Incapacity benefit and help with mortgage.

cw18

Thankyou zappster

All I knew was that when I phoned to ask about entitlement I was told there are calculations in place to work out what each household needs to survive on -- and that these are the rules used by Income Support. They then said that if we were on benefits other than IS - but not receiving as much as we'd get on IS - we could get a 'top up' through the IS system. Ours weren't combined, but this may have been due to the fact we had two lots of IB coming into the household - and as such confused it even further :rolleyes2

I was never told we could only have this top-up due to the extra premiums we would have got on IS (I don't remember them even being mentioned in the discussion, as I wasn't actually aware of them until we got an award notification with them included) -- though clearly this meant we had a larger top-up than we would otherwise have received.

pontdugard

zappster,

very similar query - perhaps you are able to clarify.

had interview for JSA IB and the claim is being processed even though managed to get some work, currently around £70 per week for 12 hours.

This is over the £60.50 + £5.00 disregard threshold but advised that claim for JSA IB would continue but the payment would be £0.00 due to the earnings.

Is this correct ?

Am I correct to presume the 13 week wait for SMI assistance starts from the beginning of the claim for JSA IB earlier this month ?

Or will it be delayed by each week where earning exceed £65.50 ?

Also, does it mean that NI stamp will be paid due to JSA IB, as earnings too low otherwise ?

Hope that all makes sense

zappster1966

Pontdugard, you're probably best doing your own thread but nvrm.

I'm not entirely sure about either question tbh. I'll dig about to see if I can answer the query about your mortgage qualifying date, I'm not your best person for NI credits etc because I've never worked in contributory benefits. Hopefully someone here can answer that one for you.

pontdugard

hi zappster

tried doing my own thread but unfortunately didn't get answer.

not too concerned about the NI but the mortgage situation is getting pretty critical so any help you can offer on that would be very much appreciated.

zappster1966

Top of my head I reckon if they keep your JSA claim open while your declaring this part time work, that the Qualifying Date would be 13 weeks from your claim start date ... provided the period of your part time work doesnt exceed 12 weeks. The only official guidance I can find is here ... (it's a quote from the Decision Makers Guide).

Qualification .... I haven't worked on the mortgage interest direct scheme for nearly 10 years & am incredibly rusty .... I'm more than willing to consider alternative points of view :-)


"23708 [See DMG Memo 42/07] Where there are breaks in entitlement to JSA(IB) or IS,
claimants are treated as being continuously in receipt of, and entitled to JSA(IB) or
IS for any period
1. when entitlement is decided on revision, supersession or appeal or
2. of twelve weeks or less during which
2.1 they were not in receipt of JSA(IB) or IS and
2.2 that period is immediately between two periods when
2.2.a they were in receipt of JSA(IB) or IS or a combination of the two
or
2.2.b they were treated as in receipt of JSA(IB) or IS or
2.2.c they are treated as entitled to JSA(IB) or IS for certain reasons
because their capital exceeds £16,000 or their income exceeds
the applicable amount (see DMG 23734 - 23742) or
2.2.d entitlement to JSA(IB) or IS is decided on revision,
supersession or appeal1.
1 JSA Regs, Sch 2, para 13(1)(a), 13(4) & 18(1)(c); IS (Gen) Regs, Sch 3, para 14(1)(a) & 14(3A);
IS (Gen) (JSA Consequential Amdts) Regs 96, reg 32"

flossy_splodge

Not trying to be depressing but I have just this week been helping someone who was turned down for Housing benefit whilst on IB.
I pursued it for them and sure enough they WERE eligible.
Then they get a letter saying the Housing benefit will start in a couple of days time.!
Quite frankly staff in so many Government departments do not seem to know what the hell they are talking about.
Was back in there today to ask why there is no reference to the missed payments which THEY ADMITTED WAS THEIR ERROR. Oops, they say, will get right onto it!
So my point is, do your own checking with as many sources as possible before you accept you are not eligible.
Taking the word of the dwp or it appears, in our area, the Housing dept. is a really really BAD idea.:mad:
Good luck anyway.

zappster1966

No, ignore my post above, I think I'm talking crap

brb

pontdugard

thank you zappster,

not finding that detailed info the easiest to follow / understand

was already doing the PT work when the JSA IB claim started and they didn't seem to have a problem with it as long as I recorded the hours / pay.
the hours are very variable at the moment.


When you say that:

"provided the period of your part time work doesnt exceed 12 weeks"

does that mean that you think if the pay continues to exceed £65.50 beyond 12 weeks, even though working under 16 hours per week, there would not be any entitlement to ISMI

zappster1966

Ignore what I just said above, it's mince. Apols for that too.

If they keep your claim open & pay your stamp, credits only, that does count towards the 13 week qualifying period.



"JSA(IB)
23735 [See Memo DMG 30/08] Claimants who would not be entitled to JSA(IB) only
because1
1. their capital exceeds £16,000 or
2. their income exceeds their applicable amount or
3. both 1. and 2. apply
should be treated as entitled to JSA(IB) throughout any continuous period of not
more than 39 weeks provided that the further conditions in DMG 23736 are satisfied.
Note 1: The period of not more than 39 weeks can fall between periods of
entitlement to JSA(IB) and IS2.
Note 2: It is not necessary for a claim to have been made for a person to benefit
from this provision.
1 JSA Regs 95, Sch 2, para 13(5) & (6); 2 para 18(1)(c)
23736 The further conditions are that during the period of not more than 39 weeks
claimants are
1. entitled to JSA(Cont), SSP or IB or
2. registering for work and entitled to credits or
3. submitting medical certificates and entitled to credits
on a day to day basis1.
1 Sch 2, para 13(5) & (6)"


That's my last best guess. Gives you something to quote to the person who's administering your mortgage. It basically means that you're entitled to JSA(IB) for the purposes of housing cost qualifying/linking periods if -
1. Your earnings have taken you over the limit, and
2. The Jobcentre is paying your NI stamp and
3. The period for which you're working doesnt exceed 39 weeks.

Could someone please QA this for me ? I'm loathe to give out duff advice but the housing costs section of the DMG is a minefield.

zappster1966

Have spoken to a friend on the phone who works for DWP, he agrees that the 13 weeks starts in your case from your original claim date, provided the Job Centre keep your claim open & cover your NI stamp during the period of your part-time work.

Should've phoned him 2 hours ago instead of ploughing through all that sh*t lol