Disabilty and full time education with child - benefit entitlement?

mazza1985

Hi everyone

I did post this on the benefits forum a few weeks back, got some helpful replies, and some judgemental ones which took over the thread! I thought I would ask again as policy is changing so fast at the moment....

I've just been accepted onto a BSc(Hons) Mental Health Nursing course at my local university. I am currently 22 weeks pregnant and therefore deferring to September 2013. I am currently in receipt of middle rate care component of DLA and lower rate mobility. My partner and I both work full time at present.

I really do not want to leave my 8 month old baby with a child minder for me to go to uni. Also my partner starts work at 6:00 as he is a postal worker and so would be difficult to find childcare if I was doing an early shift. I have looked at my grants and loans etc and I am entitled to the following if my partner stays at home to look after our baby (to be honest, even if I was not going to uni, we could not afford for me to work anyway as by the time I would have paid for childcare and travel expenses it would cost more than the tax credits and wages we would receive):-

Bursary Calculation Breakdown (NHS)

• Basic Award £2,591.00
• Extra Weeks Allowance £984.00
• Dependants Allowance £3,179.00
• Parental Learning Allowance £1,303.00
• Total Gross £8,057.00
• Non Income Assessed Award £1,000.00
• Total Net £9,057.00

Plus a reduced rate student loan from SLC £2341 approx.

From September 2013....

How do I calculate how much child tax credit I am entitled to? eg what student finance do they take into consideration?

Can my partner claim carers allowance for me? (yes he does care 35 hours per week for me, and will continue to do so)

Am I entitled to housing benefit? If so are there reductions?

Am I also right in thinking that I claim ESA whilst in full time education based on my DLA?

If not can my partner claim Income Support or ESA or JSA? (he will be avaliable for part time work) (we would both qualify for contribution based rather than income based)

On a side note I have been diagnosed with SPD in pregnancy 12 weeks ago and I am now on crutches. Not sure if it is worth applying for a supercedence or not? Scared of losing my current award, and by the tribunal comes around if I appealed my condition would be better (it is cured normally within 3 months of having the baby).

Also would we now be eligible for a blue badge temporarily?


Please note that I am not looking for judgement on whether I am disabled if I can work or study full time, DWP have obviously decided that I am already.

pickpocketlocket

You don't really expect to receive all that funding plus ESA, do you? Your funding will be taken into account when calculating your ESA entitlement (as you will have been in the WRAG over a year).

Have you informed the DWP that you are returning to full time study? Whilst students are allowed to claim DLA, the DWP would need to be sure that the course requirements (especially the placements) did not contradict your care needs?

As your SPD is a short term condition, you would not be entitled to a higher DLA award on that basis, nor would you get a Blue Badge.

mazza1985

pickpocketlocket wrote: »

You don't really expect to receive all that funding plus ESA, do you? Your funding will be taken into account when calculating your ESA entitlement (as you will have been in the WRAG over a year).

Have you informed the DWP that you are returning to full time study? Whilst students are allowed to claim DLA, the DWP would need to be sure that the course requirements (especially the placements) did not contradict your care needs?

As your SPD is a short term condition, you would not be entitled to a higher DLA award on that basis, nor would you get a Blue Badge.

I wont have been in the WRAG for over a year - I currently work full time, and intend on going back to work after my maternity leave until the week before my degree starts! If its contribution based ESA then why not claim it? Its not based on income! Its like state pension that people are so desperate to defend, its the same principle. If you pay NI's then you qualify providing you meet the conditions, and being a student on DLA is one of the conditions. I wanted to clarify that this is the case, and if I also qualified on the basis of having a childm or if that would be income support.

Being as my placements are very similar to my job now I do not see them being an issue but I will of course be notifying DLA of my intentions closer to the time.

My SPD has been present for 3 months, and its expected to last another 6 months, isn't that the qualifying condition for DLA? Or have I been trained by the local authority wrong???!!?!!??

mazza1985

pickpocketlocket wrote: »

You don't really expect to receive all that funding plus ESA, do you? Your funding will be taken into account when calculating your ESA entitlement (as you will have been in the WRAG over a year).
QUOTE]

Also you failed to specify which bits of funding would be taken into consideration, and if there is an allowance for books etc?

pmlindyloo

mazza1985 wrote: »

Hi everyone

I did post this on the benefits forum a few weeks back, got some helpful replies, and some judgemental ones which took over the thread! I thought I would ask again as policy is changing so fast at the moment....

I've just been accepted onto a BSc(Hons) Mental Health Nursing course at my local university. I am currently 22 weeks pregnant and therefore deferring to September 2013. I am currently in receipt of middle rate care component of DLA and lower rate mobility. My partner and I both work full time at present.

I really do not want to leave my 8 month old baby with a child minder for me to go to uni. Also my partner starts work at 6:00 as he is a postal worker and so would be difficult to find childcare if I was doing an early shift. I have looked at my grants and loans etc and I am entitled to the following if my partner stays at home to look after our baby (to be honest, even if I was not going to uni, we could not afford for me to work anyway as by the time I would have paid for childcare and travel expenses it would cost more than the tax credits and wages we would receive):-





Bursary Calculation Breakdown (NHS)

• Basic Award £2,591.00
• Extra Weeks Allowance £984.00
• Dependants Allowance £3,179.00
• Parental Learning Allowance £1,303.00
• Total Gross £8,057.00
• Non Income Assessed Award £1,000.00
• Total Net £9,057.00

Plus a reduced rate student loan from SLC £2341 approx.

From September 2013....

How do I calculate how much child tax credit I am entitled to? eg what student finance do they take into consideration?

Can my partner claim carers allowance for me? (yes he does care 35 hours per week for me, and will continue to do so)

Am I entitled to housing benefit? If so are there reductions?

Am I also right in thinking that I claim ESA whilst in full time education based on my DLA?

If not can my partner claim Income Support or ESA or JSA? (he will be avaliable for part time work) (we would both qualify for contribution based rather than income based)

On a side note I have been diagnosed with SPD in pregnancy 12 weeks ago and I am now on crutches. Not sure if it is worth applying for a supercedence or not? Scared of losing my current award, and by the tribunal comes around if I appealed my condition would be better (it is cured normally within 3 months of having the baby).

Also would we now be eligible for a blue badge temporarily?


Please note that I am not looking for judgement on whether I am disabled if I can work or study full time, DWP have obviously decided that I am already.

I am not an expert on this but I will try and answer some of your questions.

Since this is quite a specialist area I would suggest that you ask the relevant benefit departments.

If any of the above awards are part of the Disabled Students Allowance then this link http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/EducationAndTraining/HigherEducation/DG_10034898

would suggest that this income is not taken into account for other benefits.

However, if the reduced rate student loan is not part of this allowance then I believe that this money would be counted as income.

As regards your claiming ESA as a student then I again believe that you are eligible.

As regards your OH claiming CA then if he cares for you 35 hours plus a week then he could claim this.

As regards your SPD I would agree with you that applying for a supercedence at this time may be not worth while.

I expect you know that a Blue Badge is automatically awarded for those on high rate mobility DLA - you would probably agree that your low rate DLA is unlikely to be changed to high rate even taking into account your SPD.

Blue Badges are not awarded on a temporary basis and your mobility problems would need to be permanent. Without knowing your mobility problems before the SPD it is difficult to judge whether they would assess you as eligible for a blue badge. You could try.

Now the difficult bit

From what I've read if you are a full time disabled student and want to claim benefits as a couple then you need to seek specialist help.

But I do not think your OH could get ESA as he is not unfit for work.

He maybe able to get JSA (contribution based, as you say) if he can get an agreement with Job Centre Plus only to work between certain hours as he will have primary care of the child (it has got a special name but can't remember it!)

I don't think he would get IS as he doesn't appear to fit the criteria.

I am hoping that someone with more specialist knowledge than me will come along to.

Benefits are a minefield at the best of times and there are all kinds of unusual 'bits' written in the small print.

A visit to CAB might help or ask to speak to a benefits advisor at the university. Sorry I couldn't be of much help.

Racheldevon

Hi,
I can't answer your benefit related questions, but as someone also with a disability, I would strongly encourage you to apply in advance of starting for Disabled Student Allowence. I didn't realise it existed until the second year, and the assessment process enabled me to have a range of equipment and resources which really helped my condition. It took a little while to put into place though so maybe contact the student welfare team a few months before starting to enquire.

benefitbaby

Congratulations on your pregnancy and being accepted for your MSc.
There are a lot of ifs and buts at the moment in your situation so I will give a general overview of the various benefit entitlement criteria as specific to your situation as I can make it based on the info you have given

Carer's Allowance is payable if your partner works LESS than 16 hours per week, earns NO MORE than £100 per week and provides 35 hours of care per week.

If CA is successfully claimed then potentially your husband could claim Income Support (IS) as the lead claimant in a joint claim.

Some people can claim ESA whilst a student but the rules are not straightforward and I advise speaking to a CAB or similar.

If IS is claimed/awarded then you could not claim ESA. This is because IS and ESA are conflicting benefits and cannot be claimed at the same time.

If you do not go down the IS route your husband could claim CA and you could claim ESA as the lead claimant in a joint claim.

For tax credits all student loans/grants are ignored except adult dependants' grants.

As a f/t student you will be exempt from council tax so you and husband will qualify for a 25% discount.

Lastly housing benefit and students can be tricky so I advise discussing this with CAB/similar

Good luck and enjoy your course and motherhood

time2save

Hi,

Fab you're planning to do a degree in MH nursing :):j.

You may not get (IR) ESA though if you do claim it when you're a student next year, make sure you get DLA (any rate, any component) as this means you will have Limited Capacity for Work automatically. Your course will need to be full time though.

If you want to claim Contribution-based, or if your course is part time or if you donot get DLA then you WILL NOT automatically have LCW.

Something to consider for next year.


Congrats on the new baby