Income Support

What is Income Support?

Income Support gives you a basic living income and it's a means-tested benefit. This means your savings, income or the income of other people in your household will affect how much you get, but the benefit does not depend on your National Insurance (NI) contributions.

Can I claim Income Support?

You can claim income support if you:

• Are over 18 and under pension age,
• Are in NI,
• Have no income or your income is below your 'applicable amount' (your applicable amount is the amount of money the law says you need to be able to live),
• Are not in full time education (unless you qualify as a disabled student)
• Are working less than 16 hours per week and your partner is not working more than 24 hours per week,
• Household savings or capital are £16,000 or less,
• Are not claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)  and your partner is not claiming income-related JSA or ESA,
• Do not have to work because you are caring for someone, or
• Are a lone parent of a child who is under five years old,
• Are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay, or
• Are pregnant and unable to look for work because of pregnancy.

You can claim Income Support for other reasons but the rules are complicated. Speak to a welfare rights adviser if you think you should be claiming Income Support rather than ESA or JSA.

How to claim

You can claim Income Support by contacting your local Jobs and Benefits Office. 

You can also use the form downloaded from internet to claim.

Can I work and claim Income Support?

You can claim Income Support if you are working less than 16 hours a week and your partner is working less than 24 hours a week.

Will my Income Support stop?

You will be able to claim Income Support for as long as you meet the conditions.

You may need to claim another qualifying benefit such as Carer's Allowance to get Income Support. The Social Security Agency will stop your Income Support if they stop the qualifying benefit. You may be able to challenge the decision to take away your qualifying benefit and you must claim Income Support again within three months if the SSA give you the qualifying benefit back. The SSA will backdate your Income Support money.