Financial Support/Welfare Rights
The Benefits System
At first sight the benefits system can appear to be a confusing
maze, consisting of over forty different - and sometimes
contradictory - benefits. At second sight, it is a confusing
maze.Yet it is possible to gain an overall understanding of the
system without having to become a full time benefits expert! In
doing so, workers can help their clients in a practical way, by
spotting a potential claim or decision which can be challenged!
Means tested benefits
Means tested benefits - also known as “income-related” - have an
additional means test on top of any other criteria such as being
incapacitated or available for and actively seeking work. This
means that the amount of benefit will be affected by any other
income and savings that either you, a heterosexual partner or any
children might have. Means tested benefits either pay a cash
benefit (e.g. Income Support) or they help towards certain specific
expenses (e.g. Housing Benefit to pay the rent or Social Fund
grants/loans to buy a cooker).
Non-means tested benefits
The other categories and sub-divisions shown in the table apply
to non-means tested benefits only.
Contributory benefits
Some non-means tested benefits are contributory - which means
entitlement also depends on having paid (or been credited with)
enough National Insurance contributions in the appropriate years.
Some of these benefits (e.g. Retirement Pension) are affected by
contributions over your working life, others by contributions in
specific tax years prior to your date of claim. See under each
benefit for more details. Other non-means tested benefits (and all
means-tested ones) are non-contributory.
Overlapping benefits
Those non-means tested benefits marked with a # in the table –
i.e. all the contributory benefits and some of the non-contributory
ones - are overlapping. This means that they cannot be paid on top
of each other. If you qualify for more than one - e.g. you are
widowed, over pension age and looking after a disabled relative -
you will only be paid up to the value of whichever benefit is the
highest. Your payment book might still include the names of two or
more benefits, but one benefit will just top up the value of the
highest overlapping benefit. These benefits are also called
“earnings replacement” benefits, reflecting the idea that they are
meant to give a basic income to replace the lost income from
full-time work and that this only needs to be done once.You still
retain an “underlying entitlement” to any benefit, which you are
not paid because of the overlapping rules. This can help by
qualifying you for extra premiums in the calculation of means
tested benefits.
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Last Updated: 29.01.2009