Welfare rights and benefits

It is important that everyone who is eligible to benefits receives all that they are entitled to.

This section offers information about the benefits, grants and other allowances that can be claimed and who is eligible to receive them.

This list is not exhaustive so it is important you speak to a benefits advisor or other support organisation who can assist you.

Kent County Council does not administer or provide benefits to the public.

If you wish to apply for any benefits mentioned on these pages you must contact the relevant authority/agency that administers that benefit.

Welfare rights

A list of up to date benefit rates are now available to download:

• Benefit Rates - April 2011 to April 2012 (PDF, 189k)

The following pages only give an outline of the law on social security benefits and tax credits. It cannot investigate all possibilities and permutations. You should seek specialised help to discuss your individual circumstances.

The pages below are not mutually exclusive e.g. you may have children and be unable to work due to sickness. You should navigate around the site using all the links that apply to you.

There are some benefits that are still in payment that have been abolished for new claimants for example, Severe Disablement Allowance. These have not been included, as they are now no longer available to claim.

• If you have a low income
• If you are pregnant
• If you have children
• If you are unable to work due to sickness or disability
• If you are going in to hospital
• If you are disabled
• If you are a carer
• If you are unemployed
• If you are working full-time (at least 16 hours a week) and have a low income
• If you are recently bereaved
• If you are retired (60 for women, 65 for men)
  

Financial assessment

A Financial assessment service exists to provide benefit assessments and advice about entitlement to welfare benefit.

Are you sure you are receiving all the benefits and tax credits you are entitled to?

If you are a client of Social Services and need help with claiming your benefits you can ask your Care Manager or Social Worker for assistance.

If necessary they will refer you to our specialist Benefit Officers.

If you are not a client of Social Services and need help with claiming benefits or want to make sure you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to there are a variety of agencies that can help you.

Examples of some agencies that may be able to help you can be found in the Useful websites page.