Should DLA be means tested?

krisskross

I guess you all realise that Incapacity Benefit is taxable? This would use up the whole of a persons tax free allowance so taxing any DLA they get would mean they lose almost a quarter of it. 22p for every £1.

Yuki60

Isn't the point that dla is to help people be able to afford help for themselves or items to improve their lives which are difficult due to their disability? I would absolutely support something that made it means tested. Surely if you earn over a certain cut off amount you can afford to pay for your own help. It's a topic that will get lots of fors and against. As to the point made re at least someone bothers to go out to work. Many people who are most in need of the help are simply to ill to be able to go out to work. It's nothing to do with 'bothering'. It should definitely be means tested as should child benefit. Don't know what the cut off should be, but you have people earning a lot of money who can claim DLA.

sunnyone

krisskross wrote: »

I guess you all realise that Incapacity Benefit is taxable? This would use up the whole of a persons tax free allowance so taxing any DLA they get would mean they lose almost a quarter of it. 22p for every £1.

pre-95 IVB is tax free and unaffected by pension income, it plain IB thats taxable and affected by pensions.

I mentioned pensions because it another huge diffrence with pre and post`95 IB, in both pensions are taxed but the IVB and DLA are tax free.

Indie_Kid

Yuki60 wrote: »

Isn't the point that dla is to help people be able to afford help for themselves or items to improve their lives which are difficult due to their disability? I would absolutely support something that made it means tested. Surely if you earn over a certain cut off amount you can afford to pay for your own help. It's a topic that will get lots of fors and against. As to the point made re at least someone bothers to go out to work. Many people who are most in need of the help are simply to ill to be able to go out to work. It's nothing to do with 'bothering'. It should definitely be means tested as should child benefit. Don't know what the cut off should be, but you have people earning a lot of money who can claim DLA.

But why should someone be worse off because of their disability? Oh wait, some of us already are...

summerof0763

sh1305 wrote: »

But why should someone be worse off because of their disability? Oh wait, some of us already are...

well said, i totally agree

System

sunnyone wrote: »

The abolision of AA is the first step to means testing DLA, then only people who actually need care will get SS assessed for it and the majority of present claimants would get nowt especially MH claimants.

It would be yet another way to screw over those of us who have to live with MH problems and the needs that come with them. :mad:

sunnyone

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

It would be yet another way to screw over those of us who have to live with MH problems and the needs that come with them. :mad:

I believe it will be, they want to transfer the money paid for DLA to SS to pay for care and as far as I know only critical or substancial personel care get anywhere with SS, i dont know anyone who get DPs for MH problems (that dosnt mean no one gets them, just not to my knowlege)

its not just MH claimants but I think that they are the biggest group affected if the cash falls into the social services black hole.

Just today it was on the news that money set aside for carers has been used elsewhere by SS and if they get our DLA we are all going to suffer.

Indie_Kid

sunnyone wrote: »

I believe it will be, they want to transfer the money paid for DLA to SS to pay for care and as far as I know only critical or substancial personel care get anywhere with SS, i dont know anyone who get DPs for MH problems (that dosnt mean no one gets them, just not to my knowlege)

its not just MH claimants but I think that they are the biggest group affected if the cash falls into the social services black hole.

Just today it was on the news that money set aside for carers has been used elsewhere by SS and if they get our DLA we are all going to suffer.

If this goes ahead, it's going to seriously screw those of us who use our DLA to buy equipment. It's bad enough that I'm going to have to save up for at least 18 months to buy a piece of equipment via DLA - I don't see why I should have to use that kind of money that is my own (that's my student grant gone) on something like that.

And then there's the things that I need regularly - wet wipes, nappy sacks, hand gel, etc.

GlasweJen

Realistically speaking I don't think there are many (if any) DLA millionaires. It's so bloody difficult to get in the first place that no one in their right mind would put themselves through the hassel of applying for it unless they were desperate.

The people who would be affected by means testing are people like me, people who struggle on and go out to work to make themselves feel useful and more normal, the amount of blackouts I have i'd be an automatic ESA contributions based because i've paid NI for a good 5 years. It would cost the country more if they means tested my DLA because I wouldn't work if I was going to be worse off and my doctors been trying to convince me to pack work in for ages. So I'd go from getting DLA and a few tax creds to DLA, ESA, HB and CTB.

[Deleted User]

there are NO plans to transfer dla to ss to pay for care,even the relevant minister has stated this publicly,they have even moved away from the original plan to use AA to pay for ss care,in fact there are no firm plans for any changes yet as no one can agree how care for the elderly should be funded in the future.