Who is eligible

Your eligibility depends on your circumstances during the qualifying week.

Find out who is eligible

To be eligible for the payment, you must have been born before 23 September 1958.

During the qualifying week, you must also:

• live in Scotland, or an eligible country abroad
• get at least one other, specific benefit on at least one day of the qualifying week

Those benefits are:

• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income Support

You might also be eligible if you got Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit. This only applies if you got at least £26 from those benefits in the 2024 to 2025 tax year.

When you will not be eligible

You will not be eligible if you:

• have been in hospital getting free treatment for over a year leading up to the start of the qualifying week
• were in custody, under a sentence imposed by a court, for the whole qualifying week
• need permission to enter the UK and your granted leave says you cannot claim public funds

If you live in a care home or an independent hospital

You’ll only be eligible if you moved into the care home or independent hospital after 24 June 2024.

You also still need to:

• be born before 23 September 1958
• live in Scotland, or an eligible country abroad
• get certain other benefits