Incapacity benefit and marriage

ani*fan

Hi everyone :hello:

My partner and I are getting married next year. Woo hoo! :j At the moment we don't live together but I understand that when we do she will stop being entitled to her housing benefit and income support. I work full time.

She also claims incapacity benefit but at a very low rate. I was wondering if once we are married they will take my NI contributions into account for her application and maybe she will get the full amount?

This benefits business is a minefield...thank you so much for any help you can offer.

healy

I dont understand why she would be on low rate of Incapacity Benefit unless she has only recently claimed or if a pension has reduced it, but your National Insurance contributions will not change the amount she is paid.

ani*fan

Thanks for your reply healy. She has never worked due to her health condition that makes work impossible. Therefore no NI contributions. (she has crohn's, btw) This is not a condition that is recognised as qualifying her for DLA (although the national association of crohn's and colitis are working on this) and the amount of incapacity she gets is £25 per week that is then topped up with income support.

I don't know if this sheds any light on it. I'm confused too!

Morglin

(IB is paid according to how long you have been claiming it - as long as you have paid in enough contributions, then you get it.)

As it involves Income Support - then the total household income is taken into account - and she may lose all or some of it.

This may help you:

http://www.entitledto.co.uk/entitlementcalculator.aspx

Lin

real1314

ani*fan wrote: »

Thanks for your reply healy. She has never worked due to her health condition that makes work impossible. Therefore no NI contributions. (she has crohn's, btw) This is not a condition that is recognised as qualifying her for DLA (although the national association of crohn's and colitis are working on this) and the amount of incapacity she gets is £25 per week that is then topped up with income support.

I don't know if this sheds any light on it. I'm confused too!

Afaik, there's no rate of IB that pays at £25 a week. It's paid at about £60 for the first 26 weeks, then about £65 until 52 weeks then at £80.

You need to check exactly what this £25 is?

Rikki

real1314 wrote: »

Afaik, there's no rate of IB that pays at £25 a week. It's paid at about £60 for the first 26 weeks, then about £65 until 52 weeks then at £80.

You need to check exactly what this £25 is?

IB will be covered under the title of Income Support. The IB she will be receiving is classed as Incapacity Benifit National Insurance Credits only, not a taxable IB.

The £25 will be the extra added to, but incorporated in the Income Support payment.

The money she receives is long term IB paid as IS as she has no other earnings.

Hope I've explained it okay.

As for: 'Will here benifit be affected?' I don't know?

healy

It sounds to me that she has claimed Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) as she has never worked. This is an old benefit that is no longer awarded. She has been paid Income Support to top the SDA up to what the law says she needs to live on. If you look at her paperwork from the DWP it may give details. As you say she will probably lose the Income Support when you live together but will keep the SDA.

real1314

Ah, penny has dropped. I think the previous 2 posters are wrong, I think what's going on here is that the £25 is the disability premium, which is part of income support, additionally she's getting £59 personal allowance which is the standard rate for single people over 25 yrs of age.

I did consider SDA, but there's no £25 rate for that either. And regardless of the fact that the Income Support is being paid on the grounds of incapacity, this doesn't mean that any of it falls under the Incapacity Benefit rules, so she will in fact lose all of it.


Sorry!