Care and support

Other help for pensioners

Child tax credit – You may get child tax credit if you have a dependant child and your income is less than £58.000 per year or £66,000 if you have a child under one. (These figures could be more in certain circumstances). It is paid to the main carer with child benefit.

Working tax credit – You may get working tax credit if you are working and on a low income. There is no upper age limit.

War pensions – These are paid if you have an illness or injury caused or made worse by service in the Armed Forces. If you were a civilian and were injured during the Second World War you may also get a pension. Prisoners of war may also be eligible. If you are a dependent of someone who has died and falls into one of these categories you may be eligible to claim a war pension.

The ex-gratia payments of £10,000 paid to ex prisoners of war in Japan during World War Two, or their widows/widowers, are ignored indefinitely when calculating your entitlement to means-tested benefits. Payments of compensation to certain people who suffered atrocities in World War 2 are also ignored for pension credit, housing and council tax benefits.

For more information call the Veterans Agency Freephone, Tel: 0800 169 2277, textphone 0800 169 3458 or E-Mail help@veteransagency.mod.uk

Pre-1953 Irish Contributory Pension – If you migrated to this country from Ireland in the 1950’s you may be able to claim the Irish Contributory Pension. You must have at least 5 years paid insurance made up of either National Health Insurance or a combination of Social Insurance and National Health Insurance pre-1953.

If you think you may be entitled to this pension, you should firstly contact the Pensions Office of the country you now live in. Apply to the Department for Work and Pensions, Overseas Pension Directorate, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE98 1BA or telephone the nearest Irish Advice agency in the area where you live for more information and help with applying.

Free ten-year passport for over 75’s – You are eligible for a free passport if you were born on or before the 2 September 1929. This scheme includes all who contributed to the war effort including those on the Home Front. Refunds are available if you have applied and paid for a passport since the 19 May 2004 when the scheme was first announced. Phone the Passport Adviceline for more information on 0870 521 0410.

Social Fund – This helps with expenses that you cannot pay for out of your weekly income, and can be paid as grants or loans. There are two parts to the fund:

• discretionary social fund – this has a limited budget and your needs are balanced against other people’s. You may be able to get a community care grant, a budgeting loan or a crisis loan. It can help you for example, with the cost of one-off items that you could not budget for from your weekly income or pay for the cost of visiting someone in hospital.
• the regulated social fund – e.g. funeral grant, or the cold weather payments mentioned earlier.

To claim from the social fund telephone 0845 850 0032

For more information select the link entitled claiming money from the social fund on the right hand side of the page.

The Warm Front Scheme – this provides grants to help with heating or insulating your home if you receive an income or disability related benefit. The Government is making more money available to pensioners under this scheme. If you are getting pension credit, housing or council tax benefit you may be eligible for up to £2,700 to help with installation of central heating. Other pensioners can get up to £300 towards the cost of installation. For more information Tel: 0800 316 6011. Minicom 0800 072 0156.

Health Benefits – If you (or your partner) get the guarantee part of pension credit then you do not have to pay for:

• NHS prescriptions (already free if you are over 60)
• NHS dental treatment
• travel to hospital for NHS treatment
• sight tests (already free if over 60), and you will get a voucher towards the cost of your glasses

If you are not getting the guarantee part of pension credit, then you may qualify under the low income scheme. You should complete an HC1 form available from your doctor, dentist, optician, the Pension Service or you can phone the NHS Business Services Authority for a claim form on 0845 850 1166. If you qualify for full help the Health Benefits division will send you back an HC2 certificate. If you get partial help then they will send you an HC3 certificate and you will need to show the certificate each time you have treatment.

TV Licences – Free licences are issued to households where there is someone aged 75 or
older.

Concessions – your local council may offer concessions to people of pension age, eg bus passes, free or reduced admission to council facilities. Contact them for further details.