Q Is there anything we can claim? We are 68 and 69 and pay £1,152 council tax. My husband's State pension is £163.37 a week and mine is £49.15. We also have a three-monthly private pension of £647.94 and our savings are nearly £16,000.

A As long as your savings do not go above £16,000, you should be able to get about £177 a year knocked off your council tax.

Q I have a State Pension of £86.73 a week, miner's pension of £360.46 a month, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit of £49.52 a week and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) of £60.60 a week for care, and £42.30 a week for mobility. My wife is over 65 and has Severe Disablement Allowance of £51.35 a week. She has the same rates of DLA as me and investments valued at more than £50,000. My daughter gets Carer's Allowance for looking after me. Could I get that - or underlying entitlement to it of £25.80 a week - for looking after my wife?

A If you are looking after your wife for 35 hours a week or more, you meet the conditions for Carer's Allowance because of her DLA. However, you could not actually receive it because you are already receiving more by way of State Pension. "Underlying entitlement" is not a separate benefit, but a more generous way of assessing people like you for Pension Credit and Council Tax Benefit. I am afraid your income is too high, however, for you to qualify for either.

Q Our four-weekly State Pensions are £338.20 and £196.60. We have a monthly private pension of £169.84 and about £25,000 in bonds. What can we claim?

A About £3.63 a week Pension Credit, which you can claim by phoning 0800 99 1234, but your income is too high for help with council tax.

Q My husband is receiving Incapacity Benefit and has just received his State Pension forecast because he will be 65 late in the year. However, I have heard that he will lose his Incapacity Benefit then. Is this correct?

A Yes. Incapacity Benefit cannot be paid beyond pension age.