Income Support is an income-related benefit in the United Kingdom for some people who are on a low income, but have a reason for not actively seeking work. Claimants of Income Support may be entitled to certain other benefits, for example,

Housing Benefit Housing Benefit is a means-tested social security benefit in the United Kingdom that is intended to help meet housing costs for rented accommodation. It is the second biggest item in the Department for Work and Pensions' budget after the state ...

Child Benefit Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of children, teenagers and in some cases, young adults. A number of countries operate different versions of the program. In most cou ...

Carer's Allowance Carer's Allowance is a non-contributory benefit in the United Kingdom payable to people who care for a disabled person for at least 35 hours a week. It was first established as Invalid Care Allowance in 1976, and married women were not eligible. T ...

Child Tax Credit A child tax credit (CTC) is a tax credit for parents with dependent children given by various countries. The credit is often linked to the number of dependent children a taxpayer has and sometimes the taxpayer's income level. For example, in ...

and help with health costs. A person with

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

over £16,000 cannot get Income Support, and savings over £6,000 affect how much Income Support can be received. Claimants must be between 16 and

Pension Credit Pension Credit is the principal element of the UK welfare system for people of pension age. It is intended to supplement the UK State Pension, or to replace it (for example, if the claimant did not meet the conditions to claim a State Pension). I ...

age, work fewer than 16 hours a week, and have a reason why they are not actively seeking work (caring for a child under 5 years old or someone who receives a specified disability benefit).

Lone parents

Claimants can receive income support if they are a lone parent and responsible for a child under five who is a member of their household. A claimant is considered responsible for a child in any week if receiving child benefit for the child. However, if a claimant arranges for their child benefit to be paid to someone else, for example, an ex-partner, the claimant will still be treated as receiving the child benefit.

Studying

If the claimant is at school or in higher education, the claimant may be able to get Income Support if they are: * Looking after the claimant's own child * An orphan and nobody is looking after the claimant * Unlikely to be able to get a job because of a severe disability. * Not living with the claimant's parents or being supported by them * Not in touch with the claimant's parents * Separated from the claimant's parents for reasons that cannot be avoided and nobody is looking after the claimant. If the claimant is aged 18 to 24 and is attending an unwaged Work Based Learning Programme (England) or Skillseekers (

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

) course, the claimant may be able to get Income Support. If the claimant is aged 16 or 17, the claimant may get Income Support only if in one of the categories of persons who can get Income Support whilst studying.

Sickness

On 27 October 2008, the Employment and Support Allowance replaced Income Support claimed on grounds of sickness or disability. Claims for Income Support made before that date were transferred to ESA. Prior to this, claimants could be entitled to Income Support if they were unable to work due to sickness and had no or reduced entitlement to

Incapacity Benefit Incapacity Benefit was a British social security benefit that was paid to people facing extra barriers to work because of their long-term illness or their disability. It replaced Invalidity Benefit in 1995. The government began to phase out Inc ...

. Normally, a claim for both

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was made and the amount of Incapacity Benefit due was calculated according to the claimant's past

National Insurance contributions National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their famili ...

. If too few contributions had been made for the full rate of Incapacity Benefit to be paid, Income Support may have been paid to top up the amount the claimant received to Income Support rates.

Parental Leave

You may be able to get Income Support when on unpaid statutory parental leave if, when you were working, you were getting any of the following. * Working Tax Credit * Child Tax Credit * Housing Benefit

Amount

The weekly personal allowances for 2016/17 are shown in the table below. Higher rates are set for eligible couples where either one of the couple is responsible for a child, or if each member of a couple is eligible for one of the following benefits if they weren't a couple: * Employment and Support Allowance * Income Support * Jobseeker's Allowance To this basic amount may be added amounts for qualifying claimants: * carer premium * disability premium * enhanced disability premium * severe disability premium * pensioner premium * family premium (obsolete - no new entitlements) * family premium lone parent rate (obsolete - no new entitlements) * disabled child premium (obsolete - no new entitlements) Existing income from benefits or other sources may be taken into account and deducted from any Income Support entitlement awarded to a claimant.

Premiums

The carer premium applies if a person is entitled to

Carer's allowance Carer's Allowance is a non-contributory benefit in the United Kingdom payable to people who care for a disabled person for at least 35 hours a week. It was first established as Invalid Care Allowance in 1976, and married women were not eligible. T ...

, even if they are not actually paid it because they receive another benefit. This premium is payable for each person who qualifies. Disability premium is applicable to people getting one of the following qualifying benefits: *

Attendance Allowance Attendance Allowance is a non-contributory Social Security benefit paid to elderly disabled people in the United Kingdom. It was introduced in the National Insurance (Old Persons' and Widows' Pension and Attendance Allowance) Act 1970 . The benefi ...

Disability Living Allowance Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a social security benefit in the United Kingdom paid to eligible claimants who have personal care and/or mobility needs as a result of a mental or physical disability. It is tax-free, non- means-tested and non- ...

* long-term

Severe Disablement Allowance Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) was a United Kingdom state benefit intended for those below the state pension age who cannot work because of illness or disability. It was replaced by Incapacity Benefit in April 2001, which itself was replaced by ...

* the disability element or severe disability element of

Working Tax Credit Working Tax Credit (WTC) is a state benefit in the United Kingdom made to people who work and have a low income. It was introduced in April 2003 and is a means-tested benefit. Despite their name, tax credits are not to be confused with tax cred ...

* war pensioner's mobility supplement * Constant Attendance Allowance *

Personal Independence Payment Personal Independence Payment (abbreviated to PIP and usually pronounced as one word) is a welfare benefit in the United Kingdom that is intended to help working age adults with the extra costs of living with a health condition or a disability. ...

* Armed Forces Independence Payment Or if the claimant has been incapable of work or entitled to Statutory sick pay during the qualifying period of 52 weeks (or 28 weeks if you are terminally ill) and is still incapable of work, or is registered as blind, or taken off that register in the past 28 weeks. Enhanced disability premium applies if the claimant or partner is in the Employment and Support Allowance support group or is under the qualifying age for

and receiving the higher rate care component of

, the

enhanced rate of the daily living component or Armed Forces Independence Payment. There are limited circumstances when the pensioner premium would apply. It is now only paid when the claimant is above

age and their partner has not yet reached that age, but they are unable to claim another benefit (e.g. if the claimant is currently receiving a Severe Disability Premium). Since Pension Credit has features that make it more attractive than Income Support (in particular the way savings are treated) this is unlikely to occur frequently. Severe disability premium applies if all of the following conditions are met: * The claimant gets the care component of

(middle or higher rate),

, the daily living component of the

or armed forces independence payment * lives alone (there are exceptions to this rule) * no one claims

for looking after them

Mortgages

For home-owners with a mortgage, Income Support may, depending on various qualifying conditions, help pay towards mortgage interest costs. There can be a waiting period of thirteen to thirty-nine weeks.

Older people

Claimants reaching the

retirement age This article lists the statutory retirement age in different countries. Background In some contexts, the retirement age is the age at which a person is expected or required to cease work. It is usually the age at which such a person may be enti ...

, and with an older partner who is that age, may apply for

to replace their Income Support payments. They should contact The Pension Service four months before that time.

Appeal

A refusal to grant Income Support may be appealed to the

First-tier Tribunal The First-tier Tribunal is part of the courts and tribunals service of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, enacted in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and has since t ...

. This should be done working one month of the date of any decision under dispute. If the appellant has good cause, this deadline can be extended a further 12 months (making a total of 13 months from the date of decision).