Confused!

kahriss

I'm 42 and have been on dla for many years. I haven't been called for the new esa yet but I have no worries about being found fit for work. I'm confused about the new rules that are coming in, my husband works full time, have I understood it right that I won't be entitled to esa when they do eventually call me in?
If that's the case do they stop the benefit immediately or is there a year of being able to still claim? I worked for years and never missed paying my NI. Although my husband works full time it is still only a very average wage and I don't see how we'd manage on just his money. I phoned the job centre and was told that I would just go straight onto the esa which seemed to contradict what the news was saying. Thanks for reading

Kahriss

Torry_Quine

Are you on Incapacity Benefit as that is what is changing to ESA? DLA is a completely different benefit which can be claimed by people who are working.

bertiebat

I've posted this information from the Disability Alliance website on a couple of threads here. No harm done to do it again.

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/

The point about the year restriction, depends on firstly passing the new Work Capability assessment and then into to which ESA group you are put.

If you're assessed into the support group, then not a problem. However this is a group with strict criteria and the other group called limited capability to work (I think?) is where the time restriction to one year applies. Means testing regulations would then apply after the year (if eligible) and are not restricted to the year.

kahriss

Oops sorry I did mean incapacity benefit. Thanks for the replies, if I'm put into the support group would I actually still be able to receive benefit if my husband works? Thanks again

Kahriss

bertiebat

kahriss wrote: »

Oops sorry I did mean incapacity benefit. Thanks for the replies, if I'm put into the support group would I actually still be able to receive benefit if my husband works? Thanks again

Kahriss

Yes that's correct. Good luck!