ESA Support Group and other benefits

Burfoscosmos

Hi,

I'm looking for some guidance.

I was under the impression that when claiming ESA Dental treatment, eye tests and prescriptions were covered.

Today I was informed dental treatment is not as I claim contribution based ESA.

Please can anyone let me know what the difference is between the two benefits.

I have mobility problems and am in the process of attempting to claim DLA.

Any assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Muttleythefrog

http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/1488-what-is-contribution-based-employment-and-support-allowance-esa may suffice for basic information. If you think you might be entitled to income related ESA you can be assessed by completing ESA3 form available from DWP. You may be able to claim back costs if your income is low.. refer http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcosts/Pages/Dentalcosts.aspx

Horseunderwater

Burfoscosmos wrote: »

Hi,

I'm looking for some guidance.

I was under the impression that when claiming ESA Dental treatment, eye tests and prescriptions were covered.

Today I was informed dental treatment is not as I claim contribution based ESA.

Please can anyone let me know what the difference is between the two benefits.

I have mobility problems and am in the process of attempting to claim DLA.

Any assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hello there:
System works like this - If you only get DLA and ESA as income and have less than £6k in savings or investments, then you would be entitled to income related ESA in full. If you have a partner, you would get £166.80 in benefit per week. But here is the problem, your partner also has to have very little income/savings as well. If on the other hand you are single, then go for it. Ask to fill in form ESA3, it will take a little time to get the award through. Meanwhile you need to get a receipt for any NHS cost you incur, whether dental, eyes, or drugs. Once ESA is converted, the award letter will state near the end of the letter that it is an income related benefit and you'll be able to use that to go to the places who issued the receipts and reclaim the fees paid out. However the award letters have an expirey date on them, so if the date has run out and you know you will be incurring an NHS expense, then you need to ring them to get what is called proof of entitlement/benefit letter sent out again. These last for 1 month. It is something that I will be having to do regularly for my OH's med's as he needs them each month. It has taken me just over 6 weeks to sort all this out for us, but the award letter took 10 days or so.

cabbage

Hi

you may qualify on the low income scheme to get help with healthcare costs. You should get form HC1 from the chemist, gp. optician etc and then fill it in and submit it.

Burfoscosmos

Hi,

I've no partner and no savings bar my military pension which does not pay out for another eight years.

Having been told contribution is the better than income by others I'm not sure as if it was income I would receive other benefits eg dental and so on.

Being new to Benifits I've not a clue on how to gain advice or where to gain it other than on web sites like this. I'm also in receipt of something called disability income guarantee however am unable to work out how the amount is worked out.

I'm under no illusion my condition is only going to get worse and I'm going to need extra help. I just find the Benifits system very frustrating and difficult, no one is willing to point me in the right direction from JCP.

Thanks for your assistance

Muttleythefrog

Burfoscosmos wrote: »

Hi,

I've no partner and no savings bar my military pension which does not pay out for another eight years.

Having been told contribution is the better than income by others I'm not sure as if it was income I would receive other benefits eg dental and so on.

Being new to Benifits I've not a clue on how to gain advice or where to gain it other than on web sites like this. I'm also in receipt of something called disability income guarantee however am unable to work out how the amount is worked out.

I'm under no illusion my condition is only going to get worse and I'm going to need extra help. I just find the Benifits system very frustrating and difficult, no one is willing to point me in the right direction from JCP.

Thanks for your assistance

The disability income guarantee is the enhanced disability premium (EDP)... yes the DWP in their brilliance give completely different names to the same thing. The EDP I believe is only payable where income related is payable (plus you are in support group or get DLA HRC)... so it appears you have 'underlying entitlement' to IR ESA. I'm not sure if anyone will disagree.. but I see absolutely no advantage to claiming contrib based ESA over IR unless one expects to fail the means testing rules for IR in the future due to some predictable event... or of course would currently fail them.

Horseunderwater

Burfoscosmos wrote: »

Hi,

I've no partner and no savings bar my military pension which does not pay out for another eight years.

Having been told contribution is the better than income by others I'm not sure as if it was income I would receive other benefits eg dental and so on.

Being new to Benifits I've not a clue on how to gain advice or where to gain it other than on web sites like this. I'm also in receipt of something called disability income guarantee however am unable to work out how the amount is worked out.

I'm under no illusion my condition is only going to get worse and I'm going to need extra help. I just find the Benifits system very frustrating and difficult, no one is willing to point me in the right direction from JCP.

Thanks for your assistance

In my opinion, you have been mislead, you should definitely be claiming the income related version of ESA. Ask for the ESA3 as soon as you can and fill it in. The only thing you need to change is the income part. it is not the easiest of forms to fill in, but if you go slowly in pencil for for a first run through, then you can correct easier.

epitome

You cannot claim ESA IR at will, - well you can, but you may not be allowed to go on it, even if you would qualify for it.

If, as you do, you have an entitlement to conts then conts is what you get, you cannot get Income Related, unless you need mortgage help or you get DLA middle or high rate care component & you would qualify for SDP.

I don't think you need to be on ESA IR to get EDP. Which is borne out by the OP apparently already getting this whilst on conts.

To get help with dental & stuff you need an HC1 form

epitome

Differences
Conts is not affected by savings, IR is
Conts is not as affected by pension income as IR would be
Conts is not affected by partners income/savings, IR is.

andrea_louise

Whilst I was on CBESA, I received an income based top up (due to the fact I had a mortgage. If the OPs pension is due in 8 years and there is no prospect of his condition improving prior to then, unless the op can get an income based top up, I would be inclined to stay on CB and opt for the HC1 route as some CBESA is still paid on pensions up to about £250 per week.
HTH

Burfoscosmos

Thank you all for the valuable information above you have answered the questions I've been asking JCP all summer!