ESA & going back to work

hoggle_2

Hi all,

Apologies for the length of the post but wanted to cover everything.

Current situation:
OH in receipt of DLA - higher mobility & middle care
OH also receives ESA, (I am included in his claim)
Also get housing benefit and council tax benefit

I have just been awarded carers allowance for him.

We also have 2 young children both at primary school.

He has received an ESA medical questionnaire which he will be sending off shortly but I am due to start working (part-time nights).

We are just wondering what will happen now. He is still unfit to work and will be for the forseeable future so with me earning such a small amount will we still get any help?? Also when I go back to work does he still have to do the ESA thing as he cant work??I understand that ESA will probably stop but does he have to still prove that he is unfit to work?

Any advice appreciated

MrsManda

It sounds like your OH is getting income based ESA?
He'll need to inform the DWP that his household income has changed due to your part-time work.
He will be still entitled to claim ESA if he is still unfit for work and therefore needs to fill out the forms but he may not receive any money due to your increase in household income. It's still worth claiming as he will get National Insurance credits as part of his claim.

You will need to inform your council about the change in income as CTB and HB are income assessed benefits.

In terms of Carer's Allowance, be aware that in order to receive CA you must not earn more than £100 a week after income tax/some National Insurance contributions

HTH
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/CaringForSomeone/MoneyMatters/CarersAllowance/DG_10012525

hoggle_2

So does that mean even if he no longer claims ESA are we still able to receive help with ctb and hb. He is unfit to work but doesn't want to go through the medical and everything else that goes with it, he basically wants to wash his hands of ESA and no longer wants to claim it. We can get by on my earnings and his DLA but need help with rent and ct.

Indie_Kid

hoggle wrote: »

So does that mean even if he no longer claims ESA are we still able to receive help with ctb and hb.

If your income is low enough, then you can still claim ctb and hb. You may not get all of it paid though.

hoggle_2

sh1305 wrote: »

If your income is low enough, then you can still claim ctb and hb. You may not get all of it paid though.

Is that still the case even if he doesn't work as he is unble to?

sunnyone

He needs to make sure that he has the minimum NI credits for his old aged pension if hes going to stop claiming ESA.

Tehya

Hi,

If your wage is below what the government says you need to live on your husband can still receive ESA. I was working 17 hours for around £127 a week and we still received IR ESA at about £48 a week and this meant we got full HB and CTB. Put your figures into the direct gov website benefit calculator they are pretty much always right when I use it.

MrsManda

hoggle wrote: »

So does that mean even if he no longer claims ESA are we still able to receive help with ctb and hb. He is unfit to work but doesn't want to go through the medical and everything else that goes with it, he basically wants to wash his hands of ESA and no longer wants to claim it. We can get by on my earnings and his DLA but need help with rent and ct.

If you've got a low enough income then yes you will still be able to claim CTB/HB even if your OH is not claiming ESA.

However as Sunnyone said, ESA is not just the money you get in your bank, it also provides National Insurance contributions for the claimant. You need at least 30 years of full National Insurance contributions in order to claim a Basic State Pension so it's important to understand the implications before your OH decides he cannot be bothered filling out the ESA paperwork.