Lone Parent claiming disablity premium on income support

stazi

Any lone parent on IS who has had this mailshot care to post it in full so we can all read it?

Lord_Dante

The letters are being sent to people who are down on the systems as claiming ONLY as a lone parent. The system has identified people in that group who receive disability living allowance. The letters advise that if people are unable to work as well as being a loan parent, then they should claim IB as well. They are then identified as being sick as well.

If people don't do anything then in a few years or a few months whichever it may be, they may find their claims to Income Support stopping due to not having children below the age limits.

I'll post the full info when I go into work tomorrow and get out the paperwork.

My_two_cents do you work for the jobcentre? If so you need to go back to the paperwork and read it again. Peoples IS claims won't continue automatically. Claiming as a lone parent is different. No one will have provided sick notes, been referred to pathways to work, attended medicals etc etc.

If in doubt everyone please please call your lone parent advisor. Don't just do nothing.

Hope this helps.

stazi

Thank you Lord_Dante for confirming what I suspected- JCP don't just send out mailshots for people to do nothing.

The mailshot appears to have been sent to draw lone parents attention to the fact that if they claim to be sick after ESA is introduced, there will be no DP on ESA, whereas if they were to claim IB before ESA, the DP would continue.

Please ignore post#21 due to the number of errors in it.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

If the system is capable of identifying people who receive DLA and IS, then they should already be getting an additional allowance on top of the IS basic rate. If the system is already paying them the £80 sickness premium - £150 severe disablement premium pw they are entitled to, then surely the system should already have them ticked as being unable to return to work and they are automatically exempt from the hoop jumping the civil servants want everyone to do (although, quite frankly, if I were capable of jumping through hoops, I'd be over the moon, cos my hip and hands are ********* hurting with the weather at the moment)

Even before I qualified for the extra premiums, I had an IB50 completed and that resulted in my no longer having to obtain sicknotes and my 12 months to qualify for the additional premium started. As it was I quickly got DLA and eventually had the premiums added by IS. The computer system was amended to state that I was sick straight away.

Presumably the experts here are also aware that you cannot get Incapacity Benefit if you have not been in permanent employment making full National Insurance Payments for the previous three years immediately before the claim, which is a bit difficult if you have been off work receiving IS for the years prior to the mailshot.

Just get an appointment to see someone, because if the people in your particular office are not capable of making the simple alterations without having someone ask them to do it, asking them over the phone isn't going to work. I would also suggest that you send in at least one letter to that effect as well, as pieces of paper relating to claims disappear with alarming regularity.

Don't panic, just take a deep breath and whatever they say, send in a letter clarifying it, just in case.

Lord_Dante

Hey I wish it was that simple. It would be easier to automatically add markers to peoples files instead of dealing with an increased workload at the busiest time of the year.

Indeed people won't get money if they haven't paid NI contributions, but again what will writing letters do? What will booking appointments do? Everyone who works there can see it would be easier to gather the few bits of information required instead of a new claim to IB but no one listens to us.

If claiming as someone with sickness there are additional things that need doing. This requires extra information that's gathered on the forms. Some shortened forms would have made things simpler but that's too easy. It's a 20 minute phone call to the new claims line and it's all finished.

Do it or don't do it, the system won't make it easy on you to try and do it your own way. Any questions PM me I'm not going to return to the thread.
Thanks

stazi

Here's a copy of the mailshot for information-

Important changes to your Income Support

I am writing to tell you about important changes that may affect your benefit payments.

Our records show that you currently receive Income Support (IS) because you are a lone parent, and that you also receive a disability premium. You may need to make a different claim now or you could end up receiving less money in the future.

If you aren’t sure what to do after reading this letter please contact your local Benefit Delivery Centre (You can find this number on your benefit award notice).

The changes

At the moment lone parents can receive IS until their youngest child is 16. The Government is proposing to stop IS for lone parents with older children who are claiming it solely because they are a lone parent. This is one of several proposed changes to the benefits system to help people get the skills for work and get into paid employment.

The proposals are that from November 2008 when a lone parent’s youngest child is aged 12 or over their IS could end. From October 2009 this would affect lone parents whose youngest child is aged 10 or over, and from October 2010 lone parents whose youngest child is aged 7 or over.

Lone parents who receive a disability premium because of a health condition or disability could continue to receive IS on the grounds of incapacity, if they make a claim for Incapacity Benefit (IB) before 27 October 2008 (see ‘what you can do’ on the next page).

What these changes might mean for you

If these proposals are agreed in Parliament and you have not contacted us by 27 October 2008 and are not entitled to IS for another reason you would then have to make a new claim for either:

Jobseeker’s Allowance if you are able to work and with our support begin to look for paid work. Your disability premium will continue to be payable if you are eligible.

OR

A new benefit called Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if you are unable to work at the moment due to a health condition or disability. This benefit will not include a disability premium, which could mean you end up receiving less money.

What you can do

If you think you are unable to work now because you have a health condition or disability it is very important that you contact us before 27th October 2008 to make a claim for IB.

You will have to provide medical evidence from your doctor to be able to make a claim for IB. If you satisfy the medical test for IB we will continue to pay your Income Support at existing rates, but only if you claim before 27 October 2008.

Please call 0800 055 6688 (8am - 6pm Monday to Friday) and select option 1 for making a new claim. When you speak to an operator please inform them that you are a lone parent and claiming IS with a disability premium.

A textphone service is available if you have a speech or hearing impairment 0800 023 4888.

Welsh-speakers can call 0800 012 1888.

If you aren’t sure what to do after reading this letter please contact your local Benefit Delivery Centre (You can find this number on your benefit award notice).

Call Charges

• Calls to 0800 numbers are free from BT land lines but you may have to pay if you use another phone company, a mobile phone, or if you are calling from abroad.
• From 1 August 2007, calls to 0845 numbers from BT land lines should cost no more than 4p per minute with a 6p call set up charge. You may have to pay more if you use another phone company or a mobile phone, or if you are calling from abroad.

my_two_cents

Lord_Dante wrote: »

If people don't do anything then in a few years or a few months whichever it may be, they may find their claims to Income Support stopping due to not having children below the age limits. . .

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/welfarereform/parents.asp

These changes will only apply to lone parents who are able to work and whose youngest child is over the age of 12. Lone parents who also have other reasons for claiming Income Support will continue to be eligible to claim Income Support or another appropriate benefit such as Employment Support Allowance. For example, if they have children for whom the middle of highest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance is payable, or they claim Carers Allowance, or are fostering.


Moreover, if your youngest child is not up to 12 yet, you cannot get lost in the system because of the following implementation;

• From November 2008
  Quarterly Work Focused Interviews for lone parents in the last year before their child reaches the age where they may lose eligibility to IS.
  

This is in addition to:

• New Deal Plus for Lone Parents,
• Six Monthly Work Focused Interviews for lone parents with youngest child aged 0–4 years,
• Job Interview Guarantee,
• Options and Choices events for lone parents whose youngest child is aged 11 or over, or approaching 11,
• Work Trials,
• In Work Credit,
• In Work Emergency Discretionary Fund,
• In Work Advisory Support,
• Upfront Childcare Fund pilot,
• In Work Retention pilot,
• Better Off In Work Credit trial

etc

my_two_cents

stazi wrote: »

Thank you Lord_Dante for confirming what I suspected- JCP don't just send out mailshots for people to do nothing.

Wazza got sent one and his daughter is only 6.

stazi wrote: »

The mailshot appears to have been sent to draw lone parents attention to the fact that if they claim to be sick after ESA is introduced, there will be no DP on ESA, whereas if they were to claim IB before ESA, the DP would continue.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/esa/key-facts.asp

. . . For new customers, Employment and Support Allowance will replace Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds. Existing Incapacity Benefit or Income Support customers will initially continue to receive their existing benefits, so long as they satisfy the entitlement conditions


http://www.disabilityalliance.org/f31.htm

11. What about those who are already getting IB or IS?

If you are already receiving incapacity benefit (IB) or income support (IS) paid on the grounds of incapacity when ESA is introduced you will continue to receive those benefits, rather than ESA, for the time being.
You will also continue to come under the rules and conditions which apply to IB or IS. So, for instance, your incapacity will be tested under the old IB personal capability assessment rather than the new ESA work capability assessment .

my_two_cents

@ all

To be on the safe side, give your local jobcentreplus a ring to find out whether you should change your IS claim to IB.

shazrobo

hi, just received my letter today, and i rang the benefits office, and they have put a note on my file, noting that i am unable to work, i am in receipt of dla, but also carer's allowance, for my sons, so am staing on IS hopefullya t the same rate as now. i suggest if unsure you should ring your local office as everyones circumstances are different