Incapacity Benefit if not already working

candycow

A friend of mine is a Stay at Home Mum after having her second child, she left a reasonably paid management position, with the intention of going back to work when child went to school. Now that time is approaching, and the money is running out as planned, but an 'illness' she has always lived with has got worse to the point that she does not know if she will be able to get back to work at present. It might be that with some careful management she can go back in a year or so, or it might be that she will never be painfree enough to return to work. if she were in this condition and working, she would claim incapacity benefit, but as she is not working, can she do that? We have read conflicting things, that if you have not been paying NI then you can't get it, but also that if you have been resident of the UK for over 6 months you can (she has)

She will go to the benefits office and get advice in the future, but it's something that she's just started thinking about, so she's not ready to go and talk to officials about it yet.

healy

candycow wrote: »

A friend of mine is a Stay at Home Mum after having her second child, she left a reasonably paid management position, with the intention of going back to work when child went to school. Now that time is approaching, and the money is running out as planned, but an 'illness' she has always lived with has got worse to the point that she does not know if she will be able to get back to work at present. It might be that with some careful management she can go back in a year or so, or it might be that she will never be painfree enough to return to work. if she were in this condition and working, she would claim incapacity benefit, but as she is not working, can she do that? We have read conflicting things, that if you have not been paying NI then you can't get it, but also that if you have been resident of the UK for over 6 months you can (she has)

She will go to the benefits office and get advice in the future, but it's something that she's just started thinking about, so she's not ready to go and talk to officials about it yet.

Incapacity Benefit was replaced by Employment Support Allowance in 2008. If she has not paid NI conts for the last few years she will not be able to get conts based ESA. If she has a working partner she will not be able to get income based ESA.

Pault81

As well as ESA there is also the possibility of claiming disability living allowance depending on what the condition is. She needs to contact job centre plus regarding the above. If she is qualifies for ESA then she should also look into claiming housing and council tax benefit although if she is a homeowner she would only receive council tax benefit.

candycow

healy wrote: »

Incapacity Benefit was replaced by Employment Support Allowance in 2008. If she has not paid NI conts for the last few years she will not be able to get conts based ESA. If she has a working partner she will not be able to get income based ESA.

Yes, she has a working partner, so that's it then, not entitled to anything? That's what I thought. They can't see how to manage once their current savings run out at the moment, they halved their income when she gave up work, and are just about keeping their heads above water with drawing on the savings each month. They've cut things back as far as they feel they can at the moment, have *very* minimal luxuries. She was only going to take a part-time role for the next few years, but simply can't see how she can do that at the moment and actually function.

candycow

Pault81 wrote: »

As well as ESA there is also the possibility of claiming disability living allowance depending on what the condition is. She needs to contact job centre plus regarding the above. If she is qualifies for ESA then she should also look into claiming housing and council tax benefit although if she is a homeowner she would only receive council tax benefit.

I don't think she would qualify for DLA, and I am guessing as she has a partner she wouldn't eligable for either of the others as he works and is over the threshold for those benefits. Whilst she is in pain and/or fatigued much of the time, apart from some help with housework, there is nothing that would make things easier at present IYSWIM. We had a look at the guidelines for it, and she didn't seem to fit in to those anyway.

allen35

What range of income does her husband receive, would they qualify for working tax credits

Jowo_2

They should check their overall benefit entitlements on the Turn2us online benefit checker, in case they are due some tax credits, plus download the MSE budget planner from this website and work through the site to identify where they can make savings and up their income in other way.

DLA is for those who have mobility or care needs - the Direct Gov website has a good introduction to that benefit and its criteria.

candycow

allen35 wrote: »

What range of income does her husband receive, would they qualify for working tax credits

They don't qualify for it, they are just over the threshold, but in this area, it's not a particularly high income.

Thanks though

candycow

Jowo wrote: »

They should check their overall benefit entitlements on the Turn2us online benefit checker, in case they are due some tax credits, plus download the MSE budget planner from this website and work through the site to identify where they can make savings and up their income in other way.

DLA is for those who have mobility or care needs - the Direct Gov website has a good introduction to that benefit and its criteria.

Thanks, they are not entitled to anymore than they get at the moment. Looking at the Direct Gov website, she'd be borderline if she would be eligable for DLA. Might be worth a try I suppose. She lives a pretty frugal lifestyle, but I will have a look at upping the income thing.

melbi_uk

Is the illness anything to do with arthritis?

If so, when she does go back to work, she just might find it will become more bearable.

I say this because I have RA but managed it with the help of medication while working, since leaving work due to anxiety and depression my RA has worsened over the months.

I'm desperate to get back into a more active life in the hope it will help reduce the pain again.

Arthritis does get harder to manage if a person is less active.

candycow

melbi_uk wrote: »

Is the illness anything to do with arthritis?

If so, when she does go back to work, she just might find it will become more bearable.

I say this because I have RA but managed it with the help of medication while working, since leaving work due to anxiety and depression my RA has worsened over the months.

I'm desperate to get back into a more active life in the hope it will help reduce the pain again.

Arthritis does get harder to manage if a person is less active.

No it's not. It may get better with an active lifestyle, and she is trying to change that, but the pain and fatigue as a result of that activity is making it slow progress. If she continues she may find in a year it's much better, although it does affect her upper body too, and so may never get any better.