Who can get income support

If you are not in the UC system, you qualify for IS if:1s124 SSCBA 1992

•you are aged at least 16 and under pension age (see here); and
•you fit into one of the groups of people who can get IS (see here); and
•you are not working for 16 hours or more a week; and
•your partner, if you have one, is not working for 24 hours or more a week (there are some exceptions to this); and
•you are not studying full time (there are some exceptions to this rule); and
•you are not entitled to jobseeker’s allowance (JSA); and
•you are not entitled to employment and support allowance (ESA) and your partner, if you have one, is not entitled to income-related ESA; and
•your partner, if you have one, is not entitled to income-based JSA or pension credit (PC); and
•you are present in Great Britain, satisfy the ‘habitual residence test’, including having the ‘right to reside’, and are not a ‘person subject to immigration control’. (You can sometimes be paid IS for the first four or eight weeks you are outside Britain.) These terms are explained in CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook; and
•you have no more than £16,000 capital; and
•your income is less than the set amount the law says you need to live on (known as your ‘applicable amount’ – see here).

 

1     s124 SSCBA 1992 »

Groups of people who can get income support

You can get IS if:1Reg 4ZA and Sch 1B IS Regs

•you are a carer and you get carer’s allowance (CA) (see here), or you are looking after someone who is getting attendance allowance (AA) (see here), either rate of the daily living component of personal independence payment (PIP) (see here), or the middle or highest rate care component of disability living allowance (DLA) (see here), or you are looking after someone who has claimed these benefits in the last 26 weeks and is waiting for a decision; or
•you are a lone parent with a child aged under five; or
•you are on statutory sick pay (SSP); or
•you are looking after your partner or child because s/he is temporarily ill; or
•you are looking after a child whose parent is temporarily ill or away; or
•you are fostering a child aged under 16 through the local authority (or an agency on behalf of the local authority) and you do not have a partner; or
•you are a kinship carer of a looked-after child aged under 16 and you do not have a partner; or
•you are not a member of a couple and a child aged under 16 has been placed with you for adoption; or
•you are expecting a child in less than 11 weeks, you had a baby in the last 15 weeks, or you are incapable of work because of your pregnancy.

Some young people in full-time, non-advanced education can also claim IS – eg, young people who are orphaned or estranged from their parents.

There are some additional groups of people who can get IS. For more details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

If you are a member of a couple, one of you must claim IS for both of you. Your joint income and capital is taken into account.

 

1     Reg 4ZA and Sch 1B IS Regs »