Workplaces have pension schemes that you pay into throughout your work life, only ever gaining access to it at the age of 66. It’s widely considered to be the main source of help that you will get at this age bracket, but the age of 60 opens up other avenues that you should take into consideration. Here at Solar-Grants, we have made this article to outline the heightened advantage you have in your age range.
What benefits for over 60s exist? Depends on your National Insurance Contributions.
Before we get into the over-60 benefits, there’s something you should know: the availability of the benefits you get at this age is heavily dependent on one thing. The amount of National Insurance Contributions (NIC) you’ve made, and the amount benefits you’ve received throughout your life. NIC are a tax that you pay throughout your work life in several ways:
- By earning more than £242 a week whilst being under the age of 66.
- By earning £6,725 a year whilst being self-employed.
- By claiming certain benefits that make contributions for you each payment.
- By making contributions voluntarily.
The “certain benefits” mentioned in the list above is referring to the following:
- Child Benefit, including disabled child benefit.
- Jobseekers Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Other Attendance Allowances(or other attendance allowances)
Housing benefits or council tax contributions are not included by default and will have to be chased up with your local authority or energy company for an exception if they judge your circumstances call for it.
Now that you understand, lets take a look at your eligibility for the following benefits.
Benefits for over 60s in the home improvement sector
“What do you get for free at 60?”, “do I get winter fuel allowance at 60?”, “what about dental treatment?”. We’ve received so many questions like this as a result of there being very little information out there on over 60 benefits.
Solar-Grants is here to make things make a bit more sense. There is one major area that those with a high amount of national insurance contributions would excel in, and that’s the home improvement sector. In the next section, we will be exploring a scheme that holds a massive amount of useful grants in the Home Improvement Sector: ECO4.
ECO 4: A collection of the best government benefits for 60-year-olds UK.
ECO4 is named as such because, ultimately, it’s an attempt to make the environment better by cutting down on carbon emissions caused by inefficient energy leakage from residential homes. It does this by offering grants on a range of different installations that will save energy, thereby also lowering your bills.
The three main benefits are Solar Panel Grants, Insulation Grants, and Heat Pump Grants.
The benefits of each option are gigantic. Each one will save you money throughout the year and raise the overall value of your home. Our speciality, the Solar Panel, can even help you passively make money by selling the excess energy you generate just by having it installed in your home. This grant has the added bonus of making the world a healthier place, so you can rest knowing you’re doing your part to clean the environment.
To be clear, these instalments are not lent to you, but you own them outright. The grant you get, however, may not be your full amount. But if you’re over 60 and have been paying your NIC, then you will find yourself in a much more advantageous place during the sign-up process. You may even be eligible for the full grant amount. This automatically makes it one of the best benefits for over 60s.
Simple Sign Up
We have created this site with the sole purpose of making the sign-up process easy for you. We take on all the heavy administrative duties, including finding a specialist installer for you, meaning all you have to do is give a few details to check your availability.
For more information, check out our blogs on the specifics of each grant: Solar Panel Grants, Insulation Grants and Heat Pump Grants.
Alternative House Heating Government Benefits for 60-year-olds UK.
To remind you, it’s your high amount of NIC that allows you to have improved results when chasing the following benefits. You may have been asking yourself the following questions:
Do I get Winter Fuel Allowance at 60?
“Do I get winter fuel allowance at 60” is such a frequently asked question that we had to include a section on it. This benefit is actually age-restricted, as you can’t get it unless you were born on or before the 5th of January 1954.
This isn’t taxable, nor does it disqualify you from getting ECO4. The only other requirement you need aside from the one above is to be enrolled in a social security benefit.
Can I get the Warm Homes Discount Scheme?
Yes. If you are enrolled in a social security benefit, such as a state pension, then you are eligible for up to £150 deductions in heating bills from the period of winter 2022 and 2023.
Can I get Cold Weather Payments?
Another benefit for over 60s that live in the UK is the Cold Weather Payment Scheme. If there are seven consecutive days of weather hitting temperatures below 0 degrees between the 1st of November and the 31st of March, then you will automatically receive £25 for each instance.
Conclusion
That brings us to the end of the article. We hope this has helped you have a clearer understanding on the benefits available to over 60s, and the advantages of having a high amount of NIC.
