Income Support for people who are unable to work due to sickness has been replaced by Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
You will not be able to make a new claim for Income Support on the grounds of sickness unless it can be linked to a previous claim.
However, you may still qualify for Income Support if you fit into one of the other categories of people who can claim. For example if you are a lone parent with a child aged under 7 or you have caring responsibilities.
Income Support is not dependent on National Insurance Contributions. It is means tested and both yours and your partner’s income and savings are taken into account.
Any savings over £6,000 will affect the amount that you get. If you have over £16,000 in savings you will not be eligible. You may qualify for help with the costs of your mortgage through Income Support but there is usually a waiting period before you actually get help.
Transfer to ESA
People getting Income Support on the grounds of incapacity will be reassessed for ESA. This started from 28 February 2011 and it is likely that it will take until 2014 to migrate everyone across.
Disability Alliance has produced a useful summary of the Government’s plans.
