Attendance Allowance
You may be eligible for attendance allowance if you are over 65 and need help with day-to-day living because of a physical or mental illness or disability. This is a non-means tested benefit.

Bereavement benefits
If your husband, wife or civil partner  died on or after 6 April 2017, you might be able to claim bereavement support payment.

Carer’s Allowance
This is money to help full-time carers aged 16 or over who do not earn more than £128 per week from another job or who are not in full-time education. It may affect your other benefits and/or benefits of the person you look after so always get advice before you claim. Read more here.

Child Benefit
Child benefit can be paid to any person who is bringing up children. You get a set amount for each child. If you, or your partner, have an individual income of more than £50,000 per year you might have to pay a tax charge. To read more visit Money Advice Service.

Council Tax Reduction
The Council Tax Reduction scheme is run by your local council. The scheme helps people on low incomes and/or certain benefits by reducing their council tax bill. Some councils call it ‘council tax support’.

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
ESA is a benefit paid to people who have a limited capability to work because of sickness or disability. You can apply whether you’re in or out of work. Most claims for ESA are for ‘New Style’ ESA. To find out more and how to apply, click here.

Help with heating costs
There are a number of ways you can get help with heating costs during the cold winter months – especially if you are elderly, disabled or on a low income. Click here for more details.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
PIP is a benefit for people who have a physical / mental disability and need help participating in everyday life or find it difficult to get around. It replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for new claims for people aged 16 to 64.  Any one already receiving DLA will gradually be asked to make a new claim for PIP.

To qualify claimants need to have a medical assessment. There are two parts to the assessment – one looks at your need for day-to-day care and the other at your mobility needs. These are assessed separately and are referred to as the ‘daily living component’ and the ‘mobility component’ of PIP. Each component has two rates – the standard rate and the enhanced rate.

To find out more, click here.

Universal Credit
Universal Credit (UC) supports people out of work or on a low income. UC has replaced many other benefits – including housing benefit, income support and income based jobseeker’s allowance.

Up to date information about each of the benefits listed above is available on the Gov.UK website

Use the entitledto Benefits Calculator to see what benefits you might be able to claim.

If you have a disability, the Disability Rights UK website has various factsheets about the different benefits you can apply for.

For most benefits, the amount you get depends on:

• your income (combined with your partner’s, if you are living together), including any redundancy payments you may have received
• any savings or other assets you (or your partner) have
• your age and personal circumstances (such as whether you have children or are part of a couple).

Many advice centres have staff who specialise in benefits. They can check whether you are getting all the help you are entitled to and that the amount you get has been calculated correctly. Use the advicelocal guide to find an adviser in your area.

For many people there is a limit on the total amount of benefits they can claim. This is known as the benefit cap.

In Wales, the total amount of benefits that can be received by any individual or family is capped at:

• £384.62 per week for single parents and couples with children (£20,000 per year)
• £257.69 per week for single people (£13,400 per year).

The benefit cap is likely to apply to you if you are out of work and claiming benefits such as Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance (and you are not in the support group). Housing benefit and universal credit count towards the maximum amount of benefit that can be paid so you may find that these payments are reduced.

The benefit cap does not apply if you are a pensioner or are working and receiving Working Tax Credit. It also does not apply if you are claiming certain disability benefits. For more information see our page on the benefit cap.

To apply for Universal Credit you usually have to go online. Take a look at our page on How do I apply for Universal Credit? for more details.

For most other benefits you will need to fill in a form, which you can get from your local council office or you can call the Jobcentre Plus benefits claim line on 0800 055 66 88. You can ask if you are not sure which form you need to complete. You should fill in and return any paperwork as quickly as possible. If possible, hand in your completed form in person and get a receipt in case there are problems later. Take photocopies of everything if you can.

You will normally need to provide your national insurance number and possibly proof of your identity (such as a birth certificate) and proof of your income (such as your benefit book or wage slips). If you don’t provide this information your claim could be stopped or delayed. If you are having problems providing this information, get advice.

See our checklists:

• Items to support your housing benefit claim
• Items to support your Universal Credit claim
• Dos and don’ts of applying for benefits.