Personal injury claims and Benefits.

deathvalleydemon

bonjour.

I have been informed today that i have won my personal injury claim against my former employer.

I am aware that it will have an effect on my future benefits. i fully understand that. but it also states in the letter that the dwp will be reclaiming every penny of ESA and IIDB paid to me from the day i started to claim both benefits. it states that if they dont reclaim the benefit money then i will have been compensated twice for my injury.

how on earth is that correct? when were benefits deemed to be any kind of compensation?

i could understand them reclaiming anything paid to me in error if i'd received the payout (too many savings) but surely this is wrong?

or is it?

so to me that would suggest that say if someone claiming jobseekers allowance for 4 years, if they won the lottery then they would have to pay back all the jsa that they had got over that 4 year period?

real1314

When you claimed against your emplyer, you will ahve claimed for loss of earnings.

Hence, your lost income for the period covered by benefits will be replaced with compensation.
If you'd had that compensation as an income, you would not have been eligible for benefits.

So, they recover the money you've had. :cool:

Oldernotwiser

If you'd received this compensation immediately you applied for it, you wouldn't have been eligible for the benefits you received. This will put you in the same position as if that had been the case.

marywooyeah

It's provided for by the Recovery of Benefits Act 1997 to ensure that claimants are not "doubly compensated" by recieving benefits and damages for the same issue.

rogerblack

deathvalleydemon wrote: »

bonjour.

I have been informed today that i have won my personal injury claim against my former employer.

I am aware that it will have an effect on my future benefits.

In some cases, this may not be the case.
If the award is held in trust for you, then it may not itself be counted as capital, so not eliminating you from means-tested benefits.
You will need to check with a lawyer on the appropriate setup of the trust.

A quick skim of http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch51.pdf - see 51396, 51416 seems to indicate that the income from a trust of this sort can be disregarded as income, when it comes to means-tested benefits.

Search for injury in http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch52.pdf - the award can be capital that is disregarded indefinately.

However - exactly how the trust is setup is important - and may not be possible to do if the award has actually been paid.
You need to find a solicitor up to speed with the benefit regulations.

In addition, has the calculation of the reduction of the award due to benefits been done correctly.
The DWP have been known to take a rather simplistic approach to how much an overpayment is.
I have no idea if they are actually entitled to it all back, again - specialist advice is needed.

deathvalleydemon

rogerblack wrote: »

In some cases, this may not be the case.
If the award is held in trust for you, then it may not itself be counted as capital, so not eliminating you from means-tested benefits.
You will need to check with a lawyer on the appropriate setup of the trust.

A quick skim of http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch51.pdf - see 51396, 51416 seems to indicate that the income from a trust of this sort can be disregarded as income, when it comes to means-tested benefits.

Search for injury in http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch52.pdf - the award can be capital that is disregarded indefinately.

However - exactly how the trust is setup is important - and may not be possible to do if the award has actually been paid.
You need to find a solicitor up to speed with the benefit regulations.

In addition, has the calculation of the reduction of the award due to benefits been done correctly.
The DWP have been known to take a rather simplistic approach to how much an overpayment is.
I have no idea if they are actually entitled to it all back, again - specialist advice is needed.

so in theory the dwp will probably end up with more of the compensation than i will at this rate.

i shall be seeking legal advice over this.

HappyMJ

deathvalleydemon wrote: »

so to me that would suggest that say if someone claiming jobseekers allowance for 4 years, if they won the lottery then they would have to pay back all the jsa that they had got over that 4 year period?

What a good idea....:T

deathvalleydemon wrote: »

so in theory the dwp will probably end up with more of the compensation than i will at this rate.

i shall be seeking legal advice over this.

The DWP can only claim from you what they have paid you and no more. It may be more than half so it may appear that they get more but you have had the money in small amounts over the claim period from them. The DWP won't profit from it.

dseventy

deathvalleydemon wrote: »

how on earth is that correct? when were benefits deemed to be any kind of compensation?

You are ill and can't work because of an accident. It was someones fault.

Now someone has been blamed and accepted responsibility. That person is your employer, not the state, not the tax payer.

So while the state stepped in to help you at the time, now that blame has been established, that person can pay out for your injuries.

Does that help you understand?

I am aware you are not happy about it, merely trying to make you understand.

D70

geri1965_2

Usually the benefits are repaid by the compensator. As already pointed out, they will be offset against your loss of earnings. Your general damages (pain and suffering) will be unaffected.

Your solicitor should explain all this to you.

Redman_2

deathvalleydemon wrote: »

bonjour.

I have been informed today that i have won my personal injury claim against my former employer.

I am aware that it will have an effect on my future benefits. i fully understand that. but it also states in the letter that the dwp will be reclaiming every penny of ESA and IIDB paid to me from the day i started to claim both benefits. it states that if they dont reclaim the benefit money then i will have been compensated twice for my injury.

how on earth is that correct? when were benefits deemed to be any kind of compensation?

i could understand them reclaiming anything paid to me in error if i'd received the payout (too many savings) but surely this is wrong?

or is it?

so to me that would suggest that say if someone claiming jobseekers allowance for 4 years, if they won the lottery then they would have to pay back all the jsa that they had got over that 4 year period?

DVD, I have personal experience of this Roger Black is correct.

Any compensation you are awarded for personal injury, can be put in a personal injury trust, and is then not classed as capital with regard to any means tested benefit you get.

It also protects you in the future with regard to any care you may need from social services etc re your injury.

if you have a solicitor he should be able to set the trust up for you, if not there are many people who can if you search injury trusts on line.

As for the DWP clawing back money, they can claim back up to five years of any benefit that you have received due to your injury, e.g. IB/DLA/IIB etc this is done by the Compensation Recovery Unit, and again if you have a solicitior he should have informed them, that a settlement was imminent and they would then issue a certificate of the amount they can claw back. Examine this amount as the DWP tried to claim back £3000 too much off me, it can only be for beneits you have received due to your injury.

The setting up of the trust will cost around £700 to £900, and you will be issued a trust certificate to open a trust account, not all banks do this but Barclays do.

It of course depends how much you get, as to whether you need to set the trust up. You could pay an amount from your settlement straight into your current account as long as you didn't exceed the £6000, and spend this as you wish the rest goes into the trust.

Also you have a year to set up the trust before the DWP can look at it but I would advise doing it straight away.

Your solicitor who sets up the trust should also inform the DWP and Tax that you have setup the trust.

You must appoint another trustee as well as yourself as all cheques but be signed by you and the other trustee this can be your partner or other family member.

Ther are some restrictions on what you can spend your trust on you are not supposed to spend it on normal day to day expenses. However you can transfer monies into your current account as long as it is not regular payments for personal spending.

You must keeps records and receipts of what you spend in case DWP need to examine them.

So by setting up a personal injury trusts it will not effect any benefit entitlement.

As for the CRU claw back this can either be pay by you out of your compensation or your compensator, it depends on your settlement agreement.

patman99

I got a good pay-out for an industrial injury last year. The pay-out came whilst I was on PILON. Told the DWP, but as I had had no time off, or claimed any benefits during the 2 years I suffered from the injury, they were not interested. This really surprised me.