Help with disability premiums please

scottnsharon

Hi there, new to this so might get lost..
My wife and I are both on higher rate care (dla) inc support and incapacity as joint claimants. We live alone and know one gets carers allowance for us although my wife got it for me for about a month at the beginning of the claim mid 2008, it then went to underlying entitlement. After 3 and a half years weve finally got a laptop and got on line, when I did a benefit check and spoke to an adviser she was very helpful and told me that we should have been getting enhanced severe disability premium (couples rate) since we were awarded dla higher rate and that the money would be backdated. This is a huge amount and I found it hard to believe. I called the number she gave me and was sent an IS10 form which I filled in and returned. I left it some time and called to find out what was happening and was told yes we should qualify but backdating is not always possible and wanted to know who had told me about backdating in the first place etc and said they would get in touch in a couple of weeks. Does anyone know where we stand on this please?? Any input gratefully received - thanks Scott

rogerblack

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/privacy-policy/data-protection/ - ask for a copy of your entire file, including any audio recordings.
it may be helpful if you could supply the time/date/phone-number you called them from.

scottnsharon

Thanks Roger, I will def bear that in mind if I dont hear from them in a couple of weeks. take care - Scott

rotoguys

scottnsharon wrote: »

Hi there, new to this so might get lost..
My wife and I are both on higher rate care (dla) inc support and incapacity as joint claimants. We live alone and know one gets carers allowance for us although my wife got it for me for about a month at the beginning of the claim mid 2008, it then went to underlying entitlement. After 3 and a half years weve finally got a laptop and got on line, when I did a benefit check and spoke to an adviser she was very helpful and told me that we should have been getting enhanced severe disability premium (couples rate) since we were awarded dla higher rate and that the money would be backdated. This is a huge amount and I found it hard to believe. I called the number she gave me and was sent an IS10 form which I filled in and returned. I left it some time and called to find out what was happening and was told yes we should qualify but backdating is not always possible and wanted to know who had told me about backdating in the first place etc and said they would get in touch in a couple of weeks. Does anyone know where we stand on this please?? Any input gratefully received - thanks Scott

There is a limit for means tested benefit as to how far back they will go and backdate.
I don't know about Income Support, but for Pension Credit (which is more lax) they will only go back 3 months even if you were entitled to it much earlier. Their argument is that you should have told them earlier and as you have managed without it so far, it isn't right that you should have it.

I have a similar situation in that I proved that we could have had Pension Credit going back 6 years - but 3 months is the limit.

winterwhite11

scottnsharon wrote: »

Hi there, new to this so might get lost..
My wife and I are both on higher rate care (dla) inc support and incapacity as joint claimants. We live alone and know one gets carers allowance for us although my wife got it for me for about a month at the beginning of the claim mid 2008, it then went to underlying entitlement. After 3 and a half years weve finally got a laptop and got on line, when I did a benefit check and spoke to an adviser she was very helpful and told me that we should have been getting enhanced severe disability premium (couples rate) since we were awarded dla higher rate and that the money would be backdated. This is a huge amount and I found it hard to believe. I called the number she gave me and was sent an IS10 form which I filled in and returned. I left it some time and called to find out what was happening and was told yes we should qualify but backdating is not always possible and wanted to know who had told me about backdating in the first place etc and said they would get in touch in a couple of weeks. Does anyone know where we stand on this please?? Any input gratefully received - thanks Scott

i am new to benefits, i am trying to help a friend and as i was researching the other day i come across a site saying that disability premiums are to be scrapped completly in april. is that the premium that op is talking about?.

op . it looks like you are only going to get 3 months backdated which i think is totally unfair if you have been entitled to it all that time.. i hope you do receive it though.

rotoguys

tomjonesrules wrote: »

Wrong - there is a limit on backdating for claiming a new benefit. There is no limit on the backdating of a premium applicable to a certain benefit.

Methinks you are wrong. I have just had a decision that was made on a benefit that I had claimed previously, overturned. The original decision was made in 2004. I received 3 months backpay (backdated from when the application to have it overturned due to new evidence coming to light) even though in the letter from the DWP they show the change from 7 years ago.
When asked why, the DWP say that the maximum backdating is 3 months.

rotoguys

winterwhite11 wrote: »

i am new to benefits, i am trying to help a friend and as i was researching the other day i come across a site saying that disability premiums are to be scrapped completly in april. is that the premium that op is talking about?.

op . it looks like you are only going to get 3 months backdated which i think is totally unfair if you have been entitled to it all that time.. i hope you do receive it though.

I had a decision go against me in 2004 when the DWP removed a benefit from me. New evidence came to light in September 2011 which was sent to the DWP. The DWP have now reversed the 2004 decision and have agreed that the benefit should not have been stopped.
I have received backpay to June 2011 (3 months)

It is clear from the DWP letter that the benefit is effective from Feb 2004, but there is a max backdate of 3 months only from when the new evidence was submitted.

scottnsharon

Thanks everyone for your input, but Tomjonesrules is right according to a post I have read on a similar site. Disability Premium is in legal terms a 'premium' not a stand alone benefit, so the backdating rules dont apply. A lot of people who qualified for this premium werent getting it so in 2005 it was brought up in the commons and it was stated that new procedures would be put in place to flag up people who qualified, and that their systems would now routinely scan for those that had been missed. Also that their staff would be getting training on identifying dis prem candidates. As our status has been missed for 3 and a half years it makes me wonder how many other people on dla are being overlooked. If these premiums are stopping or changing in April then I would urge people to check their entitlement asap - Hope this has been of some help - Scott

scottnsharon

Hi Winterwhite - thanks for your reply - before I became disabled part of my job was helping people sort their benefits out, and have been dealing with them for the past few years on behalf of my wife and I and my mum, so with regards to your friends situation if I can be of any help would be more than happy to try, or at least try and put you in touch with someone who can - Regards Scott

GlasweJen

Doesn't claiming the underlying carers entitlement invalidate the severe disability premium?

Richie-from-the-Boro

HiYa Jen,

I think you are correct, but :

I read the O/P as saying they don't get carer's, but that they feel they satisfied [at the time] the conditions for payment of enhanced severe disability premium and as such should have been getting enhanced severe disability premium (couples rate). So although they have an underlying carers entitlement, if they are not actually paid it this should not affect the SDP claim.