Q I had never heard of the £2,000 Bereavement Payment you recently mentioned. Am I eligible, as I am 66 and my husband recently died aged 73?

A I am afraid not. Bereavement Payments can be made if you are under pension age when your spouse dies. If older you only get one if your spouse was not getting retirement pension.

Q My husband and I have state pensions between us of £486.20 a month and a miners' pension of £10 a month. Can we get Minimum Income Guarantee?

A Yes. If your savings are under £6,000 you will get about £16.70 a week.

Q I am a woman of nearly 60 receiving Incapacity Benefit of £79.05 a week. Would I be better off taking my Retirement Pension instead when I am pension age?

A You have no choice and you could be worse off. Incapacity Benefit stops at pension age. It is based upon just a couple of years National Insurance contributions. To get standard rate retirement pension, however, your National Insurance record must cover 90 per cent of your working life.

QI am a widow of 81 with a state pension of £81.98 per week. My savings and shares are valued at about £15,000. Should I be due a council tax rebate?

A It looks like it. You should be paying no more than £268 a year.

Q You often mention the special rate of Income Support for severely

disabled people. Who gets it?

A You must live alone AND receive either Attendance Allowance or

Disability Living Allowance for care at the middle or higher rate AND there must be no one getting Invalid Care Allowance for looking after you. Couples can get it too if both partners meet these conditions.

Q Our annual income, including my wife's state pension, is £13,123. Could we qualify for any rebate on our council tax of £714.57 a year?

A It depends how your income is made up. If it is all pensions from work and state, it is above the level where you can get help. If some of it is War Pension, Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance you might get some thing as these are ignored.