Help ! Which benefits to claim ???

chocgirl73

I apologise in advance if this question has already been asked somewhere.
My brother has MS. At the moment he works 12 hours a week, his employer made him drop his contracted hours after he had been off sick for a few weeks so that now he only gets sick pay paid for 1 week when he is ill. He has been told that he can claim ESA but would need to look for a 4 hour a week job to make his hours up to 16. Is this right ? Also does anybody have any idea if there are any benefits he could claim now while still working ? He already claims Housing/council tax benefit and he does receive a little DLA. His condition will get progressively worse and he is predicting a time when he will have on resign on medical grounds. Would he be able to claim JSA or would it be incapacity benefit ?

miduck

He may qualify for ESA or JSA, but that would depend on his earnings.

As an alternative he may qualify for WTC, but for that he would need to be working 16 hours.

Poppie68

Surely he couldnt' claim JSA as he wont be looking for work..?

miduck

Poppie68 wrote: »

Surely he couldnt' claim JSA as he wont be looking for work..?

The OP does not say that they are not looking for more work, but rather that the current employer has cut their brother's hours. Even if he is only looking for four hours he may qualify (dependent on income).

Mojisola

If he has care needs or mobility problems, he could claim DLA.

Always worth getting professional advice - CAB, etc - about filling in the form.

sleepless_saver

chocgirl73 wrote: »

. He has been told that he can claim ESA but would need to look for a 4 hour a week job to make his hours up to 16. Is this right ?

No.

chocgirl73 wrote: »

Also does anybody have any idea if there are any benefits he could claim now while still working ? He already claims Housing/council tax benefit and he does receive a little DLA. His condition will get progressively worse and he is predicting a time when he will have on resign on medical grounds. Would he be able to claim JSA or would it be incapacity benefit ?

Ask about this on the employment board as the experts are there, but I believe it's not usually a good idea to resign. Better to wait for the employer to take action.

He can check his benefit entitlement - and find out more about benefits available - on http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx . By the way, incapacity benefit has been replaced by ESA.

He doesn't work enough hours to claim working tax credit which is the only other benefit he might get at the moment. But if he meets the disability criteria, he might be entitled to working tax credit if he increased his hours to at least 16.

Have his HB/CTB been adjusted to take account of his reduction in hours?

miduck

Mojisola wrote: »

If he has care needs or mobility problems, he could claim DLA.

Always worth getting professional advice - CAB, etc - about filling in the form.

He already receives it - so he would receive a premium on his JSA (if he decided to take that route), or qualify for the WTC DP if more suitable.

Poppie68

miduck wrote: »

The OP does not say that they are not looking for more work, but rather that the current employer has cut their brother's hours. Even if he is only looking for four hours he may qualify (dependent on income).

I took it the op was asking the question about JSA or IB for after he resigns/retires on medical grounds as MS is progressive and he wouldnt be capable of working.