is incapacity benefit going to means tested?

24skins

tonycarew wrote: »

Copied from the Disability alliance site

Timetable for migration
IB migration trials are due to start in Aberdeen and Burnley from October 2010 using a sample of 1,700 claimants.

I live in Aberdeen and noted today that ATOS have shiny new premises on our main street...

Saversue

Are people on High DLA for Care and Mobility going to be re-assessed for Incapacity Benefit? My Incapacity Benefit started pre 1995 and is tax exempt and I have an Indefinite Award for DLA.

zzzLazyDaisy

Saversue wrote: »

Are people on High DLA for Care and Mobility going to be re-assessed for Incapacity Benefit? .

Yes everyone on IB will be re-assessed, including those who are currently exempt from the PCA because they are on high rate care DLA.

But the transfer is scheduled to take place on the normal IB review date. Since people who are currently exempt from the PCA don't actually have a IB review date, it is anyone's guess when those people might be called. There don't appear to be any guidelines for these people at the moment.

I suspect that they will be too busy ploughing through the people who do have a date... also people on HRC DLA are more likely to fall into the Support group, which pays higher than IB, so the cynic in me thinks that they won't be in a hurry to get to those people as they won't show any savings...

bertiebat

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Yes everyone on IB will be re-assessed, including those who are currently exempt from the PCA because they are on high rate care DLA.

But the transfer is scheduled to take place on the normal IB review date. Since people who are currently exempt from the PCA don't actually have a IB review date, it is anyone's guess when those people might be called. There don't appear to be any guidelines for these people at the moment.

I suspect that they will be too busy ploughing through the people who do have a date... also people on HRC DLA are more likely to fall into the Support group, which pays higher than IB, so the cynic in me thinks that they won't be in a hurry to get to those people as they won't show any savings...

Yes I agree with that point.

The cynic in me thinks that they will assess the true IB (i.e. contribution based) claimants first as these are most likely to be time restricted to one year (if not simply failed anyway and put onto nothing). Though this would contradict their already published order of assessments.

zzzLazyDaisy

bertiebat wrote: »

Yes I agree with that point.

The cynic in me thinks that they will assess the true IB (i.e. contribution based) claimants first as these are most likely to be time restricted to one year (if not simply failed anyway and put onto nothing). Though this would contradict their already published order of assessments.

Another reason for not being in a hurry to deal with IB claimants on HRC DLA, because (at the moment anyway) there are no proposals to limit contribution based ESA to one year for those in the support group.

babyboysmommy

bertiebat wrote: »

Yes I agree with that point.

The cynic in me thinks that they will assess the true IB (i.e. contribution based) claimants first as these are most likely to be time restricted to one year (if not simply failed anyway and put onto nothing). Though this would contradict their already published order of assessments.

Where can I find the details of when IB is being moved over, in what order etc? Many thanks

BLT_2

Ewan154 wrote: »

Hi,
Hear on sky news that incapacity benefit going to means tested, does anyone know if this is true? It said on the news that people with saving over £16,000 will not get incapacity benefit.


I have savings over £16,000 and I am very worried:eek:

It certainly should be, every other benefit is means tested to my knowledge, why should this one be exempt?

seven-day-weekend

Not all benefits are means-tested, IB is not the only one.

bertiebat

BLT wrote: »

It certainly should be, every other benefit is means tested to my knowledge, why should this one be exempt?

Because for as many years as I can remember if you were employed and therefore paid National Insurance contributions at a certain level for the previous 2 years before having to claim, then you were entitled to claim incapacity benefit for as long as you qualified for it. The clue's in the title of National Insurance.

If this system had not been around, then people may have chosen to get another insurance policy instead. The rules should not have been changed retrospectively.

bertiebat

babyboysmommy wrote: »

Where can I find the details of when IB is being moved over, in what order etc? Many thanks

These are the existing proposals.

Between October 2010 and March 2014 existing incapacity benefits claimants (those on incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance and income support on disability grounds) will be reassessed under the employment and support allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) instead of the Personal Capability Assessment.
Key aspects of migration

• no new claim will be required for the move to ESA, the process will be triggered by a notice to the customer;
• the date of a customer’s re-assessment will be based on the review date of their Personal Capability Assessment;
• people who reach State Pension Age during this reassessment period 2010-2014 will not be reassessed to avoid having to change benefits twice in a short period;
• where possible, the DWP will use existing data held for IB/IS to determine entitlement to ESA;
• DWP has pledged to help customers adapt to their new circumstances and ensure continuity of payment is maintained;
• existing incapacity benefits will continue to be paid to the day before the change;
• where people who are eligible for ESA receive more on existing incapacity benefits than the appropriate ESA rate, their existing rate of benefit will be frozen at the point of conversion;
• where people who are eligible for ESA receive less on incapacity benefits than the appropriate ESA rate, their benefit will immediately be increased to the ESA rate on conversion;
• all claims to incapacity benefits on or after 31 January 2011 will be treated as new ESA claims - there will be no link to earlier claims for incapacity benefits;
• appeals may be brought against the decision not to award ESA as a result of failure to meet the WCA threshold;
• ESA will be paid at the same rate as for new ESA claims where a person is appealing against a decision that they are not entitled because of not meeting the WCA threshold;
• DWP have amended Housing Benefit (HB) / Council Tax Benefit (CTB) Regulations to ensure that the majority of customers will see no reduction in their overall benefit income solely because of this change (however, some Child Dependency Allowance customers may be affected by the change). See more information below.
• following careful consideration, it has been decided that the Work Focused Health Related Assessment (WFHRA) element of the WCA will be suspended for a period of 2 years. This will provide DWP with an opportunity to reconsider the WFHRA’s purpose and delivery. It will also improve the capacity to focus on and manage this change.

Timetable for migration

IB migration trials are due to start in Aberdeen and Burnley from October 2010 using a sample of 1,700 claimants. DA's understanding is that these will be handled clerically, which means that DWP computer software will not be used or tested until full migration starts.
The main-roll out of migration of claimants from IB/income-related Income Support onto ESA will begin on 28 February 2011 and is due to finish in March 2014.
People reaching state pension age between these two dates will be excluded from the migration. This is the only group exempt from migration so far .
Arguments were put forward to move the Personal Capability Assessment exempt groups (about 30% of IB/IS claimants) onto the ESA Support Group but these were rejected. The Treasury are still mulling over what to do about pre-1995 tax exempt claimants (of IB and SDA).
For more information on incapacity benefits migration timetable see the DWP website at www.dwp.gov.uk/adviser/updates/ib-reassessing-claims/