Latest news with #Universal Credit
The Sun
12 hours ago
- General
- The Sun
All the benefits that could stop on your next birthday including Universal Credit
IF you are claiming benefits you should be aware that once you reach a certain age, they could stop. Once you reach 66, the age of retirement in the UK, you can no longer claim Universal Credit and begin claiming the state pension instead. 1 It is currently worth £230.25 a week, but how much you get depends on your circumstances. But it means you will lose out on other benefits you might have been claiming such as Universal Credit. And you can top up your state pension if you are on a lower income, with benefits specially available for those of retirement age. Meanwhile, some state benefits are available regardless of age, such as Attendance Allowance. It is also worth noting that the state pension is different to a pension you may have through work, which you can access when you are 55. This will rise to 57 come 2028, and the age you can claim the state pension will rise to 67 in the same year. Below we explain what benefits which stop at state pension age, what you can continue claiming and new help available. What benefits stop at state pension age? There are a number of benefits that stop when either you or your partner reach the state pension age. This includes legacy benefits such as Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support. You also can not claim Universal Credit when you reach state pension age. Cash for Care So if you're in a couple and are different ages, then it's when the youngest person reaches state pension age that joint Universal Credit claims will stop. Two benefits stop when you reach state pension age, and regardless of your partner's age. These are: Contribution-based JSA Contributory ESA Two further benefits available to the bereaved also stop: Bereavement Support Payment Widowed Parent's Allowance You can still claim PIP and Disability Living Allowance if you were already receiving the benefit before you reached state pension age. You can not make a new claim if you have not claimed the benefit before. Which benefits continue after state pension age? There are several other benefits that you can continue to get after reaching the state pension age, if eligible (for instance, your income is low). They include: Child Benefit Carer's Allowance Guardian's Allowance Statutory Sick Pay Housing Benefit Council Tax support Support for mortgage interest Working tax credits (if you already get it, but not for new claims) Child tax credits (if you already get it, but not for new claims) Help with health costs Cold Weather payments Warm Home Discount Scheme What benefits can I start claiming after state pension age? Once you reach state pension age you could be eligible for a number of other benefits including Pension Credit. This is a benefit which tops up your state pension if you are over the state pension and on a low income. It can top up your weekly income up to £218.15 if you're single or joint income to £332.95. The exact value will depend on your income but DWP says the average reward is worth more than £3,900 a year. It's not difficult to apply for Pension Credit, you can do it up to four months before you reach state pension age through the government website or by calling 0800 99 1234. Applying for Pension Credit can also give you access to a number of other benefits including a free TV licence, which can save you £174.50 per year. Claiming the state pension can also give you access to the Winter Fuel Payment, worth £300 a year. The payment was axed for millions of pensioners last winter and only those on certain benefits qualified. But this winter it will be paid to individuals with a taxable income over £35,000 following public outcry. How to check how much state pension you can get You can use the Government's tool on its website to find out how many years of National Insurance contributions (NICs) you have and how much state pension you're likely to get. You need at least 10 years of qualifying National Insurance contributions to get any state pension payments at all, although this doesn't have to be from 10 years work in a row. The maximum new state pension is only paid to those with 35 years NICs. There may be gaps if you were unemployed, lived abroad or took time off to care for children or relatives, which means you could get a lower amount. It is possible to make voluntary National Insurance contributions to top up your record, usually from the previous six years. You don't get the state pension automatically and you'll have to start making a claim for it when you turn the right age - here's how. You can also decide to defer claiming and could get more if you do decide to take it later.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Government have ignored human rights and are ignoring the only solution: a wealth tax
For months, I have been hearing from Brighton Pavilion residents about their fear, worry and confusion at the Government's proposed welfare reforms. This is my third column about this topic, with good reason because - aside from the atrocities in Gaza - this is the single most common subject in my correspondence tray. With the most brutal parts of its cruel benefits Bill removed, the Treasury's brutal fiscal rules are still set to do huge harm to people who need the support of social security to live equal lives. And there are now dark rumours that even the minor concessions won by the backbench rebels will be paid for by other cuts within the Department for Work and Pensions. It has been a turbulent few weeks for the Government which, in the face of an angry rebellion, has persisted in rushing the welfare Bill through Parliament. All four Green MPs have repeatedly voted against measures that would have seen vital support ripped away from sick, Disabled and young people but, ultimately, a reduced version of the Bill was finally passed last Wednesday. At every stage, as our lead MP for welfare issues, I tried and tried to make it do good, not harm. I tried to improve the only remotely positive proposal in the Bill – a staggered boost to the standard rate of Universal Credit – with an amendment to boost Universal Credit by the maximum amount from the start not over several years. (Image: Milo Chandler) I worked on this amendment with anti-poverty campaigners from Trussell, and they are clear that the current basic rate of Universal Credit cannot cover life's essentials, including groceries, bills and travel. My amendment would have gone some way to creating a more humane benefits system that genuinely helps people. It was heavily defeated, but I won support from Labour, Liberal Democrat, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Independent MPs and we will keep pushing for this essential guarantee of the basics. I spoke to introduce the final debate on the Bill and set out the clear alternative to cruel cuts that is being put forward by an unlikely alliance of Greens, millionaires and not one but two former Labour Party leaders. Greens have been leading the debate on fairer taxes for many years. There should be nothing radical about calling for the most wealthy in society to pay a little more tax to fund the essential spending needed to fix our depleted public services. We have helped to promote the simple idea from a group of millionaires, who brilliantly call themselves 'Patriotic Millionaires', and propose a two per cent tax on wealth over £10 million. (Image: Milo Chandler) The most recent champion of this idea? In addition to Jeremy Corbyn, now a second former Labour leader, Neil Kinnock, who told Sky News last week that this kind of levy would prove that the Government is standing up for a more equal society. I could not agree more. Britain's wealth gap between the richest and poorest, is now the second largest in the world behind the USA. Two thirds of Britain's entire wealth is owned by the ten richest percent, while over four million children are living in poverty. Greens often get attacked about our support for wealth taxes on the basis that such a levy would drive these multi-millionaires out of the country. This attack ignores both the fact that property and land can't really be exported, and the fact that over 85 per cent of UK millionaires in fact support the idea of paying higher taxes. And regular polling shows the public overwhelmingly agree so, I think it is finally time for the Government to listen. Our country is crying out for the investment a wealth tax could make possible. In Brighton, three of our treasured libraries are under consideration for closure, and if this Labour Government sticks to Conservative austerity and refuses to consider looking at fairer tax measures, we are at serious risk of losing other cherished local services forever.
