will I be £262 a month worse off with IB/ESA change over?

supersaverkerry

Can anyone tell me how the change over fro IB to ESA will affect me please?

I currently recieve -
£108 incapacity benefit a week
£35 income support a fortnight ( although they do take some social fund loan repayents out of this )
£268 a month DLA ( low mobility and medium care )
£130 fortnightly for LHA ( this was £160 but the £15 pw excess has just stopped ).

So basically my friend is on ESA and gets around £60 a week, so when i get changed over to ESA will that mean I will go from having £108 a week to having only £60 a week? Thats a big drop and if it is going to happen I need to start preparing for it now!

Also do I then lose the income support completly?

My DLA should be unaffected yes?

I am quite worried because it has been a bit of a shock to my bank balance losing the £60 a month in LHA, I didnt factor this in when working out my budget so have had to try and cut back and rebudget everything and it has been really stressful, so if I am going to lose my income support and only get £60 ESA instead of £108 incapacity benefit then I will be losing another £262 each month, I dont know how on earth i will manage so I want to be prepared now, can anyone help?

nannytone_2

your friend is probably on the assessment rate. have they had their medical yet?

supersaverkerry

No they have not had a medical - they have been waiting for about 2 1/2 months for this.
After the medical does it go up to the same rate as IB?

nannytone_2

not totally sure on the amounts, but i know that until the medical is passes, ESA is paid at a reduced rate to avoid an overpayment should they fail it.

nannytone_2

right i just looked...

single person work related group upto £94 25
single person support group upto £99 85

i don't know if the is top up is applicable or not. i suppose it all depends on how much they say you need to live on in your given circumstances.

nannytone_2

If the amount of incapacity benefit you get is more than the amount of Employment and Support Allowance, you’ll get a top-up payment. The amount of benefit you get won't rise until the amount of Employment and Support Allowance catches up with the amount of the top-up payment.
If the amount of incapacity benefit you get is lower than the amount of Employment and Support Allowance, you will get more money. Your money will increase as soon as you move to Employment and Support Allowance

found the applicable part......hope it helps!

GlasweJen

Nannytone is correct if you are moved onto ESA, if you are found fit for work you will be advised to claim jobseekers allowance or you can claim ESA at the assessment rate while you appeal.

I would take some serious looks at your budget now so that you can cope if the above happens.

supersaverkerry

nannytone wrote: »

not totally sure on the amounts, but i know that until the medical is passes, ESA is paid at a reduced rate to avoid an overpayment should they fail it.

If you pass the medical do they then give back pay to top it up to the normal ESA rate?

supersaverkerry

Okay so it looks like providing I pass the medical I will still get the same aount of money each week to match my incapacity benefit. So all I will lose out on is the income support? Or do ESA do income support top ups for people on DLA the same as incapacity benefit do?

GlasweJen, yes I am definitely going to look into my budget, Im not sure how i will cope because right now all my DLA goes out on my care needs plus I have to top this up with the other benefits I recieve, I was using the LHA excess for this as well so I have already lost 2 hours a week of support, loks like I could end up with even less support!

Thanks for your help

nannytone_2

the way i read it, i assume that your total income ( including the is) will continue, without a raise until ESA rates match it.

i apologise ig that's wrong, it is just my interpretation.

richard9991

supersaverkerry wrote: »

Okay so it looks like providing I pass the medical I will still get the same aount of money each week to match my incapacity benefit. So all I will lose out on is the income support? Or do ESA do income support top ups for people on DLA the same as incapacity benefit do?

GlasweJen, yes I am definitely going to look into my budget, Im not sure how i will cope because right now all my DLA goes out on my care needs plus I have to top this up with the other benefits I recieve, I was using the LHA excess for this as well so I have already lost 2 hours a week of support, loks like I could end up with even less support!

Thanks for your help

even if you fail medical you should get the same money as you do now whether you appeal desision or go on jsa as you get the middle rate of dla care so will still get the top ups