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There are many different types of benefits that you
might be able to claim often being dealt with by different benefits
departments - confusing! Hopefully you will have a better idea as to
who can claim benefits and/or tax credits and where to claim them in
this and other linked sections. What Kind of Benefits
are available to me?
Low Income
If you consider yourself to be on a low income,
there are several kinds of benefits you might be able to claim,
which will give you a basic amount to live on each week. You will
need to have a 'means test' - which is simply to give information
about your income and savings if you have any. If you are married -
or live with a partner - then all incomes from both sources are
taken into account to see if you are entitled to any benefits.
Income Support
This is available to people on a low income who do not have to
look for work before they can receive benefit, such as:
carers of disabled people;
lone parents with children (currently children under 16, but
changing to children under 12 from November 2008); and
people who are sick or disabled (if you are claiming for the
first time, from November 2008 you will get income-related
Employment and Support Allowance instead of Income Support).
To claim, you must be under 60 years old and not working, or
working less than 16 hours a week. If you have a partner who lives
with you, you can get Income Support only if they too are not
working or work less than 24 hours a week.
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