Lone Parent claiming disablity premium on income support

cazjenki

New to this board so hello everyone.
Today I received a letter about making a new claim due to changes that MAY happen in parliment this year. The goverment propose to stop lone parents claiming income support after their youngest reaches 12, if this goes ahead Income Support will stop and I will have to claim Jobseekers (which will still include the Disablity premium or a new benefit called Employment and Support Allowance which won't include the premium. I am so confused!! I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis and Depression and don't feel well enough to go back to work at the moment but am worried about having less money. I just don't know what I should be doing next and hate phoning them. Does anyone know much about this or had this letter? Thanks in advance.

zappster1966

The government don't want lone parents staying on Income Support until their youngest turns 16. Instead they want some lone parents to sign on for Jobseeker's instead ... when their youngest turns 12 ... (which will be reduced to age 7 eventually). I guess you're caught up in these changes.

If your youngest is 12 or over you've got a couple of choices. You can either do as they wish & claim Jobseeker's Allowance or apply for the new Employment Support Allowance when it's introduced, if you have a medical condition which prevents you from working.

cazjenki

thanks zapster, do you know if any payment rates have been decided for the new benefit.

zappster1966

Ayes.

The Child Poverty Action Group have some useful guidance on all things ESA.
http://www.cpag.org.uk/esa/

cazjenki

Ok Zappster. Thanks very much for the link.

wazza

I have received the same letter. I am also a lone parent with a disability. One thing that confuses me is do i do anything now? The reason i ask is that my youngest is only 6 years old. The info on letter states it only applies to those whose youngest have turned 12.

Lord_Dante

Hi everyone. Anyone getting this letter who doesn't feel able to work should contact the new claims line and ask for an incapacity benefit claim to be made. As far as I'm aware it says you should talk to your lone parent advisor. on the letter. At the contact centres we are handling a lot of calls about this and staff have been briefed about what to do.

The general gist is that just claiming as a lone parent means that when the change over happens to esa you will be expected to work. Therefore customers are being advised that they should claim IB as well so that when the change over happens they are recognised as being off due to being ill/sick and not just a loan parent. I wish there was an easy way of just adding a 'marker' to show someone was sick instead of all this, but sadly there isn't. Any questions just ask me.

The claims number is 0800 055 6688

bluetint

Hi, I have a question, Dante - what if you're a lone parent with a child over 12, claiming IS and Disability Living Allowance (as distinct from Incapacity Benefit)?

cazjenki

You will probably get the letter I did, if your child is over 12 and the new rules come into place you can't claim IS anymore only a new benefit called Employment and support allowance or jobseekers allowance, with JS you still claim the disabilty premium with your money but with the new ESA you don't, I am worried that I may be worse off but need to ring my lone parent advisor to find out.

Lord_Dante

bluetint wrote: »

Hi, I have a question, Dante - what if you're a lone parent with a child over 12, claiming IS and Disability Living Allowance (as distinct from Incapacity Benefit)?

Do you feel well enough to work? If so do nothing and when the system changes you will start the normal looking for work.

If you don't feel well enough you need to contact the new claims line and do a claim for IB. That way when the system changes over you are counted as being sick and not just a loan parent. You'll need to provide sicknotes and the like but you won't be required to look for work.

Hope this helps

dmg24

Lord_Dante wrote: »

Do you feel well enough to work? If so do nothing and when the system changes you will start the normal looking for work.

If you don't feel well enough you need to contact the new claims line and do a claim for IB. That way when the system changes over you are counted as being sick and not just a loan parent. You'll need to provide sicknotes and the like but you won't be required to look for work.

Hope this helps

Spot on Dante. DLA is also available for those in employment, so does not necessarily mean that you are not fit for work.