereof, and IS will be reduced accordingly. Capital below £6,000 (or £10,000 for those in residential or nursing homes) is ignored.

Income from a range of sources, such as earnings and benefits, may be taken into account in calculating your IS entitlement. The rules are complex and the following is only a general guide.

The first £5.00 of a single person’s weekly earnings and the first £10.00 of a couple’s earnings are ignored. If you are a lone parent, or you receive the disability or carer premium, or you are in certain categories of employment, the first £20.00 is ignored. Other earnings are taken fully into account.

Most benefits based on National Insurance contributions, including pension payments, are taken fully into account, but some are ignored. Further information is available in the DWP guide to IS, see page 24.

Help for starting work scrapped

The Job Grant was abolished in April 2013. This provided a one-off, tax-free payment of £100 (or £250 for lone parents and couples with children) for people who had been getting certain benefits for 26 weeks, prior to starting a full-time job expected to last for at least five weeks, In-work credits and return-to-work credits were abolished in October 2013.

Other rules relating to Income Support

Deductions

There is a full disregard for child maintenance payments, meaning any money parents receive from this source is not taken into account when calculating out-of-work benefits or Housing and Council Tax benefits including IS.

Taking industrial action

If you are on strike, you are normally not entitled to Income Support (IS). However, if you have dependents, you may be able to claim a restricted benefit on their behalf and may get help with housing costs. But any IS to which your family is entitled will have £40.00 assumed strike pay deducted, whether or not you are receiving this. If you are receiving strike pay of more than £40.00 a week, any excess is counted as income and is deducted from the payment.

For the first 15 days after you have been on strike, you may be able to get Income Support if you do not receive sufficient wages or any advance of wages from your employer. Any Income Support that is paid to you for these days will be deducted from your wages by your employer and returned to Jobcentre Plus.

Help with housing costs

If you receive IS and you own your home, you may — after a waiting period of 13 weeks — be entitled to help with mortgage interest payments. You may also qualify for help with loans for repairs and improvements or other housing costs.

If you pay rent to either a social or a private landlord, you may be entitled to Housing Benefit. If you are in board and lodgings you may also be entitled to help with the cost of these. You may also be entitled to Council Tax Support.

Other benefits

If you are receiving IS, income-related ESA or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, you, your partner and any children you are claiming for are entitled to free NHS prescriptions, free NHS eye tests and free NHS dental care. In addition, your child/children may be entitled to free school meals (and free school milk) and some local councils provide help with the cost of school clothing, including PE kit. From September 2014, the government is introducing free school meals for all children in reception, Year 1 and Year 2 in state-funded schools in England, and extending eligibility for free meals to disadvantaged students in further education and sixth form colleges to mirror entitlement in school sixth forms.

Parental or paternity leave

If you are taking unpaid parental or paid or unpaid paternity leave and you are entitled to receive Working Tax Credit, Housing Benefit or Child Tax Credit at a higher rate than the family element, you may be entitled to receive IS. If you are not entitled to one of the benefits listed above and you take unpaid parental leave, you may still be able get IS. Contact Jobcentre Plus to find out whether you are eligible to claim at: www.gov.uk/contact-jobcentre-plus

Partners of Income Support claimants

The partner of anyone who has been claiming IS for 26 weeks may face compulsory work-focused interviews. The claimant’s benefit could be reduced if, without good reason, their partner does not attend the interview.

To claim IS, you should fill in claim form A1 or A1R, available from your local Jobcentre Plus or benefits office or download at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-support-claim-form