Claiming Benefits

UK residents are able to claim from a number of benefits available to support people who find themselves in the unfortunate position of being out of work or unable to work because of illness, injury or disability. Some benefits are also available to people working in lower paid jobs or who have dependents who need extra support. The benefits available to an individual depend on their specific circumstances and are often means tested. Knowing what benefits you may qualify for is important so that you do not miss out on the help you may be entitled to.

	Beginners Guide to Benefits When you first apply for benefits it is usually because the income you have is low and it is difficult for you to survive without a little extra help. It happens to most people at some time or another and is often due to circumstances beyond the...
	Work Capability Assessment If you're injured, or too ill to work properly, you can ask for financial support. This kind of financial support is called an Employment and Support Allowance â€“ an ESA. However, since this money is intended for people with a genuine need, it'...
	Working While Claiming Employment and Support Claiming an Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) isn't meant to condemn you to a life lived in limbo. There is still a window of opportunity that exists for generating additional income. You are allowed to do certain types of work, and to do s...
	Jobseekers Allowance Jobseekers Allowance is often known as JSA, as we shall for the rest of this report. It is a benefit paid to people who are looking for work and who fit certain criteria.
	Statutory Sick Pay Poor health shouldn't mean that you get financially poorer. In the interest of ensuring your right to fair pay for fair work, and to protect your work colleagues' right to health, there are laws in place to secure your income when you're sick. T...
	How to Claim Benefits In this age of technology there are a variety of new ways available of claiming benefits other than the traditional way of going to your local jobcentre and having an interview. Jobcentre Plus is still available for this service if you wish a fa...
	Benefit Cap The new government is proposing changes to the benefit system to ensure that everyone is getting what they are entitled to and to reduce the amount of money that is being spent on benefits each year. To this effect from April 2013 the amount tha...
	Benefit Overpayment It might not seem possible in a time where the benefit system is under so much scrutiny but sometimes you can get paid more benefit than you are actually entitled to. This is known as a benefit overpayment and it can really mess up your financia...
	Checking Benefit Claims for Fraud The most important asset in the whole benefit industry is information. When you submit a claim for any kind of benefit you have to provide a huge amount of information, if you apply for several benefits this information will be held in many diff...
	Reporting Benefit Fraud One of the reasons that the government has to implement strict benefit reforms is because of the amount of money that is being spent on fraudulent or false benefit claims. This is where people are claiming for a benefit that they are not actuall...
	Suspected of Benefit Fraud If you get a letter asking you to go in for a meeting to discuss your benefit claim, or explaining that someone will be visiting you, it could be that you are suspected of committing benefit fraud. Benefit fraud happens when someone claims a ben...
	Claiming Benefits in Europe As the United Kingdom is of the EEA (European Economic Area) it is sometimes possible to claim UK benefits while living and or working in another EEA country. Each country has a social security system with contacts with each otherâ€™s countries ...
	Disability Living Allowance Having a disability can be expensive. There are unavoidable costs which range from needing a carer in more extreme cases to spending constantly on transport if walking causes discomfort. In an attempt to try and level the field a little with oth...
	Claiming Disability Benefits in the EU The interconnected global village becomes more real on a constant basis. As a citizen of the UK, you're entitled to work in any country in the European Economic Area (EEA). Because disability benefits are almost always designed to compensate for...
	Community Care Grants If you're already signed on to some form of income support, but you're faced with a short-term financial crisis, it might be possible for you to get a Community Care Grant. These are outright grants â€“ not loans â€“ so, if you qualify for one, ...
	Incapacity Benefits Until recently, if illness or disability caused you to be unable to work, you would apply for an Incapacity Benefit (IB). But this system is being phased out, having been replaced by provisions in the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) syste...
	Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit It's popularly held that being at work is three times more dangerous than going to war. While that's perhaps not entirely true, it is a fact that, despite rigorous health and safety regulations, workplaces are regularly the site of mishaps. Fort...
	Job Grants The many forms of financial support and income protection that are offered in the United Kingdom are intended to preserve the dignity and basic rights of citizens. Ultimately, though, the intention of the system is always to provide temporary su...
	Reduced Earnings Allowance The Reduced Earning Allowance (REA) is a benefit that may be awarded for a work-related injury sustained, or a disease contracted, as a result of your occupation. Importantly, it only applies to injuries that happened before 1 October 1990, or h...