IB/ ESa or JSA and housing benefit help needed PLEASE

TAZ

my son has moved into his own flat with his gf and they have been to DWP to sort out their claim but still dont know how its going to be worked out, heres the details before and hopefully someone will be able to say how it will change

Gf was/ is on long term IB (some mention that it will change to ESA at some point)
son was on JSA
when they went to DWP they were told they cannot claim two benefits and that the claim should be in her name.
So how does this work will she get IB with money addd for him as dependant or does he lose money altogether.
Also how is LHA worked out with this benefit

please help as they are confused and son is worring himself sick because he lent some money for the deposit and wants to pay it back asap.

TAZ

can anyone please help, even with housing benefit help at least,

they are really worried, son is caring for her full time too so looking at them appling for DLA and him carers

suelees1

The amount they need to live on as a couple is 142.60 (couple's personal allowance and disability premium). She needs to claim IS for them both.The amount they will be awarded will be the above less the IB she gets.

If she gets DLA mid or high rate care he can claim CA and they will then have another 30.05 carers premium in additon to the amount above which will give them a weekly income of 172.65. Again her IB and his CA will be taken off this and the remainder will be the amount of IS paid.

Should get full HB based on the local housing allowance rate. You can find this on https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/Default.aspx

If it's just the two of them they need to look at a one room rate. This is what HB will be based on. If their rent is higher than this they will have to make up the difference or could try to claim a Discretionary Housing Payment to top it up temporarily. If the rent is lower than this they can keep up to £15 pw

TAZ

thank you so much for that i know he will feel better knowing that, altho would they have to apply for the income support or will that have been done the other day when they filled in the housing benefit forms etc at the JCP because there has been no mention of income support to them i dont think

suelees1

These days claimants usually have to phone a call centre to make a claim for IS (and other benefits such as JSA and ESA) over the phone. When they do this they're also gathering information about other benefits (it's known as CMS or Customer Management System). In these cases all the info taken over the phone is typed into a customer statement which is then either sent out to the customer or an appointment is arranged at the Jobcentre where an assessor goes through it with them before it goes to the Benefit Delivery Centre for processing. Is this what happened ?

If not they could have made paper claims. In any case HB is not usually done at the Jobcentre as it is a local authority administered benefit so if they've been into the Jobcentre they've probably claimed the lot all at once. Whoever made the claim shoudl ring on Monday just to confirm they've done everything they should.

TAZ

they went to let job centre know and had to go back for an appointment and sign so paperwork, they were supposed to go on friday last week but she was taken into hospital so they changed iit to tues just gone. From what you say i think they must have given them all the information required they have been told a payment will be thro on monday (this was her usual payday) i was feeling this was very quick for them to have sorted it all out but hopefully it will be that simple.

thanks again

jennilb

Hi

I would just add to this

DLA is disregarded for the purposes of LHA - so though it would put them above the £142 a week level, it is for the 'extra costs of being disabled' and that means they wouldn't lose LHA or CTB as a result of it.

You can only claim carers allowance when the DLA award is for middle or higher rate care.

I hope this helps
Jenni