I don't know, but I'd assume income support is an entitlement based on need, not on status. Accordingly I would expect the first answer to be yes, and I would expect a self-employed local non-pensioner to be eligible if his income and savings are low enough, unless the situation is such that it could be argued that he's not trying hard enough, thus deliberately keeping his SE income low, and that he should "get on his bike" and find a job.
Yes a previously self employed pensioner can get income support.
My understanding, although I may be a bit out of date, was that income support only applied to people working less than 15 hours per week. Above that you used to have to claim family credit instead, which meant people without children were ineligible. As Family credit has now become tax credits I assume the situation is the same- income support is only for people working less than 15 hours per week.
The other key point is that your savings are quite limited for income support. I dont know if my figures are still current but you were previously only allowed 3000. If you had more than that you lost 1 per week income support per 250 or part thereof above 3k.
James
I was just watching a programme about a family who moved to Oz. The chap could not get a job for about 7 months but he could not claim any benefits as new citizens cannot claim benefits for 2 years in Oz. Their entire system of how they dealt with immigrants made us look like the mugs of the planet!
On a related matter, I'm reliably informed that a divorced woman, who has not worked, nor paid NI contributions, still gets a full married woman's pension - based on her ex husband's contributions. Whereas a woman who remarries and has not paid NI contributions does not.
Why should this be so?
Rgds,
You don't believe everything you read in The Sun, do you?
Only the 3 Baltic states will join the EU. They are all small, have a large non-citizen Russian population. They together probably do not have a million pensioners who could conceivably move to the UK. If you want to worry, worry about Poland, which is the only large country joining.
They will not qualify for UK pensions, for income support at best. This may not make much difference in practice, but under EU rules, pensioners only have a right to free movement provided they are not a burden on the social security system of the host country.
Old people tend to stay put and not move to a foreign country where they don't know anyone, don't speak the language, etc. Unbelieveable it may seem to Sun readers, there are people in the new EU member states who already have a better standard of living than a British pensioner on the MIG. And if the new arrival find out that they have to wait a year for an operation on the NHS they will certainly go home.
Steve
I think one thing you have taken into account the propensity in other countries for old people to move with their children. If an English person of 30 decided to live in another country they wouldn't dream of taking their parents or would their parents dream of going. I wouldn't be surprised if people from other countries came to the UK to find work and have their parents "living" a few doors away claiming benefits.
By the way .... I would only only read the Sun for the football and sex scandal ... I wouldn't even believe that - all I am guilty of is providing the correct URL!
It was my impression that they ARE supposed to warn you about any shortfall in your contributions. However, they can only do this if they know your address. Contrary to logic, the mere fact that you are paying them NIC does not necessarily mean that they know your address - you have to tell them whenever you move. I suspect that the average person, such as myself until recently, has no idea that this is the case; has no idea how to contact them; and has not even thought about them until they reach about 60.
Wouldn't they use the address on P14's or tax returns?
I see from today's Times that they are going to have to write to millions of people, informing them of gaps in their contribution records - because they forgot to do so for several years. I knew that they were supposed to do so.
Don't suppose you've got a link for the story or the headline so I can look it up on the
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