You may be able to get Income Support if you meet all the specific conditions including:
- you and your partner have no income or a low income
- you’re working less than 16 hours a week
- you haven’t signed on as unemployed
You can claim Child Tax Credit if you claim Income Support and have children.
Eligibility
To qualify for Income Support you must be all of the following:
- between 16 and Pension Credit qualifying age
- pregnant, or a carer, or a lone parent with a child under-seven or, in some cases, unable to work because you’re sick or disabled
- you have no income or a low income (your partner’s income and savings will be taken into account)
- working less than 16 hours a week (and your partner works less than 24 hours a week)
- living in Northern Ireland
You don’t need a permanent address, for example, you can still claim if you sleep rough or live in a hostel or care home. Find out more information about homelessness at the following link:
You might still qualify if you do unpaid voluntary work or go on parental or paternity leave.
Also, you qualify if you’re age 19 or younger, in full-time secondary education (including A levels) and one of the following:
- a parent
- not living with a parent or someone acting as a parent
- a refugee learning English
You can also qualify up until the age of 21 if you’re one of the above, are orphaned or estranged from your parents and enrolled in education.
How to claim and how much you can get
You can claim Income Support by telephoning, writing or calling into your local Social Security or Jobs & Benefits office.You will need to tell them about your income, where you live and who lives with you. Continue reading to find out more, including how much you may get.
How to claim Income Support
Claiming by telephone
You can claim by telephoning or by getting a friend, relative or adviser to telephone your local Social Security or Jobs & Benefits office on your behalf. The address can be found in the phone book under Government - Social Security Agency.
Claiming by writing
You can claim by writing or by getting a friend, relative or adviser to write to your local Social Security or Jobs & Benefits office on your behalf.
In either case, you will be given/sent the detailed claim forms and a pre-paid envelope addressed to the Social Security or Jobs & Benefits office.
How much you can get
The amount of Income Support you can get is made up of three different parts:
- personal allowances
- premiums
- payments to cover certain housing costs
The amount of the personal allowances are shown in the table below:
From 6 April 2015
| Type of person Weekly amount | |
|---|---|
| Single person | |
| Aged 16 to 24 | £57.90 |
| Aged 25 or over | £73.10 |
| Lone parent | |
| Aged 16 to 17 | £57.90 |
| Aged 18 or over | £73.10 |
| Couple | |
| With both people under 18 | £57.90 |
| With one person under 18 and the other aged 18 to 24 | £57.90 |
| With one person under 18 and the other aged 25 or over | £73.10 |
| With both people aged 18 or over | £114.85 |
For Income Support, the amount may be less after your household income, pension and any savings of £6,000 or more are taken into account. To get a better idea of how much Income Support you may get, use the online benefits adviser.
How Income Support is paid
All benefits, pensions and allowances are paid into an account. This is the safest, most convenient and efficient method of payment.
Where you live
You can still claim Income Support if you're:
- sleeping rough
- living in a hostel
- living in a care home
Young people who are being looked after by a Health & Social Care Trust can't get Income Support.
When you claim Income Support you must be in Northern Ireland and normally live here. If you have moved here to make a settled home, that counts as living here.
You must not be under immigration control.
There are some exceptions to these rules. Contact your local Social Security or Jobs & Benefits office to find out more.
Changes in your life
Tell the Social Security or Jobs & Benefits office straight away if something changes that may affect your Income Support.
For example, tell the Social Security or Jobs and Benefit office if you or your partner do any of the following:
- move home, (or other people move into or leave your home)
- change the account you pay benefits into
- change your income – including maintenance and part-time earnings
- work more or fewer hours
- become ill
- have to stay in hospital
- get more or less of other benefits
If you're not sure whether to tell about a change, do it anyway. If you don't, you could lose out on money you should get. Or you could be paid too much, and have to repay it. To find out more:
If you think your Income Support decision is wrong - you can ask the Social Security or Jobs & Benefits office to look at their decision again:
- if your claim is turned down
- you think your benefit has been worked out wrongly
- how to appeal against a benefits decision
When you won’t qualify
You won’t usually qualify if you:
- have savings above £16,000
- need permission to enter the UK
- get Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance
- are a young person being looked after by a Health Trust
- Social Security / Jobs & Benefits Offices
Income Support fact sheets
You can read a handy fact sheet about the current rates of Income Support. Information about Income Support in is also available in alternative lanaguages.
Income Support information in alternative languages
العربية - Arabic
简体中文 - Chinese
Latviešu valodā - Latvian
Lietuviškai - Lithuanian
Polski - Polish
Português - Portuguese
Español - Spanish
Apply for Income Support
The following applies only if you live in Northern Ireland. Income Support is a benefit for people under 60 on a low income and with limited savings. Information on Income Support can be easily accessed by calling the freephone number:
- 0800 022 4250 (Northern Ireland only)
- Contacting 08 and 03 numbers
How to use this service
Use the links below to download and complete a claim form or contact the Social Security Agency for a claim form.
Download a form
Help for low earners:
Help for people reclaiming Income Support when your circumstances have not changed:
Help to make sure that you are getting the right amount of Income Support.
Help if you are involved in a trade dispute while claiming Income Support.
You make a claim by printing out a claim form and filling it in. When you have filled in the form you can either:
- post it to the office whose details are shown on the form, or
- hand it in at your nearest Social Security / Jobs and Benefits office
- Social Security / Jobs and Benefits office
Important: The date the claim form is received in a Social Security Agency office is the date we can consider payment from - not the date you downloaded the claim form.
Ask for a form
You can get Income Support forms from any Social Security / Jobs and Benefits Office. Contact one of their offices.