Advice re income related esa

lulugirl

My contributary Esa is coming to an end. I am hoping to be able to claim income related Esa but I receive a occupational persion of £118 per week. I live alone with my daughter & have no savings. Would I be able to claim income related esa ?

I was transferred form incapacity benefit to the wrag withought a medical & wished now that I had appealed this , my antipychotic medication has has to bee increased & the jobcentre plus where I had a work interview said I was in the wrong group & should clearly be in the support group.

Is it too late for this now?
Any coments would be appreciated.

ankspon

The JCP also told me i should be in the support group and that i was wrongly put in the work focus group but they never changed it.It took a lot of time and my local MP to change it.

Muttleythefrog

lulugirl wrote: »

My contributary Esa is coming to an end. I am hoping to be able to claim income related Esa but I receive a occupational persion of £118 per week. I live alone with my daughter & have no savings. Would I be able to claim income related esa ?

I was transferred form incapacity benefit to the wrag withought a medical & wished now that I had appealed this , my antipychotic medication has has to bee increased & the jobcentre plus where I had a work interview said I was in the wrong group & should clearly be in the support group.

Is it too late for this now?
Any coments would be appreciated.

It's probably too late to appeal now... you get a regulation month to appeal but you can lodge a late appeal successfully if you show good cause for it being late.

I'm not competent to advise as to whether you'd get IR ESA (no doubt someone else around here is)... but if not it is worth saying that you could remain on ESA without payments and try to make a solid case for Support group at next reassessment which hopefully you have indication of the timing of (if not stated in award then probably based on prognosis given by ATOS in ESA85A report they should have sent as their advice to DWP regarding you and WCA where face to face medical not conducted).

lulugirl

Thanks for your coments. I'm not sure how I would remain on esa if I wasnt entitled to it any more after my year is up? How would I still be reassesed if I wasnt able to claim income related. Oh how I wish i had appealed at the beginning but I didnt have the strength to do it. At the JCP I was to be assesed agin in 3 months time but that never happened.

rogerblack

lulugirl wrote: »

Thanks for your coments. I'm not sure how I would remain on esa if I wasnt entitled to it any more after my year is up? How would I still be reassesed if I wasnt able to claim income related. Oh how I wish i had appealed at the beginning but I didnt have the strength to do it. At the JCP I was to be assesed agin in 3 months time but that never happened.

You remain entitled to contributions based ESA, in the wrag, even once time limiting kicks in.
This means you are still entitled to ongoing credits of NI, and the above notes about worsening and support group apply.
You will be regularly assessed, even if not actually being paid.

It is likely you are in time for a late appeal.
I would encourage doing this, if you may meet one or more support group descriptors,

Muttleythefrog

lulugirl wrote: »

Thanks for your coments. I'm not sure how I would remain on esa if I wasnt entitled to it any more after my year is up? How would I still be reassesed if I wasnt able to claim income related. Oh how I wish i had appealed at the beginning but I didnt have the strength to do it. At the JCP I was to be assesed agin in 3 months time but that never happened.

Ah... you need to view the payments as separate to the entitlement... you can keep claiming ESA even though you may not get any associated payments. There are some benefits to doing this in addition to the possibility of a reassessment transferring you to support group.. others would be better able to advise.. but things like NI pensions contributions.

3 months sounds quite a short time.... it is right at the lowest limit for reassessment (which they can order at any time)... are you sure they meant a WCA reassessment? What you could do is call the DWP and ask when your next reassessment is scheduled.. they may be able to tell you. Might be worth requesting a copy of the ESA85A ATOS report from your last assessment if you don't have it.

lulugirl

I see ,so even if my actual payments cease I am still entitled to contributary Esa & I would be able to say that I still claim this benefit?
I have an exemption from council tax as my GP has stated that I have a severe mental impairement but I need to be claiming Esa to continue with this.
Can you point me in the right direction to put in appeal even if it so late. Is there a different one because I am so late appealing.
I really appreciate all your replies.

BigAunty

Council tax discount is based on income,too, not just passported by certain benefits, though if you are in England, do check your local council website for proposed changes in how the discounts will be calculated from April next year. Local councils will be free to set their own criteria for who gets this and because their budget is smaller, it won't be so generous..

You may find the Turn2us online benefit calculator a good tool to model the potential switch to income based ESA as there are fields there that take into account other income, including from pensions..

BigAunty

lulugirl wrote: »

I see ,so even if my actual payments cease I am still entitled to contributary Esa & I would be able to say that I still claim this benefit?
...

When you switch from contributory to income based ESA after 365 days, you will not be entitled to contributory ESA. For income based ESA, your income will be taken into account and affect it. AFAIK, occupational pensions are counted as other income for means tested/income based benefits.

Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

You may be entitled to claim contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance if you have paid enough National Insurance contributions. The length of time you can get contribution-based Employment Support Allowance depends on your circumstances. If you are not in the support group, contribution-based Employment Support Allowance is time limited to 365 days.

Income-based Employment and Support Allowance

You may be entitled to claim income-based Employment and Support Allowance if you do not have enough money coming in, or you have not paid enough National Insurance contributions, and you satisfy the entitlement conditions.
This means that you have savings of less than £16,000 and, if you have a partner or civil partner, they work for less than 24 hours a week on average. There is no limit on the amount of time you can claim income-based Employment and Support Allowance as long as you satisfy the entitlement conditions.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_171891

BigAunty

According to this, though there are some exceptions, if you have an occupational pension more than £85 per week, it affects contributory based ESA and reduces it- have you declared this pension to the DWP? I'm not clear what the exceptions are but they do say they have a handbook that details them, plus I expect some of the posters on this forum will know.

http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/f31.htm

The link also has a good explanation of how income based ESA is calculated

"This is a test similar to income support. In brief, your needs (and those of your partner if you have one) are compared with your resources, such as your income and savings, and the income-related allowance worked out from this comparison. "

lulugirl

I am confused now ! Roger Black stated previously ' You remain entitled to contributions based ESA, in the wrag, even once time limiting kicks in.' Yet you have stated that I am not.

Im not sure now that a late appeal is going to be worth it either, I dont even know where to start & there is a long waiting list to speak to anyone at the Cab.