‘No Worries’ click to find out more information. Contents Introduction to benefits Job Seeker’s Allowance Introduction Income Support Introduction Full time students Part time students Benefits.
Download ReportTranscript ‘No Worries’ click to find out more information. Contents Introduction to benefits Job Seeker’s Allowance Introduction Income Support Introduction Full time students Part time students Benefits.
‘No Worries’ click to find out more information.
Contents
Introduction to benefits
Job Seeker’s Allowance Introduction
Income Support Introduction
Benefits for those with a disability Introduction
Child Benefit
Housing Benefit
Council Tax Benefit
Tax Credits
Contact Us
Useful Links
Please be aware that while every attempt has been made to make sure the information is accurate and up-to-date it is intended as a basic brief guide only. The benefit system is extremely complex and you should always seek advice if you require it.
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Introduction to Benefits
The welfare benefits system in the UK is going through a period of changes.
There are currently many different benefits which people can claim. This interactive presentation looks at providing a brief run down of these.
Most of these benefits are not open to students but there are some exceptions. We have tried to cover these exceptions in this presentation.
The current government intends to attempt to streamline this process by grouping some benefits together into the Universal Credit.
The changes to the system are due to start being implemented in 2013 pending Parliamentary approval.
If you currently claim benefits keep checking the
government website
the latest information and how you may be affected.
for
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Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA) Introduction
JSA is a benefit to help people who are out of work but who are trying to find work.
The conditionality criteria for JSA states that anyone claiming the benefit must be available for and actively seeking work.
As part of the conditionality you are required to visit your local Jobcentre Plus once every two weeks to ‘sign-on’ and prove you are actively seeking work.
You may be required to attend at more frequent intervals and occasional work focus interviews.
Available for work means available for a minimum of 16 hours per week.
If you leave the UK at any time or find work you must inform your local Jobcentre Plus.
You are allowed holiday periods but the holiday must be taken in the UK.
To find out more information on JSA and how to apply click
here
.
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JSA Full time students
If you are a full time student then you cannot normally claim for JSA.
As a full time student you do not meet the eligibility criteria as you are not available for work for a minimum of 16 hours per week. In reality you may be prepared to work for longer but for JSA this is not taken into account.
You may be able to claim JSA through the summer holidays if you meet certain criteria.
You can claim if: you are a lone parent,
or , y
ou have a partner who is also a full time student and one or both of you have responsibility for a child,
and, y
ou are actively seeking work
.
You
cannot
claim JSA over the summer if you do not meet the criteria above and you plan to return for another year of study, even if you plan to be looking for work for over 16 hours a week.
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JSA Part time students
If you are a part time student you may be able to claim JSA.
You have to be able to show that you are available for work for at least 16 hours per week.
You will also need to show that you are actively seeking work by providing evidence of job-seeking activity every two weeks.
You will normally be required to prove three job-seeking activities per week including contacting Jobcentreplus.
There are further qualifying criteria depending on whether you claim contributions based or income based JSA but
if you require further advice on this. In addition if you have recently left a job of your own accord you may have a sanction placed on your benefit stopping immediate payment.
You should be prepared to take time out of your course to attend interviews.
You should also be prepared to re-arrange your hours of study to fit around a job.
If you wish to claim JSA you should do so either
on-line
or by calling the benefit claims line (0800 055 6688).
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Income Support Introduction (IS)
IS provides a benefit for those who are not expected to sign-on for work but who are on low income.
In order to claim IS you must fit within the specified groups for claiming.
The groups are: responsible for a child, sickness or disability, carer or your have another exception which applies for to you.
As well as fitting within a qualifying group you have to meet the following rules.
You must be 16 years old or above and under state Pension Credit qualifying age. You must have less than £16,000 in capital. You must not be working 16 hours a week or more.
You should not be in full time education.
There are exceptions to this that could mean you qualify (see
IS is a means tested benefit which means your weekly income is taken in to account. This includes your student loan (although £10 per week is disregarded). If you do not receive student loan but you would normally be entitled to it then it is taken into consideration as if you do receive a payment.
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IS full time students
As per the
you cannot normally claim IS if you are in full time education.
There are exceptions to this rule and you may qualify for IS if you are: A vulnerable young person and you remain in relevant education up to the age of 21.
A lone/foster parent If you are one of a couple and you are both students and one is in a qualifying group and you have a dependent child. (this applies to the summer holidays only) Again this is income assessed however so if you get a student loan it has to be taken into account and your benefit would be reduced as appropriate. This can often stop an award being made.
If you want more information and Pension via
direct.gov
or you can get information from the Department of Work or 0800 055 6688
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IS Part time students
If you study on a part time basis you can apply for IS as you are not excluded in the same way full time students are.
You would have to show that you still meet the other criteria (listed in the
slide), ie lone parent, and that you do not fall foul of the rules.
It is an income based benefit so the amount you receive depends on your applicable income (some income is disregarded). If you require more information on what is counted as income and what is disregarded please
If you cannot claim IS you may wish to look at circumstances.
or
depending on your You can claim IS by calling the benefit claim line (0800 055 6688) or by going
online
.
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Benefits for those with a disability Introduction
If you have a disability you may qualify for financial assistance from the state under different benefits.
Under previous systems you would look to receive either Incapacity Benefit or potentially Income Support with disability qualifying criteria.
Since October 2008 Incapacity Benefit and Income Support for those with a disability was replaced by Employment Support Allowance (ESA) If you claimed under the previous system then you will continue to claim until you are required to undertake a Work Capability Assessment (WCA).
The WCA, as the name suggests, seeks to assess ability to work against set criteria. If you are not fit to work you are placed on ESA for further assessment
) but if you are passed fit you will be placed on JSA (see
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Employment Support Allowance (ESA)
In order to qualify for ESA you must be working/studying less than 16 hours a week. This means that full time students do not qualify.
In order to claim ESA you must have a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The WCA is split into stages and is carried out in week 1-13 of claiming the benefit (assessment phase).
The first stage looks at whether there is limited capability for work. It looks at activities that relate to both mental and physical health and awards points based on the difficulty faced in those activities.
If you score enough points you are treated as having limited capability for work and can claim ESA.
If you do not score high enough you are moved to
or you can appeal the decision.
If you can claim ESA you are assessed (based on the information given at the initial assessment) to see if you fall into the Support Group of the Work Related Activity Group.
Depending on which group you fall determines how much benefit you receive and what you have to do to remain entitled.
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Disabled Student Allowance
Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) is not a benefit in the same way as IS or JSA but it is a grant that is potentially available to disabled students to assist study in Higher Education.
If you are on a NHS course and receive a bursary you need to apply for DSA through the
NHS
and not Student Finance England.
DSA meets the extra cost(s) that disabled students can face and seeks to put them on a equal footing with other students.
The amount you can receive depends on your individual needs and not household income.
It is paid in addition to other student finance and does not need to be paid back.
It can be used to cover the costs of specialist items or for non-medical help such as note takers.
You do not have to wait until you have been accepted on a course before applying for DSA and you should put in an application as soon as possible so it can be processed.
If you require any help with your application for DSA then you may want to contact the
Disability Advice Team
who will be able to provide further advice.
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Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
DLA is awarded is you have a mental or physical illness and you need help with personal care or getting around outdoors or both.
DLA is made up of two components, care and mobility and it is paid on top of other benefits. Having an award of DLA does not affect any other benefit income you may have.
The care component is awarded if you require help or supervision at some point during the day.
There are three levels of support (lower, middle and higher) and the more help you require the greater the care component you receive.
The mobility component is to provide you with help if you have difficulty in getting around. You must have needed the help for at least 3 months and be expected to keep needing the help for a further 6 in order to claim.
Like the care component, the mobility component is split, but only into two levels (lower and higher), and level of support you receive depends on the amount of help you require.
If you get the higher rate mobility component then you may be able to get assistance in getting a car through the
motability
scheme and you would qualify for a blue badge.
if you require further information.
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Child Benefit
Child benefit is paid if you are responsible for a child or a qualifying young person.
Qualifying young person means studying more than 12 hours on a non advanced course up to A-Level or on an approved training scheme.
You can get child benefit for a child or young person who is under 16 years old but there are situations where you might be able to claim beyond this.
The amount of child benefit you receive per week is spilt into two amounts.
£20.30 for the first child to which child benefit is payable and then £13.40 for each subsequent child.
If you require more advice on Child Benefit then please
.
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Housing Benefit
Housing benefit helps to pay the rent if you are on a low income, it is not however, applicable to full time students.
There are some circumstances where there can be an exception to this i.e if you are a lone parent or disabled. However any Student Loan you receive will be taken into account and this often means you are not eligible for Housing Benefit.
If you are a part-time student then you can claim for Housing Benefit.
The amount of housing benefit you receive depends on a number of factors. Such factors are: who you rent your house off (private let or local authority), what rent is considered for the calculation, what income you have and any personal allowances.
If you currently claim
maximum housing benefit.
(income based),
(income related) you will automatically get You can apply for housing benefit via the local authority (
City of York Council
) or whilst starting a benefit claim at your local Jobcentre Plus.
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Council Tax Benefit
Council Tax benefit provides help for those on low income who are liable for paying Council Tax.
Full time students do not qualify for Council Tax benefit as they are exempt from paying Council Tax so do not have any liability for it. For more information
click here
.
Part time students do not get an exemption from Council Tax and as such are liable for paying the bill.
Council Tax is based on two adults living in the property who have liability. This means if you live on your own (part time student) or with all full time students you will receive a 25% discount. If you live with another part time or non student you will not get a discount.
If you require further help with your Council Tax then you can apply for Council Tax benefit.
Council Tax benefit has similar rules to Housing Benefit in that it takes into account a number of factors in determining any award.
Like Housing benefit if you receive IS or income based ESA or JSA then you will receive Council Tax benefit.
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Tax Credits
There are two types of tax credit which may you may be entitled to if you meet the criteria.
The first is Child Tax Credit (CTC) and this is paid to those who are responsible for a child who normally lives with you.
The second is Working Tax Credit (WTC) and is paid if you are currently over 16 years old and are working more than 16 hours a week, on a low income and a parent or have a physical or mental disability.
You can also get WTC if you are aged over 25 and working at least 30 hours a week.
Both CTC and WTC are made up of various elements which are then added together to get a figure from which income is then deducted.
Tax credits can become very complicated and should you think you may be entitled to an award you should contact the
Tax Credit Helpline
which is run by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
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Contact us
E-mail Welfare @yorksj.ac.uk
Visit Student Advice Team Desk in Holgate Phone 01904 87 6377/6400
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Useful links
City of York Council
– information on Housing and Council Tax benefit/exemptions
Direct.gov
– the Government website for information on most benefits.
Disability Advice Team
more information on DSA – if you need
Higher Access York Centre HMRC
– for information on Tax Credits
NASMA
guide to DSA
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