IS20 - A guide to Income Support

Your Income Support payment

Unless you are in one of the special groups listed in ‘Who can get Income Support’, your Income Support payment will be made up of all or some of the following parts:

• the personal allowance – money for your normal expenses and those of your partner, if you have one
• a personal allowance for a child or young person – a payment for any children and young people you are responsible for
• premium payments – extra payments for groups of people whose expenses are likely to be higher than normal [Legislation (62)]
• housing costs – payments to cover certain costs of your accommodation that are not met by Housing Benefit.

Personal allowances for a child on a new or repeat claim will not be paid on or after 06/04/04.  If there are children or young people in the family then you must make a claim for Child Tax Credit in order to receive payments for your children.

In total, this assessed sum is known as your applicable amount. Whether you will be paid your full applicable amount will depend on other factors such as your income and capital. [Legislation (63)]

Rates of benefit

The rates are reviewed each year and are approved by Parliament. Benefits are usually uprated from April at the beginning of the financial year. [Legislation (64)]

Current benefit rates are given in leaflet GL23 Social security benefit rates. You can get it from your Jobcentre Plus office or social security office.

Personal allowances

What are personal allowances?

Your personal allowance is an amount of money towards all your normal day-to-day living needs including household costs such as water or fuel charges. There are several different rates for personal allowances. The amount you get depends on the following factors: [Legislation (65)]

• your age
• and whether you are single or have a partner
• and whether you are a lone parent

You will get a personal allowance for a child or young person if you are responsible for the needs of a child or young person under the age of 19. How much allowance for dependants you get will depend on:

• how many dependent children you have
• and how old they are

If you made a claim on or after 06/04/04 you must claim Child Tax Credit to receive a payment for your children.

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