6. Claims and backdating
No one can now make a new claim for income support (IS). For the specific rules that applied to IS, see pp241–45 of the 2020/21 edition of this Handbook.
Note:
•If you form a couple with someone who is already getting IS, they may be able to request a supersession of their award to include a couple allowance and additional premiums in respect of you. Get advice.
•If you lose entitlement to IS as a carer when the person you care for loses their qualifying disability benefit, but their benefit is later reinstated on appeal, you may be able to have IS reinstated too despite being unable to make a new claim.
1MW v SSWP (IS) [2022] UKUT 59 (AAC) •If you meet the conditions for IS but cannot claim it, you may be able to claim universal credit (UC) instead (see
Chapter 3). If you do claim UC, you will not be able to have IS reinstated in future.