How to use these pages
Rates of benefits and contributions
Recovery of Benefits from Compensation
Advice in other languages
Going abroad
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
Incapacity Benefit
If you go into hospital
If you become ill while you are pregnant
Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)
Are you disabled?
The Benefit Enquiry Line
Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
Attendance Allowance
Disability Working Allowance (DWA)
Child support maintenance
Free milk for disabled children
Injured by crime
Vaccine damage
Were you injured at work'?
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
Pneumoconiosis, byssinosis and miscellaneous diseases benefits
Workmen's Compensation Supplementation
Industrial Injury Compensation
Were you injured in war or in the Armed Forces?
War Pension

Do you look after a disabled person?
Invalid Care Allowance (ICA)
Caring for someone -
Home Responsibilities Protection

Other cash help
Income Support
Jobseeker's Allowance
Family Credit      * New changes from October 1999
The Social Fund
Housing Benefit
Council Tax Benefit

Help with health costs
(NHS prescriptions, NHS dental treatment, NHS sight tests, vouchers for glasses or contact lenses, NHS wigs and fabric supports, travel costs to hospital, NHS hearing aids)
Information available by phone on 0800 66 55 44

These pages  tell you about the social security benefits and other help you can get if you can't work full-time because you are sick or disabled. It also tells you about the benefits you can get if you are sick either for a short time or for a long time. It also explains who can get help with health costs.

Rates of benefits and contributions

Rates of benefits (the amount of money you may be able to get) and National Insurance contributions normally change once a year - usually in April. Some rates may also change at other times in the year. The data herein gives April 1997 rates unless stated otherwise.

How much you get

Up-to-date rates of social security benefits and National Insurance contributions are given in leaflet NI196 Social security benefit rates, available from social security offices, Job centres and post offices.

How benefits are paid
Most social security benefits can be paid:

    direct into your bank or building society account
or
    at your post office by order book, girocheque or Payment Card.

The DHSS recommend direct payments because they are more secure for customers and cost less to administer. The DHSS can make payments into most bank and building society accounts. You can choose which payment method you want on your claim form.
Order books and girocheques for paying social security benefits will gradually be replaced by a Payment Card which you can use at your post office.

When you will be paid
Most benefits are paid at fixed intervals. Some benefits are paid as a lump sum. Specific details are given in this leaflet where this occurs.

Recovery of Benefits from Compensation
(formerly known as Compensation Recovery)

If, as a result of an accident, injury or disease for which you are also making a claim for compensation, you are awarded one of the following benefits or allowances:

·   Attendance Allowance
·   Disability Living Allowance
·   Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
·   Incapacity Benefit
·   Income Support
·   Job seeker's Allowance
·   Reduced Earnings Allowance
·   Severe Disablement Allowance

·   Unemployability Supplement

You should be aware that your eventual compensation award may be reduced to take account of any benefit paid for the same purpose.  For further information get leaflet 23 Recovery of benefits from:

Compensation Recovery Unit
Reyrolle Building
Hebburn
Tyne and Wear
NE31 1XB
Tel: 0191 225 8157

Information on social security benefits is available in eleven other languages - Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese. Ask for leaflet FBZZ in the language you want. It is also available in Welsh as
FBZ Wales.

Going abroad

If you are planning to go abroad, it is important to contact your local social security office (or Job centre if you are unemployed) for advice on how this may affect your benefits.
 
 

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

If you work for an employer and earn at least as much as the lower earnings limit for payment of Class 1 National Insurance (NI) contributions, you will usually get Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) when you are off sick for four or more days in a row (including weekends and Bank Holidays). SSP is paid to you by your employer(s) for up to 28 weeks in a spell of sickness. Spells with 8 weeks or less between them count as one spell. If you are sick after 28 weeks of SSP, you may get short-term Incapacity Benefit paid at the higher rate . If your employer's obligation to pay you SSP ends before 28 weeks, you may be able to claim short-term Incapacity Benefit paid at the lower rate . In both cases, your employer will give you a changeover claim form (SSP1). PAYE tax and NI contributions are deducted from SSP as are any other deductions which are normally taken out of your wages.

You do not need to put in a claim for SSP. Just tell your employer you are sick, and they will arrange for any SSP due to be paid to you in the same way as your wages. Check that you know your employer's rules for notifying sickness.

More information
See leaflet NI244 Statutory Sick Pay - check
your rights.

Incapacity Benefit

Incapacity Benefit is for people under state pension age who cannot work because of an illness or disability.

Who can get Incapacity Benefit

If you work and you cannot get Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from your employer, or you are self-employed, unemployed or non-employed you may be able to:-

get short-term Incapacity Benefit paid at the lower rate for up to 28 weeks if you are off sick for four or more days in a row.

If you are still sick after 28 weeks you will get short-term Incapacity Benefit paid at the higher rate, this is paid from week 29 to week 52 of your illness.

If you are still sick after a year you will get long-term Incapacity Benefit. This is the highest rate of Incapacity Benefit.

If you are entitled to the highest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance, or if you are terminally ill, you will get short-term Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate, after you have
been sick for 28 weeks.

You cannot get Incapacity Benefit if you were over state pension age on the day your illness began. But if your illness began before you reached state pension age you may be able to get short-term Incapacity Benefit paid at the retirement pension rate for up to a year of incapacity. This is based on your Retirement Pension entitlement.

To get Incapacity Benefit you must have paid enough NI contributions at the right rate and at the right time.

You may be able to get extra money added to your Incapacity Benefit ......

If your husband or wife is aged 60 or over, or an adult cares for your children. The amount you get depends on how long you have been sick

If you have children. Extra money for children can only be paid with short-term Incapacity Benefit paid at the higher rate, pension rate, and long term Incapacity Benefit.

If you get the long-term rate of Incapacity Benefit, you may be able to get an age addition as well. The amount you get will depend on what age you were when you first became sick.

For rates of allowances get leaflet NI196 Social
security benefit rates.

Incapacity Benefit is not affected by any savings you or your partner may have. ('Partner' means husband or wife or someone you live with as if you are married to them.) You may have to pay tax if you get:-

·   short-term Incapacity Benefit higher rate
·   short-term Incapacity Benefit paid at retirement pension rate after you have been sick for 28 weeks.
·   long-term Incapacity Benefit.

You will have to pay income tax if your total taxable income, including your Incapacity Benefit, comes to more than your tax allowance. Your social security office can tell you more about this.

How incapacity for work is assessed

The decision on whether you are incapable of work is made by an Adjudication Officer.
Usually for the first 28 weeks of sickness we will assess your ability to carry out your own job. This is called an own occupation test and is based on the medical certificates provided by your doctor.  After you have been sick for 28 weeks, or if you had no regular job when you became sick, we will need to assess how well you can carry out a range of work-related activities. To do this we will send you a questionnaire to fill in about your illness or disability. We may also ask you to be examined by one of our own doctors. This is called an all work test.
If you suffer from certain medical conditions, or if you have already been found 80 per cent disabled, or treated as 80 per cent disabled for Severe Disablement Allowance, or you have already been found 80 per cent disabled for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or War Disablement Pension, you may be exempt from the all work test.  There are also special arrangements for people who have mental health problems.

If you do some work
You may be able to do some voluntary or therapeutic work while you are getting Incapacity Benefit as long as you work less than a total of 16 hours a week on average. You must let your social security office know before you start any work.

Voluntary work
You may be able to carry on getting your Incapacity Benefit if you do voluntary work for less than a total of '16 hours a week. The work must be for someone other than a member of your family and you must not get any payment for it, other than reasonable expenses.

Therapeutic work
You may be able to carry on getting your Incapacity Benefit if you do some paid work which your doctor thinks will help to improve or prevent or delay deterioration in the medical condition causing your incapacity for work. You must work for less than a total of '16 hours a week and not earn more than £46.50 a week after taking away allowable expenses.  The 16-hour rule does not apply if the paid work is part of a medically supervised treatment programme either as an in-patient or a regular out-patient of a hospital or similar institution.
Do not start work until you have discussed with your doctor what you want to do and asked your social security office for advice, or you may lose benefit.

How to claim Incapacity Benefit

If you are employed and you cannot get SSP or it runs out, your employer will give you a change-over claim pack SSP1. Otherwise get claim pack SC 1 from your social security office, hospital or doctor's surgery.
Ask for leaflet IB202 Incapacity Benefit for More Information

See previous section regarding "Recovery of Benefits from Compensation"
 

Most social security benefits are paid to help with your ordinary needs at home, special needs or for disability. When you, or your partner or child, are in hospital, some of these needs are met by the National Health Service, so your benefit may go down or stop. But if you are paying the whole cost of accommodation and non-medical services in hospital, your social security benefits are not usually affected.  Always tell your social security office at once if you or your partner or child go into hospital. You should let them know the date you (or they) come out as soon as the hospital tells you. The social security office can then make sure that you get the right amount of benefit.  Also tell the social security office if you (or your partner or child) are allowed home, even if only for a few days. The full rate of benefit can be paid for a person at home, even if it goes down while he or she is in hospital. For more information
See leaflet NI9 "Going into hospital?"

If you become ill while you are pregnant, you may be able to get Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)  or Incapacity Benefit . But you cannot get SSP or Incapacity Benefit if you are already getting Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Maternity Allowance.

More information
If you want to know more about the benefits you can get when you are pregnant see leaflet FB8 Babies and benefits.

Severe Disablement Allowance

Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) is a tax-free benefit, for people who have not been able to work for at least 28 weeks because of illness or disablement, but cannot get Incapacity Benefit because they have not paid enough NI contributions. Your right to SDA does not depend on National Insurance contributions. You must be aged 16 to 65 when you claim. You may be able to carry on getting SDA after the age of 65 if you were entitled immediately before your 65th birthday.

The all work test for incapacity is normally used for SDA. For more information see 'How incapacity for work is assessed' on page 8. This change will not affect you if you were getting SDA on 12 April 1995.

If you first became incapable of work after your 2Oth birthday, you can get SDA only if you are assessed at least 80 per cent disabled or treated as 80 per cent disabled.

If you are under 19 and still at school or college, you may still be able to get SDA if you have less than 21 hours a week of supervised study. But only time
which is spent in education which would be suitable
for a person of the same age and sex who is not disabled counts. 50 it does not include, for example,
·   learning to do things that other people of your own
·   age and sex can do easily like getting dressed or
·   going shopping.

You may be allowed to do some work while you are getting Severe Disablement Allowance. The work rules are the same as for Incapacity Benefit (see 'If you do some work' page 9).

Extra money added to your SDA
You may be able to get extra money added to your SDA if:

·   your husband or wife is aged 60 or over, or an adult cares for your children

·   you have children.
 

How to claim SDA

Contact your social security office for the SDA claim pack.
  See previous section regarding Recovery of Benefits from Compensation.

For ore information See DHSS leaflet NI252 Severe Disablement Allowance.

Are you disabled ?

The Benefit Enquiry Line

A confidential telephone service is available for people with disabilities and their carers. Ring the Benefit Enquiry Line (EEL) 0800 88 22 00. People with speech or hearing problems using a text phone can dial 0800 24 33 55.  The person taking your call will not have your personal papers but will be able to give you general advice. This advice must not be taken as a decision on any matter about which you are making an enquiry.

Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

This is a tax-free benefit for people who need help with personal care, with getting around or both. It is:

·   not dependent on National Insurance contributions
·   not affected by any savings or (usually) by any income you and your partner may have
·   usually ignored as income for Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance claims
·   for people who start to need help when they are under 65.

  But see the section "Help if you are in a residential care home or nursing home", if you are living in or going into an NHS hospital, nursing home or residential care home.

 For people who become disabled on or after age 65, Attendance Allowance is available for those needing care.
There are two components to DLA:

The care component, if you need help with personal care because you are ill or disabled.
 

·   For example for things like washing, dressing, using the toilet. If you are 16 or over this can include preparing a cooked main meal. You can get DLA even if no one is actually giving you the care you need.

·     If you are 5 or over and can't walk at all or have difficulty in walking because you are ill or disabled. And you can get it if you can walk but need someone with you to make sure you are safe or to help you find your way around most of the time.

·   getting £49.50 each week for help with personal care, whether or not you need any help ·   getting paid straight away. There is no need to wait until you have needed help for three months

·   claims are dealt with more quickly.

  (You can only get money for help with getting around if you have difficulties with getting around).

* The special rules apply to people who may not live longer than six months because of an illness. But it is, of course, impossible to say exactly how long a person will live.

More information
See leaflets DS704 Disability Living Allowance and HB6 A practical guide for disabled people. DS704 is also available in Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese and Welsh.
Leaflet GL25 provides additional information
Other help
If you are 16 or over and working at least 16 hours a week you may be able to get Disability Working Allowance. You can get claim pack DWA1 from your social security office.
 If you get DLA you may also get Christmas Bonus.
 You can't get DLA if your need for help with personal care started on or after your 65th birthday. You may be able to get Attendance Allowance instead.

Attendance Allowance

This is a tax-free weekly cash benefit for people aged 65 or over who need help with personal care because of an illness or disability and have needed help for at least 6 months. It is:
 

• Not dependent on National Insurance contributions, not affected by any savings or (usually) by any income you and your partner may have

• Usually ignored as income for Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance claims, but may be for people who live in residential homes.

To get Attendance Allowance (AA) you must normally have needed help with personal care for six months. You can get AA even if no one is actually giving you the care you need. Some people suffer from a terminal illness. There are special rules" for them so that they can get benefit quickly and easily.

Getting paid under the special rules means: getting

·  £49.50 each week for help with personal care, whether or not you need help
·   getting paid straight away. (There is no need to wait until you have needed help for six months)
·   claims are dealt with more quickly.

People who:
    are under age 65 and need help with personal care, or help with getting around, or both,
    should claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA). (See previous section)

Use the form in leaflet DS702 Attendance Allowance, which you can get from social security offices.  See previous section regarding Recovery of Benefits from Compensation.

For More information
See leaflet DS702 Attendance Allowance. It is also available in Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese and Welsh.

Other Help
If you get Attendance Allowance you may also get Christmas Bonus.

* The special rules apply to people who may not live longer than six months because of an illness. But it is, of course, impossible to say exactly how long a person will live.
 

Disability Working Allowance (DWA)

This is a tax-free, income-related benefit for people aged 16 or over who are working 16 hours a week or more on average and have an illness or disability that limits their earning capacity.
 Your right to DWA does not depend on National Insurance contributions.

Who can get DWA?

To get DWA you must be 16 or over and be working for 16 hours a week or more on average and have an illness or disability that puts you at a disadvantage in getting a job and you must also either be getting, Disability Living Allowance or, Attendance Allowance or, War Disablement Pension with War Pensioner's Constant Attendance Allowance, or mobility supplementor,  Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit with Constant Attendance Allowance
or,  have an invalid three-wheeler supplied from the DSS or, for at least one of the 56 days before you claim you must have been getting short-term Incapacity Benefit paid at the higher rate, long term Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, or a disability premium or a higher pensioner premium with either Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Housing Benefit, or Council Tax Benefit.

 You can get DWA if you are employed or self-employed, but you will not get it if you are on a training scheme getting a training allowance.

 You can't get DWA if you, or you and your partner together, have savings of more than £16,000. Any savings you have between f3,000 and f16,000 will affect the amount of DWA you can get.  If you were getting short-term Incapacity Benefit paid at the higher rate, long-term Incapacity Benefit, or Severe Disablement Allowance before you started work and began getting DWA, you may go back to your old benefit if, within two years, you are still getting DWA but have to give up your job and are incapable of work.

For a first claim you will be asked to read the leaflet in the DWA claim pack, which lists the circumstances that enable you to pass the disability test. If you then decide that you could pass the test, you need only sign a simple declaration that your illness or disability puts you at a disadvantage in getting a job.

For renewal claims, a further declaration will be needed, and you may also have to fill in a self assessment form which lists some illnesses and disabilities that could put you at a disadvantage in getting a job. We will ask for confirmation of your assessment from a professional involved in your care. Only rarely will a medical examination be
necessary.

How much you get

The amount of money depends on whether you have a partner, how many children you have living with you and their ages, and how much money you, or you and your partner together, have coming in each week. DWA is paid at the same rate for 26 weeks. The amount will normally stay the same even if your income or other circumstances change
during that period.

You may also be able to get some of the cost of your childcare charges taken into account when your benefit is calculated. You may also get more DWA if you are working 30 hours or more a week.
 
 

How to claim DWA

Contact your social security office for a claim form. Do not delay in making your claim or you may lose benefit.

For More information See leaflet 05703 Disability Working Allowance the cash benefit for disabled people in work, available from your social security office or Job centre. This leaflet is also available in Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese and Welsh. Ask for DS703 in the language you want. There are audio cassettes in these and other languages.  See also leaflet HB4A guide to Disability Working Allowance for details of other qualifying conditions, or ask at your social security office.

Other help

If you get DWA you may also be able to get: help with your rent (see Housing Benefit) help with your council tax  help with health costs, a Social Fund Maternity Payment, a Social Fund.
Leaflets GL16 for help with your rent and GL17 for help with council tax.
 

Funeral Payment , help with the cost of prison visits - ask at your social security office.

Winter Fuel Payments are paid tp pensioner households to help with their winter fuel bills.
Get Leaflet A Winter fuel payment for pensioners in 1999, or GL18, from your Local SS office.

Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance may be available for people who:-

Are working 16 hours a week or more and have a mental or physical disability if because of that disability they are able to earn only 75 per cent or less of what a person without that disability would be expected to earn.

If you are living with and caring for a child and one, or both, of the child's parents are living elsewhere in the UK you may apply to have child support maintenance assessed and collected by the CSA. If you or your present partner claim Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Family Credit or Disability Working Allowance, you may be required to apply for child support maintenance if asked to do so by the CSA.

More information Get leaflet CSAZ001 For parents who live apart from a social security office, or phone the Child Support Agency National Enquiry Line on 0345 133 133 (lines are open 9 am - 5pm Monday to Friday).

Child Maintenance Bonus
If you get child support maintenance and leave Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance because you or your partner start work, increase hours, or increase earnings, you could qualify for a Child Maintenance Bonus. For more information contact your social security office.

If you have a child aged between 5 and 16 who is so disabled, either mentally or physically, that he or she cannot attend any school, you can get tokens to exchange for seven pints (or eight half-litres) of liquid milk each week for him or her. You do not have to be in receipt of any social security benefits. You will need to fill in form FWZO. For a copy of this form write to:

Family Credit Help line Room A106D Government Buildings Cop Lane Penwortham
Preston PR1 OSA.
Or
Disability Benefits Unit, Room C122A, Lobby D, Warwick House, Warbreck Hill Road, Blackpool FY2 OYE.
 

Injured by crime

If you are injured as a result of a crime of violence you can claim criminal injuries compensation.  For your application to be considered, you must have been physically and/or mentally injured as a result of a crime of violence and injured seriously enough to qualify for at least a minimum award of f1,000. You may also qualify if you are a dependant or relative of a victim of a crime of violence who has since died.  The amount of award depends on the severity of the injuries sustained.

More information For more information contact the:

Criminal Injuries
Compensation Authority
Tay House
300 Bath Street
Glasgow
G2 4JR
Tel: 0141 331 2726.

If you have been severely disabled as a result of vaccination you may be able to get a one-off, tax-free payment, currently f30,000.  The scheme covers vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, measles, rubella (German measles), mumps, and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).

For More information see leaflet HB3 Payment for people severely disabled by a vaccine or write to:

Vaccine Damage Payments Unit
Palatine House
Lancaster Road
Preston PR1 1HB.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

If you become disabled as a result of an accident at work, you may be able to get tax-free Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit provided you were not self-employed. You may also get it if you become disabled as a result of one of the prescribed industrial diseases.   Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, once awarded, can be paid in addition to Incapacity Benefit. How much you get depends on how disabled you are. Most people on the benefit do not have severe disablement's but you must be at least 14 per cent disabled to qualify for the lowest rate of benefit except for certain respiratory diseases. The maximum amount of the benefit is paid to those with 100 per cent disablement. You may be able to get other tax-free allowances as well:

· Reduced Earnings Allowance, if you cannot return to your regular job or do work of the same standard because of the effects of the disability caused by the accident or disease which occurred before 1 October 1990. You will not get (or continue to get) Reduced Earnings Allowance if you have reached age 60 (woman) or 65 (man) and you are not in regular employment. In most cases, it will be replaced by Retirement Allowance.

·  Constant Attendance Allowance, if the disability for which you get your Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit has been assessed at 95 per cent or more and you need constant care and attention. There are four rates. How much you get depends on how much attention you need. (See leaflet NI196 Social security benefit rates.)

·   Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance, if you are already entitled to Constant Attendance Allowance at one of the higher rates and the need for attendance is likely to be permanent.
 

How to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Leaflet NI6 Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit tells you which form to use in the BI100 series. If you delay in making a claim you may lose some benefit.
  See  Recovery of Benefits from Compensation .

More information
For more details, see the following leaflets:
NIZ  if you have an industrial disease.
NI3  if you have pneumoconiosis or byssinosis.
NI6  Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit NI7  People who have worked underground in a coal mine for 20 years: if you have chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema.
NIZ07 if you think your job has made you deaf NI237 if you have asthma because of your job
NI272 if you have a disease because of working with asbestos in your job .

You can get them from a social security office.

Pneumoconiosis, byssinosis and miscellaneous diseases benefits

These are tax-free benefits for people who contracted pneumoconiosis, byssinosis, or certain other diseases as a result of employment before 5 July 1948. To get them you must have been paid no Workmen's Compensation, industrial injuries benefits or damages for the disease. How much you get depends on how disabled you are. You may get extra for dependants. You may get other allowances as well.  If you are a dependant of someone who has died as a result of these diseases, you may get a lump sum payment.   If you got pneumoconiosis or byssinosis as a result of employment after 1948, you may get a tax-free cash benefit under the scheme for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit .

How to claim
If you got any of these diseases due to employment before 5 July 1948, use the form PN1A in leaflet PN1. If you got them as a result of employment on or after that date, get the appropriate claim form for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit. These are available at your social security office.

More information
If you got any of these diseases due to employment before July 1948 get leaflet PN1 Pneumoconiosis, byssinosis and some other diseases from work. Otherwise get leaflet NI2 if you have an industrial disease, NI3 if you have pneumoconiosis or byssinosis, or NI272 if you have a disease because of working with asbestos in your job.

Workmen's Compensation Supplementation

If you had an accident at work or contracted an industrial disease before 5 July 1948 and you are entitled to Workmen's Compensation, you may be able to get this tax-free supplement.  You may be able to get extra for dependants and some other allowances as well.

How to claim Workmen's Compensation Supplementation See leaflet WS1 Extra cash with Workmen's Compensation.

Industrial Injury Compensation

If you were injured at work through the negligence of your employer, your employer should pay you compensation. The amount you can get depends on how badly you are injured or disabled and on the degree of negligence.

More information
Ask a solicitor or your trade union. The secretary of the local law society can give you a list of local solicitors - see the law list in libraries to find the address of the local secretary. Citizens Advice Bureaux also keep a list of solicitors.

For information on how benefits for sick or injured people may affect compensation see Recovery of Benefits from Compensation

Were you Injured in War or in the Armed Forces

The War Pensions Agency looks after war pensions The War Pensioners' Welfare Service helps and advises war pensioners on pension matters or on any other problems. You can get the address of your nearest office from leaflet FB31 Caring for someone? For the phone numbers of your nearest office look in the business section of the phone book under WAR PENSIONS AGENCY or SOCIAL SECURITY.

War Pension

Who can get a War Pension

You do not have to have been a member of HM Armed Forces or to have served during wartime to get a War Pension.

 You may be able to get a War Pension if you were injured or disabled as a result of:  service as a member of HM Armed Forces

or service in the 1939-1945 war as a member of the Polish Forces under British Command, or service in the Polish Resettlement Forces

or enemy action as a civilian or Civil Defence Volunteer during the 1939-1945 war or conditions during a war or detention by the enemy and you were a merchant seaman, a   member of the Auxiliary Services, or a Coast guard

 (You cannot get a War Pension for disablement for a period of service which has not ended.)

How to claim War Pension
Write to the War Pensions Agency or get in touch with your nearest War Pensioners' Welfare Service office.

More information See leaflets WPA Leaflet 1 Notes about Wdl Disablement and War Widows Pensions, WPA Leaf let 9 Rates of war pensions and allowances. You can also phone the War Pensions Help line on 01253 858 858. or write to The War Pensions Agency, Norcross, Blackpool, FY5 3WP.

Other help

War pensioners may be able to yet help with health costs  War pensioners and war widows may also get a Christmas Bonus. Help may also be given with the cost of a war disablement pensioner's funeral.

This is a taxable weekly benefit for people of working age who are giving regular and substantial care to a severely disabled person.  Your right to ICA does not depend on National Insurance contributions.

Who can get ICA?
To get ICA you must be looking after someone who has claimed or is getting:
Disability Living Allowance at either the middle or highest rate of care component
or Constant Attendance Allowance, paid at not less than the Normal maximum rate, under the Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes.
or Attendance Allowance at either of the two rates.

You must also:

·   be aged over 16 but under 65 when you claim and be spending at least 35 hours a week as a carer and be earning no more than £50 a week after deduction of allowable expenses and not be in a course of full-time education (which means 21 hours a week or more of supervised study).
·   You may be able to carry on getting ICA after the age of 65 if you were entitled immediately before your 65th birthday.

How to claim ICA
Get claim pack DS700 from a social security office.

For more information See claim pack DS700, and leaflet FB31 Caring for someone?

Other help
If you get Invalid Care Allowance, you may also get a Christmas Bonus.

Caring for someone - Home
Responsibilities Protection

If you are looking after a child or a sick or disabled person and:

     you do not work at all

or you work but do not pay enough National Insurance contributions in a tax year to make it count for Retirement Pension purposes

you may benefit from Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP). This is a special arrangement which helps to protect your basic Retirement Pension (and in the case of a man, it helps to protect his wife's right to widow's benefits).  For more information and how to apply get form CF41 1 How to protect your state Retirement

Pension if you are looking after someone at home from a social security office. If you are abroad write to:

International Services
DSS
Contributions Agency
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE98 1 YX.
 

Income Support
Income Support is a social security benefit for people aged 16 or over whose income is below a certain level. To get Income Support you must be:

    habitually resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or the
    Republic of Ireland
or
    treated as habitually resident in the United Kingdom.

    You may get Income Support if you are not expected to sign on as unemployed and you are:

    incapable of work due to sickness or disability
or
    bringing up children on your own
or
    You are 60 or over

or
    looking after someone with a disability

or
    registered blind.

 Some people who are not in these groups may also be able to get Income Support.
 You cannot normally get Income Support if you are working for 16 hours or more on average a week, or your partner (if you have one) works for 24 hours or more on average a week. (Partner means someone you are married to or who you live with as if you are married to them.) Income Support can be paid to top up other benefits, or earnings from part-time work including self-employed work, or if you have no money coming in at all.  Your right to Income Support does not depend on National Insurance contributions.   However, some people with disabilities can get Income Support even if they are working 16 or more hours a week, or their partner works 24 hours or more a week, if their (or their partner's) disability means that they can only earn 75 per cent or less of what they could earn if they were not disabled.  You, or you and your partner together, must not have over £8,000 in savings. Savings between £3,000 and £8,000 will affect the amount you can get. If you live permanently in a residential care home or nursing home, you will not get benefit if your savings are more than £16,000. Savings between £10,000 and £16,000 will affect the amount of benefit you get.
  If you are responsible for paying housing costs, you may be able to get help from Income Support.
  If you are buying your home you may be able to get help with your mortgage interest as part of your Income Support.
  If you go into a residential care home or nursing home, you may be able to get Income Support to help with the charge. See leaflet IS50 Income Support - help if you live in a residential care home or nursing home.
 There is more information about who can get Income Support in leaflet IS1 Income Support and in the Income Support claim forms.

 ·   you are looking after your own child or you are an orphan and no one is looking after you
or
·   you are so disabled that even if you were available for work you would be unlikely to get a job

or
·   you are not living with your parents or anyone acting in their place and are not being kept  by    them, and either you are not in touch with them, or they are separated from you for reasons that can't be avoided.

  If you wish to work you can choose to claim Jobseeker's Allowance instead of Income Support. Ask at your local Job centre for more details, or get leaflet JSAL5 Jobseeker's Allowance - helping you back to work.
  For more information see leaflet IS26 Income Support if you are 16 or 17.

How much you get

The amount you get depends on, among other things, how old you are, whether you have a partner, whether you have any dependent children and how old they are, whether you or anyone in your family has any disabilities, how much money you and your partner have coming in each week, and how much you, or you and your partner together, have in savings.

 Your Income Support payment may be made up of three parts:

a personal allowance for yourself and your partner (if you have one) and one for each child or young person that you or your partner look after

premiums for groups of people with special needs, such as families with children, people with disabilities, people over 60 and people who are getting or are entitled to get Invalid Care Allowance. For more information on carers see leaflet FB31 Caring for someone?

housing costs to help with mortgage interest and certain other housing costs not met by Housing Benefit. Mortgage interest payments may be paid direct to your lender. Get leaflet IS8 Home owners - help with housing costs from a social security office.

  If you qualify for more than one premium you will normally get only the one that gives you the most money. But the family premium, disabled child premium, severe disability premium and carer premium can be paid in addition to any other premiums you can get. Note that family premium (Lone Parent) cannot be paid in addition to family premium.

Community care arrangements

If you need personal care, your local authority will assess what care you need and may help meet the cost. If you go into a residential care home or nursing home your Income Support will include a Residential Allowance to help with your accommodation costs.
  For more information see leaflet IS50 Income Support - help if you live in a residential care home or nursing home

How to claim Income Support

Contact your social security office for a claim form. Do not delay in making your claim or you may lose benefit. Claim forms for Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit are included with your Income Support claim form.
  See Recovery of Benefits from Compensation .

More information, Get leaflet IS 1 Income Support from a social security office. For more details about Income Support, get leaflet IS20 A guide to Income Support from a social security office.   If your child's other parent lives elsewhere, read about child support maintenance.

Other help

If you or your partner get Income Support, you also get help with health costs .

If you have a relative in prison you can get help towards the cost of visiting them.
You may also be able to get help from the Social Fund

Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is a social security benefit for unemployed Jobseeker's. To get JSA you must:
be actively seeking work be capable of work be available for work

normally be at least 18 years old and under pension age

have paid enough National Insurance contributions or have income and savings below a certain level.

  You must also have a valid Jobseeker's Agreement which sets out what you are going to do to find work.
  To find out if you can get JSA and the help available to you when looking for work contact your Job centre or get leaf let JSAL5 /jobseeker 's Allowance - helping you back to work from a Job centre or social security office.

You can earn some money before your JSA is affected. If you are unsure whether your part-time earnings will affect your benefit ask your Employment Service Adviser.

How to claim Jobseeker's Allowance Contact your Job centre for a claim form. Do not delay in making your claim or you may lose benefit.
  See Recovery of Benefits from Compensation.
 

Family Credit is a tax-free benefit for working families with children.

Who can get it?
Family Credit is for two-parent and one-parent families. Either parent must be working for an average of 16 hours or more a week. You can claim whether you work for an employer or are self employed.

  You must be responsible for at least one child aged under 16 (or under 19 if in full-time education up to A level or equivalent standard).
  You cannot get Family Credit if you have savings of more than £8,000. Savings between £3,000 and £8,000 will affect the amount you can get.

How much you get

The amount of Family Credit you get depends on:

·   how many children you have and their ages

·   your family's net earnings and other income

·   any savings you or your partner may have in certain circumstances, the amount you pay for  child care

·   the number of hours you or your partner work.

  Child Benefit, Child Benefit (Lone Parent) and the first £15 of any maintenance you receive are not counted as income when your Family Credit is worked out.
 You may get more Family Credit if you or your partner work for 30 hours or more a week.

Help with childcare charges

Certain childcare charges of up to £60.00 a week can be offset against your earnings when your Family Credit is calculated which means more benefit is payable.
  If you have a Child Benefit order book, look at the personal message on the second page to find out how much your family can have coming in and still qualify for Family Credit.
  If your Child Benefit is paid direct into a bank or building society, or by Payment Card at the post office, you will have a letter from Social Security which gives the same information about Family Credit.
 Once awarded, Family Credit is paid at the same rate for 26 weeks. The amount you get will usually stay the same even if your earnings, or other circumstances, change during that period.

How to claim

Call the Family Credit Helpline on 01253 50 00 50 or contact your social security office for claim pack FC1. Do not delay in making your claim or you may lose benefit.
  If you or your partner start work and need money quickly, take the claim form to your social security office rather than using the pre-paid envelope. This will help us to process your claim more quickly.

More information
To find out more about Family Credit and whether you may qualify, phone the Family Credit Helpline on 01253 50 00 50 from 7.30am - 6.30pm Monday to Friday.

Other help
If you get Family Credit you may also be able to get: help with your rent  help with your council tax help with health costs  a Social Fund Maternity Payment  a Social Fund Funeral Payment or help with the cost of prison visits - ask at your social security office.

If your child's other parent lives elsewhere, read about child support maintenance .

The Social Fund helps people with expenses which are difficult to pay for out of regular income. Getting help from the Social Fund does not depend on your National Insurance contributions.

  The benefits that follow in this section are all paid from the Social Fund.

Cold Weather Payment

If you or your partner are getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, and you are also getting one of the pensioner or disability premiums or an amount for a dependent child under 5, you may get a Cold Weather Payment during a period of very cold weather.

How to claim a Cold Weather Payment Payment will be sent to you automatically, you do not need to claim.

More information Get leaflet CWP1 Extra help with heating costs when it's very cold from your social security office.

If you or your partner are getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Family Credit or Disability Working Allowance, you may be able to get a Maternity Payment to help buy things for a new baby.   This is not a loan and does not have to be repaid.

How to claim a Maternity Payment Contact your social security office for claim form SF100.

Funeral Payment

If you or your partner are getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Family Credit, Disability Working Allowance, Council Tax Benefit or Housing Benefit and you have to arrange a funeral, you may be able to get a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund.

How to claim a Funeral Payment Contact your social security office (or registrar's office) for claim form SF200.

More information
Leaflets with general information on help when someone dies are available from social security offices and registrars. In England and Wales see D49 What to do after a death in England and Wales. In Scotland see What to do after a death in Scotland (Scottish Office leaflet) plus 0495 social security supplement.

Community Care Grant

In most cases to get a Community Care Grant you should already be getting Income Support, or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. Community Care Grants are available to help people in special need and with certain travel costs.  This is not a loan and does not have to be repaid.

How to apply for a Community Care Grant

Contact your social security office for claim form SF300.

You may be able to get a Budgeting Loan to meet an important expense if you have been getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance for at least 26 weeks.

How to apply for a Budgeting Loan

Contact your social security office for claim form SF300.

Crisis Loan

You do not have to be on Income Support or any other social security benefit to get a Crisis Loan. You may be able to get a Crisis Loan to help meet your immediate needs in an emergency or following a disaster where there would otherwise be a serious risk to your, or your family's, health and safety.

How to apply for a Crisis Loan

Contact your social security office, or the nearest one if you are away from home at the time of need.

Social Fund - more information See leaflets SFLZ How the Social Fund can help you and SB16 A guide to the Social Fund, available from your social security office.

Housing Benefit

Housing Benefit is paid by local councils to people who need help to pay their rent.
  Housing Benefit is not paid to help with the costs of:

·  mortgage interest payments
·  some service charges
·  fuel costs
·  meals.

  Help with mortgage interest may be included in your payments, or paid directly to your lender, if you get Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance.
  Your right to Housing Benefit does not depend on National Insurance contributions. It is a tax-free benefit.

Who can get it?

If you need help to pay your rent, you may be able to get Housing Benefit. You may also get Housing Benefit if you live in a hotel, guest house, hostel or somewhere similar. It makes no difference whether you're employed, self-employed, unemployed or retired, and you don't have to be getting Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance.
  You, or you and your partner together (husband, wife, or someone you live with as if you are married to them), must not have over f16,000 in savings. Savings between £3,000 and £16,000 will affect the amount you can get. From April 1996, for certain people living permanently in residential care homes or nursing homes, the lower capital limit was increased from £3,000 to £10,000.

How much you get

If you get Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and you pay rent, you may be entitled to maximum Housing Benefit. This may not be the same as the rent you are paying.
  If you do not get Income Support or income based Jobseeker's Allowance you may still get maximum Housing Benefit if the money you have coming in is less than the amount allowed for your needs.
 The amount of help you can get depends on how much money you and your partner have coming in, the size of your family, the savings of you and your partner together, how much rent you have to pay, and whether other people, who are not dependent on you, share your home.
 The money you have coming in is calculated to include:

·   earnings - if you're employed or self-employed

·   unearned income - any other money including some social security benefits

 ·   savings.

    Your needs are calculated to include:

    a personal allowance for yourself (this is increased if you have a partner)

and a dependant's allowance if you have dependent children or young people living with you

and premiums for special needs (for example if you are elderly or disabled or looking after   children).

  If the money you have coming in is more than the amount allowed for your needs, your Housing Benefit is reduced. The more you have coming in the less Housing Benefit you will get. If you have other people living with you who do not depend on you to support them, you may get less Housing Benefit.
 If you, or your partner, are working at least 16 hours a week, you may also be able to get some of the cost of your childcare charges taken into account when your benefit is calculated. Special rules apply to students.
 You may be able to get maximum Housing Benefit for an extra four weeks after your Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance stops because you or your partner start work or increase your hours or wages. The extra help is called an extended payment.
 To get an extended payment you must be aged under 60 or, if you are getting income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, under state pension age, and you must have been unemployed and getting Jobseeker's Allowance for at least six months or more without a break, or have been getting Income Support as a lone parent, a carer, or on a Government training course, for at least six months or more without a break.

How to claim Housing Benefit

If you claim Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance you will get forms to claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit with the Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance claim form. If you don't claim Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance or are already getting it and now want to claim Housing Benefit, you should get in touch with your local council direct.
  Housing Benefit is awarded for limited periods which are set by the council. These are known as benefit periods. You will have to make a fresh claim at the end of each benefit period.

More information Get leaflet RR1 Housing Benefit - help with your rent from your council offices. For more detailed information about Housing Benefit, get leaflet RRZ A guide to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit from a social security office.

The council tax is the tax set by local councils to help pay for services. There will be one bill for each dwelling, which will usually be payable by the owner-occupier or tenant, including council tenants. If you are on a low income and find it hard to pay your council tax, you may be able to get help from the Council Tax Benefit scheme.
  Special rules apply to students.

How much you get

Nearly all the rules which apply to Housing Benefit will apply to Council Tax Benefit. The amount of help you can get depends on how much money you have coming in, your personal circumstances, your savings and the amount of council tax you have to pay. If you have a partner, your combined income and savings will be looked at to see what help you and your partner can get. You may get Second Adult Rebate if someone over '18 lives with you and does not pay council tax, has a low income and is not your partner or paying you rent.

  If you qualify for Council Tax Benefit and Second Adult Rebate, you will get the greater amount of the two.
 The maximum Council Tax Benefit you can get is 100 per cent of your council tax liability. This means that if you are entitled to maximum benefit you will not have to pay any council tax.

However, from April 1998 the maximum Council Tax Benefit available to those living in band F, G, or H properties will be limited to the maximum Council Tax Benefit available to those living in band E properties. People living in band A-D properties will still be able to get 100 per cent Council Tax Benefit. In Scotland, the maximum benefit does not include water charges.
  If you, or your partner, are working at least 16 hours a week, you may also be able to get some of the cost of your childcare charges taken into account when your benefit is calculated.
 You may be able to get maximum Council Tax Benefit for an extra four weeks after your Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance stops because you or your partner start work or increase your hours or wages. The extra help is called an extended payment.
 To get an extended payment you must be aged under 60 or, if you are getting income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, under state pension age, and you must have been unemployed and getting Jobseeker's Allowance for at least six months or more without a break, or have been getting Income Support as a lone parent, a carer, or on a Government training course, for at least six months or more without a break.

How to claim Council Tax Benefit

If you claim Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance you can claim Council Tax Benefit at the same time. A form to claim Council Tax Benefit is included with your Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance claim form. Fill this in and return it to your social security office. They will pass the form to your council.
  If you are not claiming Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance get a Council Tax Benefit claim form from your council.

More information Get leaflet CTB 1 Help with the council tax from your local council, social security office or post office. It is available in English and Welsh versions.

Information in other languages
Information on Council Tax Benefit is available in eleven other languages - Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese. Ask for CTBZ in the language you want.

While you or your partner are getting: Income Support income-based Jobseeker's Allowance Family Credit, Disability Working Allowance you are entitled to the following: free NHS prescriptions free NHS dental treatment free NHS sight tests vouchers towards the cost of glasses or contact lenses

·   free NHS wigs and fabric supports

·   repayment of necessary travel costs to hospital and back for NHS treatment.

  You may also be entitled to some or all of the above because of your age, a specific medical condition, pregnancy, or through the NHS Low Income Scheme.

More information

More information about help with all these health costs is in Department of Health leaflet HC 1 1 Are you entitled to help with health costs? Information is also available in Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. Page 45 tells you how to obtain these leaflets.
  For other information on a range of health-related subjects, phone the Health Information Service on 0800 66 55 44. Calls are confidential.

Free NHS hearing aids If you have impaired hearing see leaflet HC 1 1 Are you entitled to help with health costs!
 

There is a wide range of services available for disabled people. Get leaflet HB6 A practical guide for disabled people from a social security office.

There is a large-print leaflet giving details of benefits and services available to blind and partially sighted people. It is called FB 19 A guide for blind and partially sighted people. It is also produced as an audio cassette, FB19 Cassette. Both are available from social security offices.

Do not forget that you can increase your font size in many browsers if you have difficulty reading the size of print provided by the publisher.

This Act makes it unlawful to discriminate unjustifiably against disabled people or people who have been disabled. More information can be obtained by telephoning 0345 622 633 (people with speech and hearing problems and using a text phone can dial 0345 622 644) or looking at the Internet site at www.disability.gov.uk.

Changes from October 1999
From October 1999, Family Credit is replaced by "Families' Tax Credit" and
"Disability Working Allowance" by "Disabled Person's Tax Credit".
These new tax credits are administered by the inland revenue.
Working Families' Tax Credit Helpline 0845 609 5000
Disabled Person's Tax Credit Helpline 0845 605 5859

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Benefits Agency
Or you can email them at baadmin@baadmin@demon.co.uk

A confidential telephone line is available at 0800 00 33 00.
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