benefits

Pension

Men can claim a State Pension when they are 65 if they have paid sufficient National Insurance contributions. Women's pension age is due to increase from 60 to 65. Men need to have 44 years' worth of NI contributions to get a full basic State Pension and women who reach 60 before 2010 need to have clocked up 39 years. But the age at which women can start to claim the State Retirement Pension changes from 60 to 65 between 2010 and 2020 so the number of qualifying years a woman needs will gradually increase to 44 years.

• You will almost certainly have paid contributions if you have been in full-time paid work and earning a reasonable wage.
• You will almost certainly be considered to be paying contributions (even though you haven't actually paid any money) if you are registered as unemployed or - since 1978 - if you are caring for young children or an invalid.
• If you are self employed then you are legally required to pay NI contributions.

Common reasons why people may not have the full qualifying contributions are:

• time spent working overseas
• time spent out of work but not registered as unemployed or with children to care for
• earning too little to pay National Insurance contributions. Currently National Insurance contributions are only paid if you earn more than £84 a week - (the so-called Lower Earnings Limit 2006-2007 figure). If you earn below this (and lower figures in earlier years) then you will not be making National Insurance contributions. Each job is counted separately so you can earn more than the lower earnings limit from two part time jobs but still not pay National Insurance
• married women who have chosen in the past to pay reduced National Insurance contributions - the so-called 'small stamp' - will not qualify for a pension in those years. Instead they are dependent on their husband's pension entitlement.

You can defer getting your state pension, so that you can get either a lump sum payment or a bigger pension when you claim it. For more about the State Pension see the Pension Service website. http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/atoz/atozdetailed/retirement.asp

Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit are benefits which are paid by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Most other benefits are dealt with by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Child Tax Credit is available to people responsible for a child or young person, who have income below a certain amount. All households with an annual income of £50,000 or less will qualify for some Child Tax Credit. The amount you get will depend on how many children you have, and whether they have any disabilities. Child Tax Credit is available whether or not you are in work and is paid to the main carer in a household, usually straight into a nominated bank account.

Working Tax Credit

Working Tax Credit is a payment to top up earnings of people working on low incomes, including those that do not have children. Extra amounts are payable if you have a disability, if you work 30 hours or more a week, and where you have childcare costs. Working Tax Credit is paid directly into a nominated bank account. It used to be the case that, if you were an employee, Working Tax Credit (apart from the childcare element) was paid through your wages. However, this system is being phased out and all new claims from employees are now paid by HMRC into a bank account. Payments made for childcare costs will be paid direct to the main carer.

Tax credits are usually paid for a year, from April to April, but the amount you get may change if your circumstances change during that year, for example, you have another child. If you are a member of a couple who live together, you must make a joint claim. You claim both tax credits on the same form. Claims can only be backdated three months, so you should claim as soon as you can.

If you are sick or disabled, there are a number of different benefits and tax credits you may be able to claim.

• If you have care needs or problems with getting around, you may be able to claim Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance If you are unable to work, you may be able to claim Statutory Sick Pay, Incapacity Benefit or Income Support
• If you work, you may be entitled to Working Tax Credit
• If you were injured at work or have an industrial disease caused by work
• If you were injured serving in the armed forces
• If you care for someone who is disabled, in their own home, you may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance

Remember that you may be able to get other benefits as well, depending on your circumstances. You may be able to get benefits for being on a low income like Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, or benefits because you have children. Even if you cannot claim any benefits, you may be able to get national insurance credits if you are unable to work or you are a carer.

Council Tax Benefit

Council Tax Benefit is a benefit for people on a low income to help them pay Council Tax. It is paid by your local authority. If you are entitled to Council Tax Benefit, your Council Tax bill is reduced. Remember to check that you are paying the right amount of Council Tax - that you are getting any discounts due because you live on your own, or any reduction because of disability. If you are over 65 you may get extra help with the Council Tax in Winter 2005. Second Adult Rebate is a form of Council Tax Benefit that can be paid instead of the main type of Council Tax Benefit.

Who can get Council Tax Benefit If you have to pay Council Tax, you can claim Council Tax Benefit as long as your capital and income are low enough. You must be living in the UK to claim Council Tax Benefit. If you are from overseas or have recently come to live in the UK you may have difficulty claiming the benefit, depending on your immigration status. Second Adult Rebate is a form of Council Tax Benefit that can be paid instead of, but not as well as, the main type of Council Tax Benefit. Second Adult Rebate also reduces your Council Tax Bill.

You may be able to claim Second Adult Rebate if you have to pay Council Tax and you live with someone else, other than your partner. The other person must be 18 or over, not paying rent, not responsible to pay Council Tax, and have income below a certain amount. The other person cannot be someone who is 'disregarded' when the local authority work out whether you can get a discount in the amount of Council Tax that you pay. To claim Second Adult Rebate, you have to give information about the income of the adult (or adults) living with you. Your own income and capital are not taken into account for Second Adult Rebate.

What is it?

• A benefit for people bringing up children
• Paid for each child
• Not affected by income or savings

Can I get it? Are you bringing up a child who:

• Is aged under 16?
• Is aged under 19 and studying full-time up to A level, Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education (AVCE) or equivalent?
• Is aged 16 or 17 years old and has left school recently, and has registered for work or training with the Careers Service or Connexions Service (in Northern Ireland, Training and Employment Agency)?

If YES to one of these, claim Child Benefit.

What else should I know? If you have recently come from abroad or returned from abroad, there are some extra rules.

How do I claim? Claim as soon as your child is born or comes to live with you. If you delay, you may lose benefit. You can get a claim pack by contacting the Child Benefit Office If you live in Great Britain - Telephone: 0845 302 1444 If you live abroad - Telephone: 0044 191 2251000 If your child has just been born, you may receive a claim pack with your Bounty Pack from the hospital if your child was born in the UK. It is important that we can be sure of your identity when you make a claim. We may need to ask you about your background and look at any official documents you have to support the information you give.

Am I eligible? Time limit for claiming Child Benefit There are strict time limits for claiming Child Benefit. The law says we cannot pay more than 3 months before the date your claim was received in one of our offices. It also says it does not matter what caused the delay.

Claim Child Benefit Online You can now claim Child Benefit online using our easy step-by-step form and send it to us electronically. Just go to the Child Benefit Online menu: https://esd.dwp.gov.uk/dwp/index.jsp, choose ‘I want to start a blank claim form’ and answer the first page of questions. Depending on your answers, you will then only be taken to the parts of the form that apply to you. You do not have to complete the form in one go. If you are part of the way through the form and you want to finish it at a later time, simply note down your transaction number. When you return to the form, you will need to input this transaction number and your surname to retrieve your details. You can also report changes online. Just go to the Child Benefit Online menu and choose ‘I want to fill in a new Change of Circumstances form’.

Note: specifically for migrant workers

To claim the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Working Tax Credit (WTC), the starting point is that a person must be aged 16 or over and live in the UK (section 3(3) of the Tax Credits Act 2002). Short absences abroad for holidays or on business will not affect eligibility. Some people may be eligible even if they do not live in the UK. To claim Child Benefit, the general rule is that the claimant and the child (see pages 10 and 11 below) must be in Great Britain (section 146 (1) and (2) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, as inserted by section 56 (1) of the Tax Credits Act 2002) or in Northern Ireland (section 142 (1) and (2) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, as inserted by section 56 (2) of the Tax Credits Act 2002). As with tax credits, short absences abroad will not affect eligibility and some people may be eligible even if they do not live in the UK.

Important exception: Some people who are living in the UK do not qualify for tax credits and Child Benefit because they are subject to immigration control. A person is subject to immigration control if they require leave to enter or remain in the UK and do not have it or their leave to enter or remain in the UK is subject to the condition that they must not have recourse to public funds.

In most cases, such persons will not be able to claim tax credits or Child Benefit as they count as public funds. However, there are exceptions to this. If a person receives tax credits or Child Benefit under one of these exceptions, it will not count as recourse to public funds.

Who has the right to reside in the UK? The following groups have a right to reside in the UK when claiming CTC and Child Benefit and, depending on the full facts of their case, should be entitled to such support:

• all UK nationals and those who have a right to reside in the Common Travel Area (which covers the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man), by virtue of the Immigration Act 1971;
• all EEA workers legally working in the UK – there are special rules for A8 nationals (see Annex);
• all work-seekers from the pre-1 May 2004 EEA Member States, Cyprus and Malta who have a reasonable chance of finding work; and
• third country nationals with indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

The following groups only have a right to reside in the UK when claiming CTC and Child Benefit if they have sufficient resources not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the UK:

• all A8 nationals who are looking for work, including an A8 worker who loses his or her job before having worked in the UK lawfully and uninterruptedly for 12 months and is without another job for a period of more than 30 days; and
• all EEA (including A8) nationals who are economically inactive.

In these cases, all the claimant’s personal circumstances are taken into account when deciding whether he or she is self-sufficient. Such factors could include whether or not that person had claimed social assistance from the Department for Work & Pensions in Great Britain or the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland (i.e. Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and State Pension Credit).