A person applying for any benefit from the state. Benefits, for example unemployment, sickness, or disability benefit, need to be claimed for two possible reasons. In some cases the person has a clear legal right to the benefit, but the civil servants administering the benefits system need to be informed of the facts. In other cases payment of the benefit is discretionary: in this case the claimant has both to establish the facts and to convince the administrator that he or she has a good case for receiving the benefit. Claimants’ associations exist to help claimants to understand what benefits they are entitled to, or eligible to apply for, and to advise them on the procedures for claiming these benefits.