Claiming benefits
What's available?
Richmond Council works with Richmond Aid and Richmond Age Concern to run a service offering support and advice about state pensions and other benefits. The service is for people over 60 and disabled adults under 60 and gives free, independent advice on how to claim those benefits. It also offers help to fill in Council Financial Assessment Forms.
The service can help you to complete application forms and deal with any queries you have about your benefit payments. It can also verify documents for you, so that you don't have to send originals to the Pension Centre and advise you on other local support organisations if you have any other needs.
It can help you to understand which benefits you're entitled to claim and explain how you can appeal if you think decisions made about your benefits are incorrect. The service includes confidential benefit checks and help to fill in forms for all the following benefits:
- Pension Credit
- Income Support
- Incapacity Benefit or Employment and Support Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance
- Jobseekers Allowance
- Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit
- Child Tax Credit and Child Benefits or Working Tax Credit
- Carers Allowance or Carers Premium
To make sure you get the right advice, you'll need to give some information about your home and family circumstances, your income and savings and any disabilities you and your family have. Home visits are available for people who are unable to get out and about.
Carers benefits or allowances
If you are spending time looking after a relative, friend or neighbour, you may be entitled to claim benefits to support you in your caring role. It may be that you're unable to work, or can only work part time, because of the time you spend on caring and need financial assistance to help you to manage. See contact details below for free, confidential advice about your benefit entitlements. Our Carers Directory
(pdf, 593KB) contains more information on benefits, allowances and all aspects of caring. You can also visit our Being a Carer section.
Contact details
To use the service, please call Age Concern Richmond upon Thames on 020 8878 3546, email welfarebenefits@acrut.org.uk, or call Richmond Aid on 020 8831 6080, email benefits@richmondaid.org.uk.