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ESA entitlement

Posted , 5 users are following.

pammied
pammied

Hi

My niece was on long term sickness having having a breakdown. She had been on Incapcity Benefit and was transferred to Income related ESA.

She was later put into a Support Group and received Disability Income Guarantee.

In December 2015, her partner moved in with her and she notified ESA to ensure that she kept them informed.

They immediately stopped her ESA and consequential said she was not entitled to it as her partner works.

He is not highly paid so she was surprised as she is still sick and unable to work.

She cannot sign up for Jobseekers as she is along way from being well enough to work. She is still receiving psychotherapy treatment.

Is she entitled to anything - should she pursue this?

She has a daughter and received child allowance and child tax credit. She also gets PIP high level care.

Can anyone advise?

0 likes, 17 replies

17 Replies

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  • hypercat
    hypercat pammied

    Posted

    Hi on income based benefit all income coming into the household is taken into account,  which is why they have stopped your neice's benefits.   There is nothing you can do about that I'm afraid.  Even if she was fit and able to work she still wouldn't be entitled to income based JSA as the same rules apply.  If it was contribution based benefit it would be different as this is based on working and paying her national insurance contributions for the previous 2/3 tax years.   They will have looked into whether or not she is entitled to contribution based benefit and the fact she was on income based means she didn't qualify. 

    The way to go is to see whether she can get more child tax credits,  whether her partners can get working tax credits,  or claim housing benefit or council tax rebate. Look on the Govt. site - just google it and it comes up.  x 

     

    • pammied
      pammied hypercat

      Posted

      Thanks for this. Unfortunately she has also been told that they don't qualify for working tax credit and her child tax credit was reassessed although it remained pretty much as before.

      They are entitled to some rent and council tax credit which helps. I was concerned about how her 'stamp' gets paid. Will she be missing Stamps towards her pension in the future?

  • ImustImust
    ImustImust pammied

    Posted

    Sorry to hear about your daughter. Can her partner not claim carers allowance?

     

    • ImustImust
      ImustImust

      Posted

      Sorry. Meant niece and can't find how to edit the post.

       

    • pammied
      pammied ImustImust

      Posted

      Her partner works full-time so would not be eligible for any payment

      Thanks for the thought though.

    • nadnad
      nadnad hypercat

      Posted

      Hi,if she mentioned that he's working ,and after they stopped her ESA which normal because of partner moving with her and working even part time .. But you mentioned he work full time ,the dwp if she call them saying he's my career she may lose her pip they are going to see it as fraud . Because she already told them ,she can't change and specialty now with the cut ,but good luck ,my advice don't do anything now wait few months 
    • hypercat
      hypercat nadnad

      Posted

      Hi I never said he was working full time!   He could claim carers allowance as this depends on the rate of PIP she gets,  not ESA.  Even if he is not entitled to any payment he might still have an underlying entitlement which could open up a raft of other benefits.  Partners can be carers.   x
  • les59996
    les59996 pammied

    Posted

    I thought that when youj transfer over from IB to ESA it would have been automatically contribution based with a possible Income base top up?

    Previously it would have been IB with Income Support top up.

    If that is the case, and she was in the Work Group, the contribution based ESA would have ceased after 12 months and then she would go onto full income based ESA.

    Being in the Support Group now, I beleive she should have moved back onto contribution based ESAwith an income base top up.

    This would continue for as long as she is in the Support Group with no time limit and it is not affected by any other income coming into the household.

    I may well be wrong on this but I would check this out at the CAB.

    • pammied
      pammied les59996

      Posted

      I am not sure about whether she should be income related or contribution based.

      She was working before going sick.

      She may need to go to CAB and check options

    • les59996
      les59996 pammied

      Posted

      I would suggest that that is her best option. Make sure she takes all of the paperwork received from the DWP from when she was on IB through to now.

       

    • hypercat
      hypercat les59996

      Posted

      Contribution based benefit is for people who have worked enough in the past 2/3 tax years to have paid national insurance contributions.   This usually last for up to 6 months (though there are exceptions).  

      The DWP. automatically checks for enough NIC and if not then the claimant goes on to income based benefit.   This is because she was on her own and her income and savings was below the level of her entitlement.  .  Once she lives with a partner all other income coming into the household is taken into account,  so the DWP has stopped her ESA because she is over the limit to receive it now.  x

       

    • les59996
      les59996 hypercat

      Posted

      But the rules for those transferring from IB to ESA are different.

      Those that were receiving IB go onto Contribution based ESA.for 12 months. If they then get into the Support Group Contribution based ESA should start up again.

      In the poster's case it doesn't matter if the young lady last worked 20 years ago - she should go straight onto Cont ESA and not Income Based ESA.

      I'm sure that I am right but she should check it out with CAB

      On Cont ESA their partner can earn £5m a year but she would still get her ESA and provided she gets put in the Support Group that money would not stop after 12 months! 

    • les59996
      les59996

      Posted

      It's vital that anybody on Cont ESA and who has a substantial household income should try everything and anything to get into the Support Group - it guarantees them a benefit income unaffected by other income coming in.
    • anthony97723
      anthony97723 les59996

      Posted

      Hi Les

      Your belief is correct.

      If the claimant is placed in the Support Group then her ESA is automatically Contribution based for as long as he/she remains in the SG.

      Therefore when the partner moved in the only loss should have been the Income Support top up. The claimant would still be entitled to the £109.10 received by those in the SG.

      As a taxable benefit it would have an impact on housing benefit/council tax reduction, but the claimant/partner would still be much better off than no ESA at all.

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