Income Support/Pension Credit

Income Support is for people under 60 who have no income or whose income is below a minimum level, called the applicable amount. This is set by the government and the applicable amount varies with your circumstances. Premiums are added on the basis of your circumstances and applicable amount can also include an amount to help with housing costs. If you pay rent and/ or council tax, please see below.

If you are over 60, you may be able to get Pension Credit. This comprises of a Guarantee Credit which is calculated in a similar way to Income Support and includes an extra element called the Savings Credit, if you or your partner are over 65 and have qualifying income above your savings credit threshold.

Who can claim Income Support?

• most people who claim Income Support must not work, or must work for less than 16 hours a week (if you have a partner, they must work for less than 24 hours a week)
• most people who do not work must look for work to get benefit and claim Jobseeker's Allowance. Some people are not expected to look for work and can claim Income Support instead 
• amongst the people who can claim income support are single parents, carers and people who are ill or have a disability benefit

Some carers can claim Income Support without limiting the number of hours that they work.  Both your income and savings will be taken into account if you claim Income Support:

• People with savings over £16,000 cannot get Income Support
• People with savings of £6,000 to £16,000 will get reduced benefit

Who can claim Pension credit?

There is no upper savings limit for Pension credit, but the amount you get is reduced if you have savings over £6,000.

The Guarantee Credit

The government set minimum levels, including additions on the basis of your circumstances (for example, if you are a carer) and any allowable housing costs.  If the minimum level is greater than your income, the difference is paid as guarantee credit. The guarantee credit minimum level for this year is £114.05 per week if you are single and £174.05 per week for a couple. If you are a carer, you may be entitled to extra addition (carer's addition) on top of your guarantee credit minimum level.  If you are liable for rent and/ or council tax, please see below.

The rules about savings are different if you are in residential care.

Getting Income Support or Pension Credit means you will normally get help with paying rent (see Housing Benefit) and Council Tax , health benefits , (e.g. free prescriptions and eye tests) and other benefits such as free school meals.

How to claim.

To apply for Income Support, contact your local social security office. You can find the contact details in your telephone book.

To apply for Pension Credit contact the Pension Service on 0800 99 1234  (0800 100 6165 if you live in Northern Ireland).