how to find historic dss rules and get copies of dss info?

Torry_Quine

I changed from Invalidity to Incapacity Benefit and was well aware that it wasn't a taxable benefit for those being chaned over. It wouldn't make any difference to me anyway as like many others had no other income.

ceecee1

I have dusted off my fossilised brain and the benefit calenders out of my desk drawer (knew I was keeping them for something !)

You say that your first day of sickness was 18.10.94. Your waiting days would have been 18th, 19th and 20th Oct and the first day of any payment was 21.10.94.

Payment would either have been SSP (from your employer) or Sickness benefit (from the DSS). If your contract of employment ended before the full 28 weeks had been paid, (which you say it was) then the DSS would have continued to pay sickness benefit from the last date of SSP up to the end of the 28 weeks.

From the dates you have stated the period from 21.10.94 to 4.5.95 is the 28 week period that you will have had SSP to the end of your contract of employment, Sickness benefit to 12.4.95 and then you would have transferred to Incapacity Benefit short term up to 4.5.95 and higher rate IB from 5.5.95.

So, it looks as if you were not on Invalidity on the relevant date in April 95.

kuepper

ceecee1 wrote: »

I have dusted off my fossilised brain and the benefit calenders out of my desk drawer (knew I was keeping them for something !)

You say that your first day of sickness was 18.10.94. Your waiting days would have been 18th, 19th and 20th Oct and the first day of any payment was 21.10.94.

Payment would either have been SSP (from your employer) or Sickness benefit (from the DSS). If your contract of employment ended before the full 28 weeks had been paid, (which you say it was) then the DSS would have continued to pay sickness benefit from the last date of SSP up to the end of the 28 weeks.

From the dates you have stated the period from 21.10.94 to 4.5.95 is the 28 week period that you will have had SSP to the end of your contract of employment, Sickness benefit to 12.4.95 and then you would have transferred to Incapacity Benefit short term up to 4.5.95 and higher rate IB from 5.5.95.

So, it looks as if you were not on Invalidity on the relevant date in April 95.

What you say might well be the case, all I can say is that their acronym- filled letter says I was on SSP then 'IVB' then 'IB' whereas if the scenario you suggest had been the case I would have thought they'd have put 'SB' then 'IB'. The DWP writer could have made a mistake of course but if they made a mistake about that....

You are another poster that mentions you had to be off sick for 28 weeks prior to 13/4/95 to be exempt from tax but neither DWP nor anyone here has yet quoted the source of that 28 weeks period which DWP suggest is the only factor why my Incapacity Benefit was not exempt from taxation. Do you know the relevant law/regulation that refers to this? I don't know if it would affect anything but just to clarify, 18 Oct 94 was not my first day of sickness, it was the first day of my last period of sickness with the same illness, I had been off sick with increasing frequency leading up to 18 Oct 1994.

Anyway letter went off to DWP so awaiting response

Icequeen99

kuepper wrote: »

What you say might well be the case, all I can say is that their acronym- filled letter says I was on SSP then 'IVB' then 'IB' whereas if the scenario you suggest had been the case I would have thought they'd have put 'SB' then 'IB'. The DWP writer could have made a mistake of course but if they made a mistake about that....

You are another poster that mentions you had to be off sick for 28 weeks prior to 13/4/95 to be exempt from tax but neither DWP nor anyone here has yet quoted the source of that 28 weeks period which DWP suggest is the only factor why my Incapacity Benefit was not exempt from taxation. Do you know the relevant law/regulation that refers to this? I don't know if it would affect anything but just to clarify, 18 Oct 94 was not my first day of sickness, it was the first day of my last period of sickness with the same illness, I had been off sick with increasing frequency leading up to 18 Oct 1994.

Anyway letter went off to DWP so awaiting response

The 28 weeks is part of the SB/IB rules. The tax rules are fairly simple, if you were on on IVB then transitioned straight to IBLT (long term incapacity ben) for the same period of incapacity you had tax transitional protection.

If you transitioned from SB to IB you didn't. And that is because sickness benefit entitlement would mean you had been ill for less than 28 weeks in that period of incapacity. SB only lasted 28 weeks.

If the gap between your previous period of illness and the current one was less than a certain amount (not sure exactly what it was then) then sometimes the periods of incapacity could be joined.

So by default, you did have to be off more than 28 weeks to qualify for the tax exemption because you needed to be on IVB and in theory you could only be on that after the first 28 weeks.

Or at least that is my understanding of how it worked.

As I have said before though, you are most likely out of time to challenge a benefit decision made in 1995 if that is what it comes down to.

IQ

kuepper

Icequeen99 wrote: »

The 28 weeks is part of the SB/IB rules.

IQ

DWP and people here keep saying this is a rule but no-one seems able to quote the source of it!

Icequeen99

kuepper wrote: »

DWP and people here keep saying this is a rule but no-one seems able to quote the source of it!

For IB it is Section 30A and 30B Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992.

I believe SB is contained in the same act, but not sure of the regulations that are under it.
IQ