Disability element of working tax credit

daisyrose59

Does anyone have any experience of how the renewal process works for the disability element of working tax credit please?
I was awarded the disability element when I started back to part-time work (16 hrs) after a long period of being too ill too work. Although I was receiving DLA (lower rate care) at the time, I was told I qualified for the disability element because I had been on Incapacity Benefit for the qualifying period. When the renewal forms arrived, there was simply a box to tick to say if I still have a disability. There seems to be no test to take or hoops to jump through like all the other disability benefits. Now my DLA has stopped, and I have not renewed it as my condition no longer meets the "cooking" test, but my overall condition still leaves me "at a disadvantage in getting a job", I suffer "intermittent severe pain" and I "cannot normally sustain an 8 hour working day, 5 days a week" - all quotes from the renewal notes. Do I still qualify? I can't get through to the helpline to ask, and I'm concerned that if the answer is "No", I'll have a large overpayment, and I can't afford my housing costs without the extra disability element. Hope someone knows the answer!

Indie_Kid

Have you tried the Tac Credits questionnaire? http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/start/who-qualifies/quick-questionnaire.htm

daisyrose59

The questionnaire seems to apply to people applying for the first time, not to someone renewing a claim. ie it refers to having been on certain benefits for a period of time before the claim....but once you start working you come off those benefits (eg ESA) so at the renewal date you have not been receiving the benefit recently, but you still have a disabling condition. i find it very confusing!

GlasweJen

it used to be that one of the qualifying benefits was the disabled element of tax credits?

DX2

You need to have DLA IB etc etc to get the disabled element of tax credits.

DX2

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/tc956.pdf

wornoutmumoftwo

Tax credits keep on paying diability element until you phone and tell them you are no longer in receipt of DLA, so it's best to notify them immediately to prevent overpayment.

Hammyman

daisyrose59 wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience of how the renewal process works for the disability element of working tax credit please?
I was awarded the disability element when I started back to part-time work (16 hrs) after a long period of being too ill too work. Although I was receiving DLA (lower rate care) at the time, I was told I qualified for the disability element because I had been on Incapacity Benefit for the qualifying period. When the renewal forms arrived, there was simply a box to tick to say if I still have a disability. There seems to be no test to take or hoops to jump through like all the other disability benefits. Now my DLA has stopped, and I have not renewed it as my condition no longer meets the "cooking" test, but my overall condition still leaves me "at a disadvantage in getting a job", I suffer "intermittent severe pain" and I "cannot normally sustain an 8 hour working day, 5 days a week" - all quotes from the renewal notes. Do I still qualify? I can't get through to the helpline to ask, and I'm concerned that if the answer is "No", I'll have a large overpayment, and I can't afford my housing costs without the extra disability element. Hope someone knows the answer!

Yes you still qualify because you can only work a limited number of hours and are limited in the type of work you can do.

Hammyman

DX2 wrote: »

You need to have DLA IB etc etc to get the disabled element of tax credits.

Incorrect. You do not need to be in receipt of DLA or IB. I still got it in the period between my last DLA claim and my current one - a period of 7 years - because my spinal injury limited the amount of hours I could work and the type of job I could do, thus putting me at a severe disadvantage. The OP may need to give supporting evidence in the form of a letter from the GP/Specialist.

Robbie64

GlasweJen wrote: »

it used to be that one of the qualifying benefits was the disabled element of tax credits?

It still is, though the tax credits people have been known to overlook this part of the tax credit regulations and make erroneous award decisions based on a belief that a qualifying social security benefit such as IB has to have been paid in the previous 182 days which of course may not be the case on a WTC renewal.

The relevant piece of legislation is the Working Tax Credit (Entitlement and Maximum Rate) Regulations 2002, as amended.

Specifically it is Case G of Regulation 9 (2) of the above regulations which states that if the disability element is initially awarded because a person has satisfied the 182 day benefit rule then the payment of the disability element becomes the qualifying route in itself to continuing payments of the disability element.

DX2

DX2 wrote: »

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/tc956.pdf

Please read ^^^^^^

Hammyman wrote: »

Incorrect. You do not need to be in receipt of DLA or IB. I still got it in the period between my last DLA claim and my current one - a period of 7 years - because my spinal injury limited the amount of hours I could work and the type of job I could do, thus putting me at a severe disadvantage. The OP may need to give supporting evidence in the form of a letter from the GP/Specialist.