Income Support can 'top up' the income of those who are 'incapable of work'; lone parents or carers. Receiving even the minimum 10 pence Income Support can entitle you to things such as:

• Full Housing Benefit
• Full Council Tax Benefit
• Free prescriptions, dental treatment, optical treatment, glasses
• Free school meals
• Housing Renovation Grants
• Access to Social Fund Grants and Loans

Basic Conditions

To get Income support you must be:

• Too ill to work (in most cases only if your illness or disability and claim began before 27/10/2008 otherwise you should claim Employment & Support Allowance) OR
• Caring for someone and claiming Carer’s Allowance
• A lone parent where your youngest or only child is  under 10 years of age (the will change to under 7 years of age from 25/10/2010)

These are the most common categories of people who can claim. Seek advice if you don't fall into one of these categories and you think you might still be able to claim.
The following must also apply:

• you and any partner have less than £16,000 savings and/or capital
• you do not work for 16 hours or more per week
• your partner does not work for 24 hours or more per week
• you are not in full-time education (there are exceptions to this rule - so seek advice)

If you have savings of over £6,000 you will lose some amount of your Income Support entitlement each week.

If you care for children from a previous relationship then applying for Income Support is likely to involve contact with the Child Support Agency. Seek advice if you require further information on this.

Calculating Income Support entitlements

To calculate whether you are entitled to income support the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) work out a figure called an “applicable amount”. This gives a figure for you and any partner and amounts called “premiums” are added depending on your personal circumstances, for example because you are disabled or are a carer. If you have a mortgage some help with the mortgage interest may be included, although usually you will have to wait for 39 weeks (13 weeks during the present economic downturn) before this can be included. They then calculate what income you have already. The income figure is taken away from the “applicable amount” figure to give the amount of income support that can be paid.

Claiming Income Support

To claim Income Support contact the Job Centre plus contact centre on 0800 055 66 88