Income Support - General InformationIncome Support is a tax-free, income related, benefit payable to people between the ages of 16 to 60 whose income, from all sources, is below the minimum level set by Parliament.
Any new claim to Income Support awarded from the 6th April 2004 will not include child-related elements because support for children will be provided by Child Tax Credit (CTC). Families already on Income Support in April 2004 who have not already claimed CTC will be moved across to CTC at a future date.
You may qualify if your income, from all sources, is below the minimum level set by Parliament. You must be aged between 16 to 60 and resident in Northern Ireland ( view further information on 16 / 17 year olds). You must fall into one of the following categories, - a Lone Parent
from 2 december 2008 with a child under 12 living with them
from 26 October 2009 with a child under 10 living with them
from 25 October 2010 with a child under 7 living with them; or
- already be claiming as incapable or treated as incapable of work because of sickness (subject to all work test and own occupation test); or
- be caring for a severely disabled person or a member of their family who is temporarily ill; or
- be a disabled person whose earnings are reduced because of their disability; or
- be a student (who qualifies for Benefit); or
- be pregnant within 11 weeks of the expected date of confinement; or
- be single looking after a child placed with them by the Health and Social Services; or
- be temporarily looking after another person (for four weeks only after which Carer's Allowance must be claimed); or
- be in employment living in a care home; or
- a disabled student; or
- a deaf student; or
- a blind person; or
- certain persons in education; or
- a refugee learning English; or
- a person required to attend court; or
- a member of a couple looking after children while the other member is temporarily abroad; or
- a person appealing against a decision that they are not incapable of work.
- a person who in addition to one of the above categories also satisfies the criteria for the Parental Leave Scheme.
Even if you satisfy the conditions in one of the above categories you will not qualify for Income Support if:
- you are permanently resident in a care home and have capital and savings of £16,000 or more; or
- your partner is 60 or over and has capital and savings of £16,000 or more; or
- you are under 60 and have capital and savings of £16,000 or more; or
- you are in full-time education (subject to certain exceptions); or
- you work on average 16 hours or more per week or your partner works on average more than 24 hours per week. (but see exceptions listed below)
All lone parents who make a new or repeat claim to Income Support will be required to take part in a Work-Focused Interview as a condition of their entitlement.
The exceptions to the rules on work are:
- when a person whose mental or physical disability means they are only able to earn 75% or less of what they would be earning, or if the number of hours of work are 75% or less of what they could reasonably be expected to work, if they were not disabled; or
- they are a child minder in their own home; or
- a volunteer working for expenses only; or
- a person in receipt of a training allowance; or
- a person caring for someone who is entitled to Attendance Allowance / Disability Living Allowance or who has claimed Attendance Allowance/ Disability Living Allowance; or
- a person receiving Carer's Allowance; or
- a person engaged in certain specified occupations, e.g. auxillary coast guards or Territorial Army; or
- a person affected by a trade dispute; or
- certain people living in, or temporarily absent from, a care home; or
- anyone who still has protection from the current remunerative work rule because he was working between 16 and 24 hours per week when the 16 hour rule was introduced.
If a customer visits, phones, writes or sends a completed IS1 into the office they will be issued with an A1 or A1R claim form (depending on their circumstances).
Claims are normally accepted from the date of first contact (i.e. telephone call) or the date upon which the written application for benefit is received in the office, provided that all information required is provided by the customer within one month.
Requests to extend the time for claiming may also be considered by an officer on behalf of the Department.
Income Support is paid by direct payment into an account.
How long can it be paid for?As long as the conditions are satisfied.
Claims can be made for:
- yourself; or
- your partner (a person you are married to or a person you live with as if you are married to them; or a civil partner or a person you live with as if you are civil partners).
Only one person in the family can be the primary customer at any one time.
Partners of IS benefit recipients will be invited into their local Jobs and Benefit office after 26 weeks of continuous entitlement to benefit (and where an increase is being paid for the partner(s) at that point) to attend a work focused interview with a Personal Adviser (PA).
Income Support is made up of the following parts:
- The Personal Allowance - money for normal expenses for the customer and partner (if appropriate);
- A Personal Allowance for a child or young person - a payment for any children and young people the customer is responsible for to cover normal expenses;
- Premium Payments - extra payments for groups of people whose expenses are likely to be higher than normal;
- Housing Costs - payments to cover certain costs of a customer's accommodation that are not met by Housing Benefit.
In total the assessed sum is known as the applicable amount. This amount can be affected by such things as the customer's income and capital. Some income is ignored completely, some is ignored partially and some is taken fully into account. Any income of a partner is added to that of the customer.
Some income of a child could count against the child's personal allowance.
Income Support is intended to fill the gap between a customer's needs and their income.
Effective from 6 April 2009
Personal Allowances
Single
| Weekly Amount |
Criteria |
| £50.95 |
aged 16 - 24 |
| £64.30 |
aged 25 or over) |
Couple
| Weekly Amount |
Criteria |
| £100.95 |
both aged 18 or over |
| £100.95 |
with responsibility for a child - one aged under 18 |
Lone Parent
| Weekly Amount |
Criteria |
| £50.95 |
aged under 18 |
| £64.30 |
aged 18 or over |
Dependent Children
| Weekly Amount |
Criteria |
| £56.11 |
birth to day before 20th birthday |
Premiums
| Weekly Amount |
Type of Premium |
| £17.30 |
Family |
| £17.30 |
Family (lone parent rate) |
| £65.70 |
Pensioner - single |
| £97.50 |
Pensioner - couple |
| £97.50 |
Pensioner (enhanced) - couple |
| £97.50 |
Pensioiner (higher) - couple |
| £27.50 |
Disability - single |
| £39.15 |
Disability - couple |
| £52.85 |
Severe Disabilty - single |
| £52.85 |
Severe Disability - couple (one qualifies) |
| £105.70 |
Severe Disability - couple (both qualify) |
| £13.40 |
Enhanced Disability - single |
| £19.30 |
Enhanced Disability - couple |
| £51.24 |
Disabled child |
| £20.65 |
Enhanced Disability Child |
| £29.50 |
Carer |
People living in care homesIndependent Care Homes
If a customer enters a Care Home Income support may be paid and will include all or some of the following depending on their personal circumstances:
- Personal Allowance - money for normal expenses for the customer and partner (if appropriate);
- Allowance for a child or young person - a payment for any children and young people the customer is responsible for to cover normal expenses; and
- Premium payments - extra payments for groups of people whose expenses are likely to be higher than normal.
If personal care is needed, the Health and Social Services Board will assess what care is needed and may help meet the costs.
Customers entitled to Income Support: Once Income Support has been awarded, the customer must inform the Social Security Agency of any changes in circumstances which will affect their entitlement to Income Support, e.g. changes in income or going into hospital.
A customer entitled to Income Support may be able to get Housing Benefit or Social Fund payments. A customer receiving Income Support is automatically entitled to help with Health Service charges ( HS Treatment). There are three steps a customer can take if they think the decision made by a decision maker is wrong:
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