Disability Element - WTC

ds9074

I'm posting this just in case anyone else finds themselves in the same position.

I am currently recieving Working Tax Credit which includes the Disability Element and work 20 hours per week.

Back in 2007 I had to give up my full time job and was on Income Support on ground of incapacity (couldnt get Incapacity proper as I had been a student so no NI conts) but then went back to work part time, so at the time qualifed under the 'Fast Track' rules. Obviously once I went back to work my IS was stopped. At the time I had a lot of hassle with WTC advisors telling me on the phone that I was only eligable if I could get Disability Living Allowance (which is blatantly wrong). Eventually however this was sorted and a manager added to my record that I was eligable.

I have all the way through statified the disadvantage test as my condition is long term, severe enough that I cannot sustain an 8 hour day or 5 days a week but not bad enough to get DLA (have claimed and got turned down twice).

So I got the disability element for 2007/08. In 2008/09 I got it because my earlier claim, from 2007, satified the "benefits test".

This year in the renewal pack the wording is misleading. It seems to indicate that you had to have stopped claiming WTC within the last 8 weeks. It also indicated that the earlier claim, ie the previous year, must have satified the benefits test directly ie I would have had have been on incapacity benefits again during 2008/09.

Well my previous year 2008/09 didnt satisfy the benefits test directly, but only indirectly by linking back to 2007.

On ringing the help desk they told me sorry you are no longer eligable for WTC at all as you cant get the disability element and are working under 30 hours. Got almost to the point of signing off my renewal but I was searching around for anything to double check this.

Turns out the actual regulations manual used by HMRC says this;

Reg. 9(8) Case G

Where a person was entitled for at least one day in the preceding 56 days to the disability element of WTC or Disabled Person’s Tax Credit by satisfying cases A,B,E,or F at some earlier time, then he shall be treated as still satisfying those conditions.

So I rang back the helpline and got through to a manager and after quoting this paragraph they said "oh yes we were wrong you are right, you are eligable". They have said to me directly that as long as I do not have a gap of more than 56 days in my claim for WTC, as long as I work more than 16 hours and as a long as I satisfy the disadvantage test I can claim WTC disability element indefinetly. That has been added to my file and the call recorded. The manager added that they have had others in the same position.

Its disgusting that the HMRC tax credit help desk is so ill informed about the credits they are administering that I have to look up their own manual and quote it to them! Also that they sent out a renewals pack that is misleading at best and I would say wrong.

Moral of this is do not trust the telephone advisors. Dont be afraid to question them. If I hadnt I would have been literally thousands worse off. Sad thing is I bet there are people out there right now missing out on money they are eligable for under the WTC rules.

Gemmzie

I thought that "A,B,E,or F at some earlier time" referred to qualifying benefits and that you needed to be on such benefits to continue claiming? Even the guidelines that a member of staff posted here say that.

Naughtybonbon

I too have come across problems with tax credits and the disability element. I came down with my condition in 2004 and read about the fast track rule (which I satisfied even then with SSP payments and the other criteria), but when I phoned and asked about it I was just told that I had to be claiming DLA, or other benefits that I have never been awarded. So I just thought they were right.

I too have been turned down twice for DLA as the DWP won't recognise my condition (I am currently preparing for a tribunal case) anyway I have looked through the renewal pack and I again qualify for the Disability element so I phoned up again and again was told that you have to be in receipt of one of the benefits, I told them that I applied for DLA in November and it was going to a tribunal. They said that it would get backdated to the date I applied if I get awarded it. I then went on to ask about the fast track (knowing that I meet the criteria as above) I was again told you have to be in receipt of certain benefits (DLA,ESP Attendance allowance)despite repeating their own guidence to them down the phone they just insisted

In the end they finally started reading a list off to me, you know the one that puts you at a disadvantage of getting a job (not being able to work 8 hours a day or 5 days a week etc) I thought I was finally getting somewhere after 20 mins on the phone and being put on hold 3 times then they gave me a number to ring if I felt that I satisfied the criteria for it.

Guess what IT WAS A DEAD LINE. arrgghh

I think the problem is the people on the phones don't actually do the calculations so they don't actually know the guidelines. The trouble is people like us end up loosing out.

I have worked out by not getting the disability element when I first matched the criteria for fast track I have lost out on over £16,000. I think a complaint is brewing in me at the moment.

Did you know they actually have a report on the website outlining why people don't claim the fast track for the disability element and the common reason is that they are uninformed. It also states that customers are only advised of the disability element once they qualify for DLA.

I was going to post a link but can't because I'm a new member. If anyone wants the link let me know

sheeps68

WTC - disabilty element is just so confusing. I've been getting it but never at the rates we (welfare rights) estimate. My claim pack has just arrived again and I dread filling it in as whilst desperately need the money am always scared will get something wrong and then they'll ask for money back after I've used it.

Can anyone advise me how much savings you can have before it impacts on your claim and how much this impacts. Yes I got a little money last year and consider it as a security blanket in case anything major goes wrong in my home or I lose my job. I work 29 hours a week as health prhibits me doing more.

Gemmzie

Hi sheeps68, savings don't count for tax credit purposes, but the interest on them does if it goes about £300 a year.

ds9074

Gemmzie wrote: »

I thought that "A,B,E,or F at some earlier time" referred to qualifying benefits and that you needed to be on such benefits to continue claiming? Even the guidelines that a member of staff posted here say that.

A, B, E or F does refer to qualifying benefits. You would have had to have been on them when you started your claim and qualified that way. However as long as there is not a gap of more than the 56 days in your Working Tax Claim from when you originally qualified you can carry on claiming. You are treated as qualifying, even though you no longer get the benefit.

Presumably this was designed for cases where people have been on Incapacity Benefit (or SSP/ Income Support on grounds of Illness) but not getting DLA and they then move into work.

As has been posted further up however the phone representatives get very hung up on DLA. You do not have to be recieving DLA to get the Disability Element of Working Tax Credit.

compoff

ds is correct here, the claim basically will keep running until a time comes that you would be able to sustain a full working week. It is a complicated area, and one that probably requires a specialist team/section to deal with. Although I do take issue with you saying do not TRUST the advisors. I think it is a case of lack of training as opposed to mistrust. I doubt any advisor sets out to deliberately mislead you.

ds9074

compoff wrote: »

ds is correct here, the claim basically will keep running until a time comes that you would be able to sustain a full working week. It is a complicated area, and one that probably requires a specialist team/section to deal with. Although I do take issue with you saying do not TRUST the advisors. I think it is a case of lack of training as opposed to mistrust. I doubt any advisor sets out to deliberately mislead you.

I did not mean to imply that they would delibrately mislead. However what I meant is that your should not trust what they say to be true in every case because their lack of training means they do not always know the full rules of their own system. If in any doubt check it independently or look up their rules yourself (a google for Work Tax Credit Manual is potentially useful).

madassmax

So glad i found this post, i had posted another question elsewhere asking if anyone knew exactley at what point you cease to be elegible for the disability element if you were originally elegible for it due to claiming incapacity a number of years ago. My situation was that i claimed incapacity for 6-7 months and then went back to fulltime work in 2006 and claimed the relevant working and child tax credits but they also came along with the extra disability element.

The wording in the guidlines just doesn't make sense, having read it when i recieved it a few weeks ago i was seriously worried that i may have missinturpreted previous information and may have been claiming this element unlawfully for god knows how long. It just isn't clear as to at what point you are no longer elegible.

I am assuming then after reading the posts here that given my circumstances as set out above i am elegible to carry on claiming this as long as i met the criterea when i originally started this claim in 2006 and there is no break in my claim for longer than the period stated?

ds9074

madassmax;

Sorry about the long delay, but I would say yes you are likely eligiable. Sounds like your in a similar situation to me. So as long as you originally qualified through incapacity benefit, you have no gap of 56 days in your WTC claim, you work over 16 hours and you can meet one of the items in the disadvantage test you can get disability element indefinitely. Thats my understanding and that is what the tax credit office has agreed with me at least.

julia21r

julia21r
I want to apply for disability element of working tax credits on the basis that I cannot sustain an 8 hour day or 5 days a week. I just started a business and I'm only 26 years old and I have terrible back pain since I gave birth to my 4 year old twins. Because of this I can't work as much as I have to and I pay a sub-contractor now to do the work that I should do.
On the points based system I don't qualify for DLA from what I read on the internet, but does someone think that I can apply for Disability Element of Working Tax Credits?
Thank you.