Sickness Benefits - I really dont understand the benefits system

musicmaker29

Hi all,

Unfortunately my partner has had to stop working (self employed for about 7 years) due to stress, depression and anxiety. I've had a good read around and I really don't understand the benefits system at all. Could anyone give me some idea of where to start/what help may be available?

We live together in a house which we have a mortgage on, are both late 20s, and I work full time (19.5k per annum gross), no kids. We have almost no savings and we do have some debt.

I can't believe how unclear things are, and to be honest I worry for the individuals out there who have the above mental issues and are faced with this process.

I have my fingers crossed that she will be ok eventually, although I imagine this will not be in the next few months.

Thankyou so much for any help,

A

benefitbaby

Hi, benefits are a bit of a nightmare however here is some onfo that will hopefully help.

There are work-replacement benefits and which you can claim depends on you/wife's individual circumstances, for example you wife cannot work due to ill health then Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is the relevant benefit. This is administered by Jobcentre Plus.

ESA comes in 2 sorts:
- Contribution-based, awarded if your wife has made sufficient NI contributions (Class 1 or 2) in the last two complete tax years before she claim.
- Income-based, awarded if your weekly joint income is below the amount the law says you need.

Help to pay the interest part of your mortgage is included within income-related ESA only and this is called Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI).

There are housing (rented homes only) and council tax benefits and both of these are means-tested on your joint income, these are administered by your local authority/council.

There is also Disability Living Allowance (DLA) this is a special non-contributory benefit that is tax free and this is not means-tested in any way. DLA is awarded based on the care and/or mobility needs of the claimant, the needs must have existed for 3 months and be likely to continue for a further 6 months. This is claimed from the Disability and Carer's Service.

There is working tax credit (an in-work benefit) claimable if you and/or wife work for a minimum of 30hours a week. This is means-tested and is calculated based on your previous years earnings e.g. April 2011 to April 2012. This is administered by HMRC.

As you are a couple both your income and savings are taken into account.

You can do a calulation on the "entitledto" website to get an estimation of entitlement and the "adviceguide" website has a good overview of all the above benefits and the qualifying criteria.