There may be benefits available to give you a little extra help if you have care and support needs or are on a low income.
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Working age
Means tested benefits are benefits you maybe be eligible for depending your financial situation. To qualify for means tested benefits, you'll need to demonstrate that your income, savings and capital are below a certain level to qualify.
Universal credit is the main benefit to replace employment income for anyone 18 and over. If you’re on a low income or not working and you and your partner have less than £16,000 in savings you can apply.
The amount of Universal Credit you receive depends on your situation; having children, a disability or housing costs can all increase the amount of support you receive.
Council Tax can be a significant cost, adding up to thousands of pounds every year. You might be eligible for Council Tax Reduction, or some financial support towards your Council Tax bill.
If you have savings under £16,000 and a low income, you may be eligible for support. If a couple, they’ll consider the income and savings of both you and your partner.
In Northern Ireland, Council Tax Reduction is known as ‘Rate Relief’. You can find more information about applying for Rate Relief on the NI Direct website.
Your Council Tax bill can also be reduced in some other situations:
- 25% discount if you’re living alone, or if the other person you live with has been diagnosed with Dementia or Alzheimer's.
- If your home has features to make it suitable for a disabled person to live in, like space for wheelchair access or a room mainly used by the disabled person, your Council Tax band can be lowered to the next band down or one sixth off if you’re in Band A.
And you may not have to pay Council Tax at all if:
- Your home has been left unoccupied because of a hospital or care home stay.
- The only person living at the property has limited capacity. For example, if they have been diagnosed with Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or a learning disability.
Carers looking after someone for at least 35 hours a week can apply for Carers Allowance if they earn less than £151 a week after tax, NI and pension contributions (note this is called Carers Support Payment in Scotland).
To claim Carers Allowance, the person you care for must receive a disability benefit, such as:
- Disability Living Allowance (care component – middle or high rate)
- Personal Independent Payment (daily living component – standard or enhanced rate)
- Adult Disability Payment (daily living component - standard or enhanced rate)
If you’re getting a benefit to replace income from employment, like new-style Employment and Support Allowance, this may affect whether you can receive Carers Allowance. This is because your income from these benefits may be higher than the £81.90 a week you can get from Carers Allowance.
Note: Carers in Scotland are also eligible for a Carers Allowance Supplement which is paid twice a year in December and June. The December payment was £288.60.
State Pension age
For State Pension age means tested benefits are benefits you maybe be eligible for depending your financial situation. To qualify for means tested benefits, you'll need to demonstrate that your income, savings and capital are below a certain level to qualify.
Council Tax can be a significant cost, adding up to thousands of pounds every year. You might be eligible for Council Tax Reduction, or some financial support towards your Council Tax bill.
If you have savings under £16,000 and a low income, you may be eligible for support. If a couple, they’ll consider the income and savings of both you and your partner.
In Northern Ireland, Council Tax Reduction is known as ‘Rate Relief’. You can find more information about applying for Rate Relief on the NI Direct website.
Your Council Tax bill can also be reduced in some other situations:
- 25% discount if you’re living alone, or if the other person you live with has been diagnosed with Dementia or Alzheimer's.
- If your home has features to make it suitable for a disabled person to live in, like space for wheelchair access or a room mainly used by the disabled person, your Council Tax band can be lowered to the next band down or one sixth off if you’re in Band A.
And you may not have to pay Council Tax at all if:
- Your home has been left unoccupied because of a hospital or care home stay.
- The only person living at the property has limited capacity. For example, if they have been diagnosed with Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or a learning disability.
If you’re renting your home, Housing Benefit can help you to cover some or all of the cost of rent. To be eligible, you need to be responsible for rent payments and either be receiving Pension Credit or have savings (joint savings if you’re in a couple) under £16,000.
If you are of working age, then Housing Benefit is typically paid as part of another benefit called Universal Credit.
The maximum Housing Benefit you can receive if you’re renting from a private landlord is set by the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). You can find out the LHA for your area on the Government website.
If you rent from a ‘social landlord’, like your Council or a Housing Association, you may be able to have your full rent and any service charges covered by Housing Benefit, depending on your income or whether you receive Pension Credit.
Get in touch with your local authority to ask for an assessment for Housing Benefit.
Carers looking after someone for at least 35 hours a week can apply for Carers Allowance if they earn less than £151 a week after tax, NI and pension contributions (note this is called Carers Support Payment in Scotland).
To claim Carers Allowance, the person you care for must receive a disability benefit, such as:
- Disability Living Allowance (care component – middle or high rate)
- Personal Independent Payment (daily living component – standard or enhanced rate)
- Adult Disability Payment (daily living component - standard or enhanced rate)
If you’re getting a benefit to replace income from employment, like new-style Employment and Support Allowance, this may affect whether you can receive Carers Allowance. This is because your income from these benefits may be higher than the £81.90 a week you can get from Carers Allowance.
Note: Carers in Scotland are also eligible for a Carers Allowance Supplement which is paid twice a year in December and June. The December payment was £288.60.
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Working age
If you haven’t reached State Pension age yet and you’re on a low income or not working, you may be eligible for some working age benefits.
If disability or a health condition means you can’t work, you may be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). ESA gives you money to help with living costs and support to get back into work if you’re able to.
Most new claims are for ‘new style’ ESA. To be eligible you’ll need to:
- Have been working in the last 2-3 years, paying National Insurance contributions
- Not be receiving Statutory Sick Pay.
What ESA gives you
Successful ESA claims are put into one of two groups: ‘work-related activity’ or ‘support’. This reflects the severity of your disability or health condition and the likelihood of you returning to work. You may be eligible for additional amounts if you're a member of a couple, a carer or have a severe disability.
- Work-related activity group - £90.50 a week
- Support - £138.20
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit to help with some of the extra costs if you have a long-term disability or ill-health and you’re still of working age.
PIP isn’t means-tested, and it has two parts:
- Daily Living Component – If you need help more than half of the time with things like preparing or eating food, dressing and undressing, engaging with other people, reading and communicating, making decisions about money or washing and using the toilet.
- Mobility – If you need help going out or moving around.
For each part of PIP, you can have different levels of need. An independent healthcare professional will meet with you to work out how much help you need, and this decides how much you get paid. You could be able to claim one or both parts.
Standard rate Enhanced rate Daily living £72.65 a week £108.55 a week Mobility £28.70 a week £75.75 a week If you have a terminal illness
If you have less than 12 months to live you can have your application for PIP fast-tracked. This means you will not have to go through a face to face assessment and will be awarded the enhanced rate of the daily living component. To apply, contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for further information.
Disability Living Allowance
Personal Independence Payment has now replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA). If you have an existing DLA claim, you’ll carry on receiving DLA until your claim ends. After that, you’ll be invited to apply for PIP instead.
Adult Disability Payment is extra money to help you if you live in Scotland and have a disability or long-term health condition that affects your everyday life.
Adult Disability Payment is made up of 2 parts:
- Daily living
- Mobility
You may qualify for one or both parts.
The amount you get depends on how your condition affects your ability to do everyday activities and get around.
If you're awarded the daily living part you’ll get either:
- £72.65 a week for a standard award
- £108.55 a week for an enhanced award
If you're terminally ill you'll automatically get the enhanced daily living award.
If you're awarded the mobility part you’ll get either:
- £28.70 a week for a standard award
- £75.75 a week for an enhanced award
State Pension age
Some benefits for people of State Pension age aren’t means-tested. This means you can apply for financial help no matter how much you have in income or savings.
Attendance Allowance can help with extra costs if you have a disability or health condition that means you need someone to help look after you. And you don’t need to be receiving this help to apply.
Attendance allowance rates:
- Lower rate: £72.65 per week
- Higher rate: £108.55 per week
You'll qualify for the lower rate if you need support day or night. The higher rate is there to help if you need support day and night.
Attendance allowance eligibility
- If you’ve reached State Pension age;
- you have a physical disability (including sensory disability, for example blindness), a mental disability (including learning difficulties), or both;
- your disability is severe enough for you to need help caring for yourself or someone to supervise you, for your own or someone else’s safety;
- you have needed that help for at least 6 months (unless you’re terminally ill);
- you're not already in receipt of a working age disability benefit (such as a Personal Independence Payment).
Many people don’t think of their State Pension as a ‘benefit’, but it is actually classed as a work replacement benefit. The amount you can receive depends on how many years of National Insurance Contributions or Credits you have.
It’s not paid automatically; you need to apply for your State Pension once you reach State Pension age. You can find out your State Pension age on the Government website.
The amount you’ll be paid will also depend on when you reach State Pension age:
- The Old State Pension is available to men who were born before 6 April 1951 and women born before 6 April 1953. It pays up to £169.50 a week for those with 30 years of National Insurance.
- The New State Pension is available to men who were born on or after 6 April 1951 and women born on or after 6 April 1953. It pays up to £221.20 per week for those with 35 years of National Insurance.
Some benefits and financial support are available whatever your financial situation if you’re eligible:
Benefit Type Country Eligbility How to apply Free NHS Prescriptions Health UK-wide Be over 60 Through your GP Free Dental check-ups Health Wales Be over 60 Take proof of age to appointment Free Bus Travel Transport England & Wales Be of State Pension age Your local council National Entitlement Card Transport Scotland Be over 60 Your local council 60+ Smart Pass Transport Northern Ireland Be over 60 Your local council Blue Parking Badge Transport UK-Wide Have a disability and have difficulty walking Your local council Free Eye Tests Health UK-Wide Be over 60 Take proof of age to appointment Many shops, attractions and leisure facilities also offer discounted ‘senior’ rates for people over 60 or 65. You can also buy a Senior Railcard for £30 a year, which gives you 1/3 off rail fares. National Express also offer a Senior Coachcard, costing £15 a year plus £3 postage, which gives you 1/3 off coach travel.
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Sometimes, it just isn’t possible to plan for everything. If you ever need help to pay an unexpected bill or buy something you need as a one-off, you could apply for a grant, your benefits to be paid in advance or for an interest-free loan.
Grants
Funeral Payments
Designed to help cover the costs of a simple funeral, you can receive up to £1,000 if you’re receiving certain means-tested benefits.
You can find out more at the GOV.UK.
Charitable grants
Turn2Us is a national charity that keeps a list of grant-giving organisations that may be able to help if you can’t get financial support from the government.
Visit Turn2us website.
Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG)
Designed to help you cover the cost of large-scale home improvements so you can continue living independently at home. Read our page on housing options for more information.
Emergency funding and loans
Short-Term Benefit Advance
If you’ve applied for a means-tested benefit but you’re going to be in financial need before the first payment, you can ask for it to be paid in advance. This can help in urgent situations, but you’ll need to repay it later.
Find out more at the GOV.UK.
Budgeting Loan
If you receive Pension Credit, Employment & Support Allowance or Income Support then you can apply for an interest-free loan of up to £348 (£464 for couples) through your local job centre. These loans can help to pay for essential costs, like rent in advance, clothes or footwear, funeral costs, moving home and home improvements or security.
Other sources of support
If you’re not eligible for any of the financial support we’ve listed or you need more help, you may want to speak to your local Citizens Advice to talk about your other options for emergency funding.
Read more
Paying for care
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Finding care
Whether you need some help at home or want to find out more about Care Homes in your area, we have information on where to search and what questions to ask.
Staying in your home
There are a range of housing options available that mean you could still live independently while having care close to hand.