Benefits calculator

1. How much is your actual "contract" rent? Warning - excessive amounts may be restricted for claim purposes. Do not include charges for ineligible services such as meals and heating. £
2. Fortnightly and monthly figures are automatically converted to weekly amounts. weekly fortnightly monthly
3. Enter the number of rent free weeks (if any) in your rent year. Council tenants usually have 4 such weeks.
4. And, if applicable, enter your weekly Local Housing Allowance. If this is a fresh claim and the rental is from a private landlord (not a Housing Association or similar) then the LHA figure will (mainly) be used instead of the contract rent. Weekly LHA rates are on the local council's website - they depend on the area and the number of bedrooms appropriate for the claim. If the actual rent is higher than the LHA, you pay the excess - if less, you are rewarded with a potential maximum HB of up to £15 more than the rent! £

5. Enter your actual Annual Council Tax bill (without taking off any Council Tax Benefit you already get). £
6. Has this Council Tax bill already been discounted? No 25% off 50% off

7. If "Yes" to IS/JSA/PGC you can skip all the income questions (steps 7 to 11) because your income is assumed to be zero.
8. Are you single or living with a partner (can be same gender) as a couple? single couple
9. Enter your age (or the age of the oldest person in a couple)
10. Are you (the claimant) on Income Support, income based Jobseekers Allowance or Pension Guarantee Credit? If you answer "Yes" to this question you can skip all the income questions (steps 7 to 11) because your income will be entirely disregarded for the purposes of this calculation. No Yes

Be sure to enter any Employment and Support Allowance payments down at Step 8 as other unearned income.

Where a partner gets the (higher) ESA support component, a couple might want to swap claim roles to increase potential HB/CTB.

11. If applicable, enter your (the HB/CTB claimant's) Employment and Support Allowance details for ESA Phase, ESA element and ESA component. No ESA claim made Assessment Phase Main Phase ESA
    
    No ESA element (IR) income-related (C) Contribution based NI credits element
    
    No ESA component Work-related activity Support component
12. And, if applicable, enter your partner's Employment and Support Allowance details for ESA Phase, ESA element and ESA component. No ESA claim made Assessment Phase Main Phase ESA
    
    No ESA element (IR) income-related (C) Contribution based NI credits element
    
    No ESA component Work-related activity Support component
13. Disability applies if you (or partner) can match one of these qualifying conditions:-
    You get Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Invalid Vehicle Scheme or Motability, War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement, Severe Disablement Allowance, Incapacity Benefit (paid at the long term rate) or you are registered blind (or regained your sight in the last 28 weeks)?
    Or you (the claimant only) been off work sick for at least 52 weeks (28 if terminally ill) with medical evidence / sick notes ? No Yes
14. Do you (or your partner) get the highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance? No Yes
15. Do these two statements apply to you ? (only say "yes" if both of them apply) (1) You (and partner) get care component of Disability Living Allowance (middle/high rate) or Attendance Allowance or Constant Attendance Allowance (or partner blind and you get one), and
    (2) No other adult lives in your home except your partner, other than disabled persons, your carer, landlord or other tenants. No Yes
16. Is someone getting (or entitled to) a Carer' s Allowance for looking after one of you or your partner, or both of you? No One Both
17. Does the person who is disabled (you or your partner) work an average of 16 hours or more a week ? No Yes
18. Are you (the claimant), your partner, or both of you, being paid (or entitled to be paid) a Carer's Allowance for looking after someone? No CA is payable Both of us get a CA I work and get CA Partner works & gets CA I get CA but don't work Partner has CA, not work

17. How many children aged under 16 do you or your partner get child benefit for?
18. Is there a baby (any child aged under one) in your family? No Yes
19. How many young adults aged 16 to 19 years old do you or your partner get child benefit for?
20. How many children included above are disabled and receiving Disability Living Allowance or are registered blind?
21. How many of those children are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance at the highest care component rate?
22. Is this claim estimate being run from October 2009 onwards (when Child Benefit will no longer count as income)? No Yes

22. Have you been receiving Housing/Council Tax Benefit without a break since 5th April 1998? No Yes

23. Give figures for the claimant (and partner). Include average earnings from employment and self employment.

24. £ Weekly

    £ Monthly

25. How much do you and your partner earn (before deductions)? (Do not count expenses paid by your employer)
26. If you work as a childminder how much do you earn from this? (Any earnings from childminding need to be counted separately from other earnings)
27. How much Income Tax and National Insurance is deducted?
28. How much do you pay towards a pension scheme?
29. How many hours are you (or your partner) each working in an average week? Select the highest. 30 or more 16 to 30 under 16
30. Are you (or partner) 50 or over and recently off state benefits after at least six months on them - because now working 16 hours or more ? No Yes

31. Based on the number of children you have told us about you should get Child Benefit of
    (automatically calculated, but disregarded from October 2009) £
32. Rent from non-family sub-tenants (meals not included). Do subtract a £20.00 disregard from the weekly rent received from each one. £
33. Income from non-family boarders (meals included). Deduct £20.00 for each one. £
34. Maintenance received from a former partner ? Child support/maintenance payments are disregarded so do not include them. £
35. We do not count War Pensions, charitable payments or payments made as a result of personal injury as income. So do not enter them below.
36. Unearned income from all other sources each week - This includes Retirement Pensions, Incapacity Benefit, Carer's Allowance and Severe Disablement Allowances. But do not include Tax/Pension/Return to Work Credits, interest on savings or Attendance, Disability Living, Mobility and Fostering Allowances or Community Care Payments £

37. You cannot qualify for any Housing Benefit or (most) Council Tax Benefit if you and any partner have £16,000 or more in savings and investments. The home you live in and personal possessions do not count.
38. How much is the value of all cash, savings, bank deposits, Tessas, PEP's, Unit Trusts, ISA's, building society accounts, Tax Credit arrears etc. and all "liquid assets" £
39. How much is the value of "fixed" or non liquid assets and investments - shares, buildings and land (but not the house you are living in). Deduct 10% of the value to cover cost of sale. £

40. Charges for registered or approved childcare can be deducted from the income of couples or lone parents in remunerative work (at least 16 hours p/w) or on Statutory Sick, Maternity, Paternity or Adoption Pay or a similar benefit (up to 28 weeks). Couples still qualify if one works and the partner is incapacitated, in hospital or prison. Costs of childcare in the child's own home by a close relative are excluded.
41. Enter the weekly childcare charges paid. Children count up to the September following their 15th birthday (or 16th if disabled). £
42. Enter the weekly student loan or grant contribution which can also be set off against claimant (and partner) income. £

43. If you do get them, enter weekly Working Tax Credit and (unless you or partner have reached the age of 60) Child TC here. £
44. And if you do get Pension Credit then enter your weekly Pension Credit figure here. £
45. If you are not actually being paid any Credits, there is no such income so you should skip the rest of this step. But if you really want an auto estimate then the program can do one, "check" this box and it might just need to know the extra details below.
46. Between you and your partner, are you working 30 hours or more in an average week ? No Yes
47. Are you (or your partner) a disabled adult on High Rate Attendance Allowance ? No Yes

49. These so called "non-dependants" are assumed to be contributing to the household income so a deduction is made from any benefit for each one. So do enter the number of non-dependants in each of these Income Categories but skip this step if you (or your partner) is disabled due to blindness, or in receipt of the Disability Living Allowance care component or Attendance Allowance has been awarded.
50. in the Top Earnings Category (£382+ per week gross)
51. between £306 and £381.99 p/w gross earnings
52. between £231 and £305.99 p/w gross earnings
53. between £228 and £230.99 p/w gross earnings
54. between £178 and £227.99 p/w gross earnings
55. between £175 and £177.99 p/w gross earnings
56. between £120 and £174.99 p/w gross earnings
57. under £120 p/w gross but works at least 16 hours
58. The number of non-dependants (working or otherwise) in receipt of any Pension Credit at all
59. The number of non-dependants (any age) on Employment and Support Allowance Contribution-based (C)
60. The number not on Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance (I.B.) or any Pension Credit and not working at least 16 hours p/w
61. The number of non-dependants who are under 25 and are on Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance (Income-based)
62. The number of non-dependants who are 25 or over and are on Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance (Income-based)

1. That is all you need to do. Click the Calculate button, and let the program work it out.
2. The total Applicable Amount figure is
   (automatically calculated) £
3. The total Net Weekly Income figure is:
   (automatically calculated) including: £
4. Tax / Pension Credits p/w £
5. How your benefit is worked out. If the Total Applicable Amount is higher than Net Weekly Income, Maximum Benefit is awarded. But if Net Weekly Income is higher than the Total Applicable Amount, 65% of the "excess income" is deducted from Maximum HB to find the award. For Council Tax Benefit, 20% of the "excess income" taper is deducted from the maximum award. NB Non-dependant deductions are also taken off at this stage.
6. Final Calculation result is
   Weekly Housing Benefit Award £
7. Final Calculation result is
   Weekly "Main" Council Tax Benefit £
8. Alternative Council Tax Benefit is often called Second Adult Rebate. It is based on the income of the non-dependants. The program calculates if you are better off with a benefit award based on your circumstances or your non-dependants.
9. Alternative result is
   Second adult rebate weekly CT Benefit £
10. And finally, you can use the browser Print button to launch a print or change your figures to recalculate, or press reset to start again.