Leaving home, but are there any benefits that could help?

Q. I am 16 years old and I am looking to see if I can move out of home, are there benefits and help with living/rent costs? I have no partner or children to be included in any claim. I live in a full Universal Credit area. When I have checked online it appears benefits aren’t payable until I am 18. Is this correct or can I claim some help?

A. It is possible to claim Universal Credit if you are 16 or 17 provided certain conditions apply. You have already confirmed you have no partner nor any dependent children. In this situation you could claim Universal Credit if any other conditions apply.

If you have a health condition that precludes you from working then you could claim UC on the basis of limited work capability. You would need supporting evidence from your GP such as a fit notes. You would then have a medical assessment, normally within the first 13 weeks of your claim. If the DWP confirm you have limited work capacity after the assessment then benefit would continue in payment, if you fail the assessment you would have the right to appeal and the UC payments would continue until your case has been assessed by a Tribunal. You may also be entitled to claim UC if you have any caring responsibilities for a severely disabled person, i.e. you would meet the conditions to claim Carer’s Allowance and you are caring for someone receiving Personal Independence Payments for daily living (standard or enhanced rate), Middle or High Rate Care for Disability

Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance at low or high rate. If this were to apply you may wish to check this person’s benefit entitlement as sometimes claiming Carer’s Allowance can have a detrimental effect on benefits they are getting. The final condition you could claim UC on is if you have no parental support. So for example you could be an orphan, are estranged from your parents or your parents cannot support you due to their own physical or mental impairment or they are in custody or may be unable to enter the UK due to for example Immigration Rules.

Do also bare in mind that if anyone is currently getting benefits for you such as Child Benefit, Tax Credits or you are included in their Universal Credit Claim then they would lose these benefits.

So if you meet any of the above criteria then you can submit a claim and in times of how your Universal Credit is calculated then the rules and amounts for 18-24 year olds apply.