Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance

The qualifying citeria for income-based JSA.

In order to get income-based JSA:

• you should have no income or an income which is less than your applicable amount;
• your capital must not exceed £16,000;
• your partner (if you have one) must be working for less than 24 hours per week;
• you must be aged over 18; (see below for the rules affecting those aged 16 and 17;
• you must be habitually resident in Great Britain and not subject to immigration control.

The amount that you get is worked out by subtracting your total income from your applicable amount.

The rules for working out your capital and income are very similar to those for employment and support allowance (ESA). Please see the pages on income and capital for further details.

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Your applicable amount is made up of;

• your personal allowances (see below);and
• any premiums that you may be entitled to (see below);and
• certain housing costs (see below)

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JSA Personal allowances.

As from 1st April 2009, JSA personal allowances are:

• Single person under 25- £50.95 per week;
• single person over 25- £64.30 per week;
• lone parent under 18- £50.95 per week;
• lone parent over 18- £64.30 per week;
• couple both under 18- £50.95 per week;
• couple both under 18 with one responsible for a child- £76.90 per week;
• couple with one under 18 and one under 25- £50.95 per week;
• couple with one under 18 and one over 25- £64.30 per week;
• couple both over 18- £100.95 per week;

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JSA Premiums

Family Premium

From April 1st 2009 both the family premium and family premium (lone parent) rate are £17.30 per week.

You get the family rate if you are a member of a family that includes at least one child or young person or you are a lone parent who is not entitled to family premium (lone parent) because you get either the pensioner premium or the enhanced pensioner premium (see bleow).

You will get the family premium (lone parent) rate if you are a lone parent and you have transitional protection and you are not entitled to either the pensioner premium or the enhanced pensioner premium. You will have transitional protection if you have been claiming JSA since before April 6th 1998 and you have always been entitled to JSA since that time.

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Pensioner Premium

From April 1st 2009 the pensioner premium rate for a single person is £65.70 per week and £97.50 per week for a couple. The rates are the same for the enhanced pensioner premium and the higher pensioner premium.

In order to get the pensioner premium for a single person you should be over 60.

In order to get the higher pensioner premium you should be a member of a couple or polygamous marriage and:

• you should be aged 60 or over;or
• your partner should be aged 60-74; or
• you should be a member of a joint-claim couple and be aged 60-74.

You qualify for enhanced pensioner premium if you have a partner who is aged between 75 and 79.

The higher pensioner premium is awarded to applicants over the age of 60 who have a disability.

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Disability Premium

From April 1st 2009 the disability premium is £27.50 per week for a single person and £39.15 per week for a couple.

In order to get the pensioner premium you-

• are aged less than 60; and
• should be in receipt of the disability element or the severe disability element of Working Tax Credit; or
• should be in receipt of one of the war pensioner's mobility supplement; or
• should be in receipt of Attendance Allowance; or
• should be in receipt of Constant Attendance Allowance because you are entitled to Workmen's Compensation; or
• should be in receipt of Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance because you are entitled to Workmen's Compensation; or
• should be in receipt of Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance because your disablement has been assessed at 100%; or
• should be in receipt of an attendance allowance paid under the Pneumoconiosis, Byssinossis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefits scheme; or
• should be in receipt of any payments for attendance under the Civilians Personal Injury Scheme; or
• should be in receipt of any payment which is part of War Disablement Pension; or
• should be in receipt of Disability Living Allowance; or
• have been provided with or awarded a grant for an "invalid Carriage" by the NHS in Great Britain or the Department of Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland; or
• meet the criteria for the mobility component for DLA but this is not paid because you have been provided with an "invalid carriage" or you have been given a grant towards the running of a car; or
• are blind, you nee to show that you are registered as blind by your local council. You will not qualify if you are registered as partially sighted.

You will also qualify for the disability premium if:

• you are a member of a couple or polygamous marriage; and
• you are under 60; and
• you meet any of the criteria set out above: or
• your partner is under 60: and
• your partner is in receipt of Severe Disablement Allowance or Long-term Incapacity Benefit;

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Enhanced Disability Premium

From April 1st 2009, the enhanced disability premium is worth £13.40 per week for a single person and £19.30 per week for a couple.

You qualify for the enhanced disability premium if you or your partner (aged under 60) are paid Disability Living Allowance care component at the highest rate.

The enhanced disability premium can be added to either the disability premium or the severe disability premium.

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Severe Disability Premium

From April 1st 2009, the severe disability premium (lower rate) is worth £52.55 per week and the higher rate is worth £105.70 per week. It can be awarded in addition the disability premium and the enhanced disability premium.

In order to qualify as a single person you must show that:

• you get DLA care component at either the middle or lower rate or attendance allowance or constant attendant allowance; and
• no-one gets Carer's Allowance for looking after you; and
• no-one is living with you (see below).

In order to qualify for the lower rate as a couple you must show that:

• both you and your partner get DLA care component at the middle or higher rate or attendance allowance or constant attendance allowance: and
• you and your partner live alone (see below); and
• someone gets Carer's Allowance for looking after one of you or no-one gets Carer's Allowance for looking after either of you.

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Living alone

The criteria for living alone is that there are no non-dependants aged 18 or over who normally reside with you or who you reside with. A non-dependent is usually one of your adult children who lives with you.

The following are not classed as non-depenents and will therefore be ignored when awarding severe disability premium;

• any person under the age of 18;
• any member of your family, i.e. your partner or any children under the age of 18;
• a "qualifying young person" as defined by the Child Benefit Regulations;
• a person and their partner who lives in to care for you or your partner and is engaged by either a charitable or voluntary organisation and the organisation charges you for care;
• a person who lives with you and makes payment to either you or your landlord for rent;
• a person who lives with you and to whom you pay rent.
• a person who lives with you and is a co-owner of the property.
• a person in receipt of attendance allowance.
• a person in receipt of the middle or highest rate of the care component of disability living allowance.
• a person who is registered blind.

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In order to qualify for the higher rate severe disability premium you should be a member of a couple and:

• both of you receive DLA care component at the middle or highest rate; and
• no-one gets Carer's Allowance for looking after you or your partner.

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Carer Premium

From April 2009 the carer premium will be worth £29.50.

To get the carer premium you should be in receipt of Carer's Allowance or have an underlying entitlement to carers' allowance which cannot be paid because your are in receipt of another benefit.

You can continue to be awarded the carer's premium for up to eight weeks after:

• the person you are caring for has died or
• you stop being entitled to carer's allowance.

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Housing costs.

You are entitled to housing costs if you can show that you are liable and responsible for those costs and that you are living in the home that those costs are for and that those costs are allowable.

Allowable housing costs.

The following costs are deemed to be allowable and will be taken into account when calculating the amount of JSA you receive:

• interest payments on loans used to acquire an interest in your home or to make certain repairs to your home or to pay for certain service charges for repairs or improvements to your home or to repay loans used to replace any of these loans;
• rents or ground rents on long tenancies;
• service charges;
• payments by way of rent charge;
• payments under co-ownership schemes;
• payments for tenancies or licences of Crown Estates;
• payments for tents and their sites.

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