Welfare Benefits

Depending on your situation you may be entitled to certain benefits from the government or other organisations.

Income & benefits assessment tool

You can use the BetterOff Lincolnshire income & benefits assessment tool to find out what benefits you may be entitled to. The website will also give you access to the relevant forms to claim for each benefit.

General benefits information and links to information about various types of benefits can also be found on the benefits webpage on the Gov.UK website.

Below are some further explanation of some benefits which maybe available to you:

Universal Credit is a benefit you may be entitled to. It is a new benefit replacing all of the following benefits:

Child Tax Credit
Housing Benefit
Income Support
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Working Tax Credit

If you are a person with disabilities or long term health conditions there are other schemes and entitlements that you may be eligible for.

This scheme allows us to make additional payments to people who receive Housing Benefit or the Housing Element of Universal Credit who appear to need further help with their rent.

These are not intended to be long term ongoing payments; they are normally awarded on a short term or one off basis to assist you while you take action to improve your financial circumstances.

To see if you are eligible and for more information click Housing - Apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment – City of Lincoln Council

Home and housing

Vehicles and travel

VAT relief

VAT relief for disabled people

Carer benefits and entitlements

If you are a carer you can find out more information on the Lincolnshire County Council carer benefits and entitlements webpage.

Access to Work is a scheme for people with health conditions or disabilities that need extra help at work. The scheme is only for things which are not covered by ‘reasonable adjustments’ from your employer.

Access to Work grants can pay for:

special equipment
adaptations
support worker services to help you answer the phone or go to meetings
help getting to and from work

You may be able to make a claim if you:

have a disability or health condition that makes it hard for you to do parts of your job or get to and from work
are 16 or over
have a paid job (or be about to start one)

Attendance Allowance is a benefit for severely disabled people aged 65 or over who need help with personal care. You may be able to make a claim if you’re over 65 and:

you have a physical and/or mental disability
your disability means that you need help caring for yourself or someone to supervise you for your (or someone else’s) safety
you have needed that help for at least 6 months

Blind Person's Allowance is an extra amount of tax-free allowance meaning you can earn more money before you start to pay Income Tax.

You can claim Blind Person's Allowance if you're registered with Lincolnshire's Sensory Services.

Disability premium is an extra amount of money added to your Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (if you qualify).

You may be able to make a claim if you’re under state pension and either registered blind or in receipt of an eligible benefit, including, but not limited to:

If you don’t qualify, you may still get the premium if you’ve been unable to work for at least a year.

You may also qualify for severe disability premium or enhanced disability premium, depending on your circumstances.

Disabled Facilities Grants

Disabled Facilities Grants are an amount of money from your local Lincolnshire Council (district, borough, or city) to allow you to make changes to your home if you are disabled. Examples of what these grants could be used for include:

access ramps
widening doors
installing a stair lift
adapting heating and lighting controls to make them easier to use

In order to apply for this grant you must be an owner or tenant of the property and live in the property for 5 years.

Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) are for students that have disability that affects your ability to study, such as a;

learning difficulty, for example dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD
mental health condition
physical disability
long term health condition

You must also;

be an undergraduate or postgraduate student
qualify for student finance from Student Finance England
be studying on a course that lasts longer than a year
not be getting equivalent support from another funding source

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is for people who are aged 16 to 64 that have a long term health condition or disability. You may be able to make a claim if you:

have had difficulties with daily living or getting around (or both) for 3 months
expect these difficulties to continue for at least 9 months

You can receive PIP whether you are working or not.

Specialist Employability Support is intensive support and training to help you into work if you’re disabled. You may be able to apply for this support if you:

have a disability or health condition that affects the work you can do
are unemployed
are between school leaving age and state pension age

To apply for this support you should contact your local Jobcentre Plus.

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Welfare Benefits

Welfare Benefits

Income & benefits assessment tool

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