Incapacity Benefit and Private Pension

The_Force

Hi All

In 2001 I became seriously ill and had to give up work. I was initially paid sick pay, SSP then Incapacity Benefit (or what ever it was called then) finally moving on to higher rate IB. When I retired on ill health grounds I was then paid an ill health pension from my company. As far I am aware, the DWP (or what ever it was called then!) have always known that I was in receipt of a pension as well as IB, I have certainly never knowingly withheld the information and there has never been a change in my circumstances since retiring for me to let them know any different.

I have today received a letter informing me that my IB is likely to be reduced as they have "discovered" that I am in receipt of an occupational pension. I have to say that I never knew that this applied, is this new or has it always been there?

I have read on the forum the amounts that my IB is likely to be reduced by (it is over £85 per week). If that's the rule then so be it, not happy but I don't want to defraud the system. My concern is that the DWP will seek to ask for past over payments to be paid back. Is this likely and how far back will they want payment for?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

healy

The_Force wrote: »

Hi All

In 2001 I became seriously ill and had to give up work. I was initially paid sick pay, SSP then Incapacity Benefit (or what ever it was called then) finally moving on to higher rate IB. When I retired on ill health grounds I was then paid an ill health pension from my company. As far I am aware, the DWP (or what ever it was called then!) have always known that I was in receipt of a pension as well as IB, I have certainly never knowingly withheld the information and there has never been a change in my circumstances since retiring for me to let them know any different.

I have today received a letter informing me that my IB is likely to be reduced as they have "discovered" that I am in receipt of an occupational pension. I have to say that I never knew that this applied, is this new or has it always been there?

I have read on the forum the amounts that my IB is likely to be reduced by (it is over £85 per week). If that's the rule then so be it, not happy but I don't want to defraud the system. My concern is that the DWP will seek to ask for past over payments to be paid back. Is this likely and how far back will they want payment for?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

The rule is not new as it has been in place since April 2001. You should have advised the DWP as soon as you started to receive the pension.

I do not know for sure if the DWP will want the payments that you owe, but it in my opinion it seems likely they will want this money going back to the start of your overpayments.

The_Force

Thanks for the reply, unfortunately when I became ill I was hospitalized for over a year and spent most of my time "not in this world"! All a blur really. So my entry onto IB and pension "just happened" and has continued ever since.
I hope DWP will take this into consideration if I have to pay back (not that I can afford it). Thing is will they want it all back dated? Anyone had similar?

seven-day-weekend

I'm sure that even if they want the money back they will let you pay it in instalments if you explain the circumstances.

It is reduced by 50p in the £ for every £ above £85.

My husband's IB is reduced by about £35 a week due to his Teachers' pension.

jenrogers_2

If you were receiving IB before 6th April 2001 your ill-health pension would not have been taken into account. It was after that that the rules changed. Let's hope you are lucky.

You can find more about this on the site of direct.gov.uk/en/disabledpeople/financialsupport/dg_10016082[/url