Advice / Benefit advice

Welfare Benefits are pots of money that the government or council give out to help people who don't have any.

There are many different types of benefit and each one has different rules. This is always a complicated area and if you find that you don't have enough money or that the Job Centre aren't being as helpful as they should, get some advice. You may be eligible to claim a benefit that you didn't even know existed!

The forms can be complicated but there's plenty of organisations around to help you with them.

So what kinds of benefits are around? Plenty, too many to go through here, but below is a breakdown of the main ones.

Case study all names are changed to protect anonymity

Nella accessed our advice service as a 16 year old. She was estranged from her mother whom she came to live with in the UK. She was living with her Aunt in the UK but her aunt no longer had space for her in their home as her son had returned from university. She had been left to look after herself after being made suddenly homeless by her Aunt. She was referred to our service through Social Services after receiving section 17 payments for a short time. As Social Services were no longer able to support her financially, she needed support to claim income Support and Housing Benefit. She was placed in temporary accommodation by Social Services which left her feeling alone and isolated and living in one room. She was still attending school but needed money for food and living expenses.

Her advice worker also assisted her with applying for a travel document which needed a support letter as she was classed as an unaccompanied minor and therefore had no one with parental responsibility for her.

Our advice service was able to negotiate for continual money from Social Services until her benefit claims were processed. The Advice Service also assisted her in obtaining some crisis money in the short term. Nella now has secured permanent accommodation through Brent Council; her advice worker will visit the property with her and help her furnish it with a Community Care Grant.

Jobseekers Allowance

You can claim jobseekers Allowance (JSA) if you are not working and are aged over 18 you also need to be able to work. You need to have less than £8000.00 in the bank. Also you can't have any other income. You will get more money if you have a family or if you are over 25. JSA is usually paid every fortnight and you have to go a 'sign on' every fortnight at the job centre. This is basically where a member of staff at the job centre asks you what you have been doing to find work and you have to sign to say that you haven't been working. To claim JSA pop in to your local job centre and ask for JSA claim forms. They will also give you Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit forms as well usually, see below to find out about these.

If you're under 18 you may still be able to claim JSA under a 'hardship direction'. In order to do this you have to be living apart from your parents and not being supported by anyone, or if you are still living with your parents, they have to be claiming benefits too.

To claim JSA you should go to your local careers centre and ask for an ES9 form if you are under 18. You will then need to take this to the job centre. If you are over 18 just pop in to the Job Centre and ask for a JSA application.

If you're under 16 you are unable to claim any benefits. But if you're on your own or not leaving with your parents then Social Services will be able to help support you.

Income Support

The rules about Income Support (IS) are pretty much the same as for JSA. The amount of money you will be given is also the same. The only difference between them is that with IS you don't have to be able to work, you don't have to be looking for work and you don't have to sign on. People usually claim Income Support if they are unable to work, for example they may be pregnant or have children to care for or they maybe sick. To claim IS go to your local jobcentre and ask for the IS claim forms (called an A1).

Housing Benefit & Council Tax Benefit

Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB) are benefits paid by the council when you don't have enough money to pay your rent or council tax. Usually if you are on JSA or IS most in all of your rent and council tax should be covered by HB & CTB. If you work and earn a small amount of money you may still get HB & CTB depending on how much you earn. You cannot claim HB or CTB if the money is going to be paid to a close relative, for example you can't claim HB for paying your mum rent.

There are also a wide range of benefits for people with disabilities or those who are pregnant. You can also claim loans and grants for a wide range of things.

If you are concerned about your benefits pop in to your local advice centre and ask for a benefit check or help applying for any of the above.

Benefit fraud (claiming welfare benefits that you aren't actually entitled to i.e. claiming JSA whilst working) is a criminal offence if you get caught you may be asked to repay all of the money you have been given or even given a custodial sentence.

Other useful contacts

Citizens Advice Bureau
www.nacab.org.uk
This web site also offers advice as well.

The Department for Work and Pensions
www.dwp.gov.uk
The web site goes through each benefit available - some of it may be a bit confusing though.