The benifit System in Great Britain

In Great Britain, we have a benefit system, what this means is every person that lives in Great Britain will receive help whenever they need it. We have already discussed our health system, so now I thought it is time to try to explain our benefit system.

Whenever the British citizen is out of work or is ill and cannot go to there place of employment, or they have an illness that is long term, or that they cannot find a place to live there is a system in place to help them. This is called the British welfare system.

We have in all parts of Great Britain houses that are called council houses these houses are owned by the local council in that area, if a person cannot buy there own home or are made homeless for any reason then they are entitled to a council house. This does not mean that they get it free; they will have to pay a rent to the council. Although they pay a rent it will be a lot cheaper than paying a mortgage. However, the council in the area where that person lives has an obligation to house that person and must do so by the law of the land.

If a person is out of work there are in place many benefits to help them through the difficult time of not working, they will if renting there home be entitled to housing benefit, this will pay there rent, they will be entitled to not pay there council tax, and they will be entitled to payment from the Government, this is called Jobseekers allowance.

A breakdown of a typical person claiming benefits are as follows.

Housing Benefit £260 a month.

Jobseekers allowance £240 a month

Child benefits £60 a month per child.

We are entitled in Great Britain when we retire to what is called a pension from the Government, we are also entitled once we reach 60 years of age a once a year payment of £250 this is called the winter fuel allowance, when you reach the age of 80 this rises to £450.

If we are out of work at the age of 60, you are entitled to £198 per week for a couple and £130 for a single person that is paid by the pension department. This is called a credit pension.

If you are disabled, we are entitled to a disability benefit.

£67. 75 short term lower rate

£80. 15 short term higher rate

£89. 80 long terms.

We can also get what is called a carers allowance of £40 a week.

If we are on a low income, we can claim what is called working tax credits and child tax credits.

We can also claim industrial injuries disablement benefit. The benefit is reduced from the top payment of £143 a week to £28 week it just depends what injury you have.

If disabled we can apply for what is called a blue badge this is free and entitles you to park your car free of charge on car parks and all roads were there are double yellow lines stopping ordinary drivers from parking.

We can if we wish turn our disability payments into paying for a car, this means that all the disability payment that we get pays for a new car every three years, it also pays all car tax, insurance for two drivers, any new tyres, and all garage costs for servicing and repairs. On some cars, we do not have to pay any payment from our own bank account on other cars we may be asked to pay a small payment, as an example a small car like a citron C 1 there would be no payment required, for a larger car like Renault megan we would be asked to pay £250 to £450.

These are just some of the many benefits that all British citizens are entitled too; there are many more that are in existence far too many to write about. Not for nothing is Britain know through out world as the most generous country in the world.