war pension - government review?

Tally-Ho_2

pac100575 wrote: »

sorry i didnt reply straight away been ill , my injury was at 30% so not entitled as im on the new rules of war pension lol but since entitlement was upped to 40 % i can now claim wpms plus lower standard of occupation and i have to say im happy to give up entitlment to essa as on get 13 a fortnight

Hi pac,

I hope you are feeling better.

May I just add a word of caution regarding 'giving up' your claim to ESA. Although it may only be worth £13 fortnightly to you, what it also does is credit your National Insurance 'account' with credits which go towards your state pension at state retirement time. If you give up your ESA claim and you do not have enough N.I Contributions/Credits you will not get a 'full' state pension. It would be worth checking with the Pensions Service to ensure you have made enough contributions/credits to get your full pension before giving up the ESA claim.

Also, I am currently dealing with a case where a veteran has given up his ESA claim because of the hassle and messing around he was getting. However as he also claimed Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, his local authority treated it as intentional deprivation of income. Hence he lost out doubly as he was still treated as receiving ESA in the Housing and Council tax calculations (even though he wasn't receiving it) and he had to pay the difference out of his War Pension (his local authority do not fully disregard war pensions).

So please do be careful if anything like that may apply to yourself.

Tally

pac100575

hey im lucky i live where any income from war pensions is totaly disallowed thanks for concern though :beer:

do you know of hand how much also is as ive just applied ?

Tally-Ho_2

pac100575 wrote: »

hey im lucky i live where any income from war pensions is totaly disallowed thanks for concern though :beer:

do you know of hand how much also is as ive just applied ?

Hi

Allowance for Lowered Standard of Occupation (ALSO) is a maximum of either £3043 per annum if you were commissioned, or a maximum of £58.32 per week for other ranks.

However, the actual amount one receives depends on rank/grade/trade (hence earnings) at the time of discharge (or whatever your job/trade was prior to entry into HM Forces) and whatever your earnings are now. There is a formula for working out the actual amount one will receive but without knowing your past history, both service and civillian, and current earings it is impossible to say how much you should receive.

Tally

pac100575

ok thanks for the advice just needed approx as i didnt have a clue if it was a pound a week or 50 a week lol

ive not been able to work as yet since leaving due to numerous ops and problems with my spine since the ops on my disc my spine has now twisted

and before the army i was a student i was a private when injury occured and i was in 18months

cagneyfan

I get the War Pension at 30% with a war pension mobility supplement too. I also receive Incapacity Benefit.

Am I claiming the right benefits. I don't understand all the different things that people have been mentioning. 'ESA' for eg (?) and 'ALSO'. But as they receive the War Pension like me, I'm now wondering whether I should've claimed for different things.

I'm very reluctant to apply for anything that may end up causing me a load of stress. I especially am reluctant to go for medicals after a very embarressing one years ago which I complained about.

It took me 20 years to realise I was entitled to the clothing allowance (shoes) and I very nearly didn't apply as I didn't want to go for a medical. Luckily I didn't have to,however I missed out on 20 years of clothing allowance which they didn't back date.

Tally-Ho_2

pac100575 wrote: »

ok thanks for the advice just needed approx as i didnt have a clue if it was a pound a week or 50 a week lol

ive not been able to work as yet since leaving due to numerous ops and problems with my spine since the ops on my disc my spine has now twisted

and before the army i was a student i was a private when injury occured and i was in 18months

Hi,

Yes, if your accepted condition does limit the type of work you can do (and thus earnings potential) it could be worth applying for Allowance for Lowered Standard of Occupation (ALSO). You will be asked to supply a lot of information refering to your income before and after service in order for it to be worked out correctly.

However as I explained further up the thread, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Incapacity Benefit (IB) can no longer be paid if one is claiming ALSO or vice-versa (unless ones ALSO claim pre-dates April 2009). However unlike claiming ESA or IB, ALSO does NOT credit your National Insurance 'account' with credits or contributions, so it can have a severe 'knock on' effect late in life and can lead to one receiving a very much reduced or even no state pension, so you do need to work out what may be best for yourself.

Plus in certain circumstances it may possibly be treated as intentional deprivation of income if one is claiming means tested benefits, particularly if ALSO is paid at a lesser rate than IB or ESA. If you are awarded ALSO you would need to inform whoever administers any other benefits of the award.

Tally

Tally-Ho_2

cagneyfan wrote: »

I get the War Pension at 30% with a war pension mobility supplement too. I also receive Incapacity Benefit.

Am I claiming the right benefits. I don't understand all the different things that people have been mentioning. 'ESA' for eg (?) and 'ALSO'. But as they receive the War Pension like me, I'm now wondering whether I should've claimed for different things.

I'm very reluctant to apply for anything that may end up causing me a load of stress. I especially am reluctant to go for medicals after a very embarressing one years ago which I complained about.

It took me 20 years to realise I was entitled to the clothing allowance (shoes) and I very nearly didn't apply as I didn't want to go for a medical. Luckily I didn't have to,however I missed out on 20 years of clothing allowance which they didn't back date.

Hi Cagneyfan,

Firstly 'ESA' is Employment and Support Allowance (the replacement for Incapacity Benefit). New claims for Incapacity Benefit have not been permitted since October 2008, new claimants must claim Employment and Support allowance instead. Starting later this year in certain pilot areas initially, all Incapacity Benefit claimants will eventually be 'migrated' from Incapacity Benefit to Employment and Support Allowance.

With regards to other benefits, firstly nowadays all War Pension 'Supplementary Allowances' such as War Pensioners Mobility Supplement (WPMS), Allowance for Lowered Standard of Occupation (ALSO) etc etc require at least a minimum War Pension award of 40% disability before one can claim any War Pension Supplementary Allowance. If you qualified for any supplementary allowances a long time ago when the minimum war pension 'qualification percentage' was lower, you can continue to receive the supplementary allowance as long as your condition does not improve (if there is any change you should inform the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency).

Thus, as you currently receive a 30% War Pension, you cannot claim any other Supplementary Allowance other than what you are already claiming. Only if you were given incorrect information or a wrong decision made (called Official Error) in the past is there any possible potential chance of receiving any supplementary allowances based on previous qualification. Not reading the information sent or not understanding it is not basis for any appeal on these grounds though.

Briefly, with regard to 'civvy' benefits you may be entitled to, if you are not able to work, you may be entitled to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) which has replaced Incapacity Benefit for new claimants since October 2008 (starting later this year all current Incapacity Benefit claimants will eventually be transferred to Employment and Support Allowance).

There is also Disability Living Allowance whicxh is payable if you have any care and/or mobility needs. There are two components to Disability Living Allowance, care and mobility. As you receive War Pensioners Mobility Supplement, the mobility component of DLA would not be payable in your case. However if you have care needs you may be able to claim the care component, but you maybe subject to a medical examination to assist any decision being made on award.

Then there are other 'means tested' benefits which you may qualify for, such as Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and even potentially Income Support, however these all depend on your own individual circumstances and wealth/income, so it is not possible to work out what you maybe entitled to on a forum such as this. What you really need is some face to face advice to go through everything with you to see what you may/maynot be entitled to. Either the Royal British Legion, SSAFA, RAFA etc, or the Veterans Welfare Service can go through it all with you to ensure you are claiming what you are entitled to. Thery will also go through the relevant processes.

If you want contact details for the above organisations, pm me the county or town/city you live in and I will dig out the relevant local numbers to you.

Tally

Tally-Ho_2

fredsnail wrote: »

Apologies for hijacking this thread - my Grandad gets war pension and he was last reviewed in the 90's. Since then his health has deteriorated significantly - is it worth asking for a review (we have POA for him)?

Hi,

Sorry I missed your posting until I re-read the thread this morning.

It maybe worth asking for a review, however just a couple of very important points.

Firstly any deterioration that is 'age related' is not included in determining the percentage disability.

Also, in the past, some awards were quite shall we say 'generous'. Now with latest medical knowledge etc, some reviews can potentially result in a decreased award rather than an increased one.

Hence prior to asking for a review, it maybe worth obtaining some personal advice form such as the Veterans Welfare Service, Royal British Legion etc in order to try to establish the relative safety of the current award, and whether a review is likely or not to result in an increased award (or potentially a decreased one!).

Tally

Arctic

Hi,

I am in receipt of a war pension. I recently asked the veterans agency to look at a new condition. What concerns me is, will they look at just the new condition, or will they review all of my already accepted conditions? Just worried I may jepodize my current award.

Many thanks

Tally-Ho_2

Arctic wrote: »

Hi,

I am in receipt of a war pension. I recently asked the veterans agency to look at a new condition. What concerns me is, will they look at just the new condition, or will they review all of my already accepted conditions? Just worried I may jepodize my current award.

Many thanks

Hi,

When you sign the review or further condition form the box you sign contains agreement that the SPVA may look at your whole claim, or consult other agencies (such as the DWP) etc in order to determine your claim.

They can (and often do) look at the whole claim, as for example although you are claiming for a new condition, it may or maynot increase your actual percentage disability, so it cannot be done in isolation without reference to your current claim.

It really is worth getting help form such as the Legion, RAFA, Veterans Welfare Service etc beforesubmitting the review as it is not unheard of for a claim to be reduced.

Hopefully it won't happen in your case, but it is a chance one takes in asking for the review etc.

Tally