Backdated ESA after medical, will it affect housing benefit?

squashynose

I think I already know the depressing answer to this, but thought I'd ask to check...

My partner and I live together in a private rented house. I receive contribution based ESA, he receives contribution based JSA. We have a housing benefit and council tax benefit claim, he is the lead claimant. Housing and council tax benefit is already reduced as between us we receive £143 a week, which is too much apparently. And because of his backdated JSA, it created a big overpayment of HB and underpayment of council tax, so we're getting a further deduction to pay that back, and need to scrape together £90 a month to pay the CT.

My ESA claim started in Feb '13, and I finally had a medical in Dec, and got a decision on 15th Jan '14, that I'd be put in WRAG (I am planning on appealing as the medical assessor wrote that my condition was treated by medication, which isn't true, and he didn't even mention that my heart stops for up to 20 seconds periodically!).

I've been told that I'm owed just over £1000 in backdated ESA. But I have a feeling that once I receive that, I'll owe it back to housing benefit, as they already reduce our entitlement. Am I right? Because that seems really unfair. My contributions run out in 2 weeks anyway.

Can anyone offer any advise? Or is there no hope? The whole process has been a nightmare, I thought they were obligated to tell you how to receive the most you were entitled to, but we've just found out that my partner can be on my claim as an income based top-up, so we wouldn't have lost any. They've always told us that I would lose my contribution based claim, and we'd have to switch to an income based.

Thanks in advance for any help

help4help2013

i cant see it no as this was the money you was originally entitled too i know a few people who have had backdated money and its not effected there housing benefit

squashynose

I know it doesn't affect income based claims, but this is contribution based. They already think we have too much money on the assessment rate, so another £28 a week is going to be too much, more!

tinkledom

Don't know anything about housing benefit, but when I had a welfare benefit claim awarded to me it was over 18 months from when I made the claim. The backdated payment was great, but the Council then re-assessed the Council Tax Benefit back for that 18 months on the basis that the money received related to that period. It took a huge chunk of the back pay off me.

squashynose

I've received a letter this morning telling me what the payable rate is, and it says "your income-related amount is £100.15 less £0.00 so you would have been entitled to £100.15
However because you are entitled to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance we will pay you £100.15"

If I were getting the income-related one, I'd be entitled to full HB and CTB, but as it's contribution based, I'm not, even though the ESA money is EXACTLY the same

Morglin

If your contribution based ESA runs out soon, then you should have received the forms to apply for earnings related ESA, assuming your partner is not working or earning over a set amount.

Contact the office that deals with your ESA and ask them for the form you need to apply for earnings related ESA.

Lin

Indie_Kid

Morglin wrote: »

If your contribution based ESA runs out soon, then you should have received the forms to apply for earnings related ESA, assuming your partner is not working or earning over a set amount.

Contact the office that deals with your ESA and ask them for the form you need to apply for earnings related ESA.

Lin

On what grounds would the OP be entitled to income based ESA? Her partner is on JSA.

squashynose

sh1305 wrote: »

On what grounds would the OP be entitled to income based ESA? Her partner is on JSA.

He is on contribution based JSA, so it doesn't meet the amount they say couples need to live on (£112 a week I think?), so I would be entitled to some income-related. His claim started shortly before Christmas, and his contributions run out shortly anyway. The plan was that once we were both out of contributions, he would join my ESA claim, as income-related.

Housing have just confirmed that I will owe every single penny of my backdated payment to them, as well as our CT going up (backdated), so will have 1 month to pay off a considerable amount! All because it's contribution based, and not IR. Seems like the whole nightmare has been a massive waste of time now.

We have just been told by DWP that I should have been on an income-related claim all along, as that would have made us financially better off. Basically the claim would have been both contributions and IR, with the contributions bit payable, and the IR at £0 extra. Although this is from a call-centre advisor, so there's no guarantee it's even true!

I do already have an ESA3 form to fill in, and have now been advised to ask that it be backdated right to the beginning of the claim, and include a covering letter about being mis-informed, and include info about how it has put us in debt.

If they do go back and change the claim to IR from the beginning, I can't see the council backdating our claim, and giving us back all the money they've been deducting at least the overpayment would disappear though!

Morglin

sh1305 wrote: »

On what grounds would the OP be entitled to income based ESA? Her partner is on JSA.

The OP's reply covers the reason why she may be entitled to earnings related ESA when her contributory ESA runs out.

As she says she has appealed the WRAG decision anyway, should she win her appeal and be put into the Support Group, her contributory ESA would continue for as long as she is entitled to it anyway, regardless of any other income.

Lin

squashynose

I thought I'd update this for anyone googling for the same info. Better late than never!

I got my backdating, and it didn't affect the housing and council tax. The extra WRAG/SG component isn't taken into consideration when calculating housing or council tax support.

epitome

squashynose wrote: »

I've received a letter this morning telling me what the payable rate is, and it says "your income-related amount is £100.15 less £0.00 so you would have been entitled to £100.15
However because you are entitled to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance we will pay you £100.15"

This doesn't make sense, the only way this makes sense is if the DWP does not know you are a couple. If, at the time of writing this DWP were aware you had a partner on JSA C, it would have said

"your income-related amount is £140.00 less £71.00 so you would have been entitled to £69.00, However, because you are entitled to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance we will pay you £100.15"

squashynose wrote: »

He is on contribution based JSA, so it doesn't meet the amount they say couples need to live on (£112 a week I think?), so I would be entitled to some income-related. His claim started shortly before Christmas, and his contributions run out shortly anyway. The plan was that once we were both out of contributions, he would join my ESA claim, as income-related.

We have just been told by DWP that I should have been on an income-related claim all along, as that would have made us financially better off. Basically the claim would have been both contributions and IR, with the contributions bit payable, and the IR at £0 extra. Although this is from a call-centre advisor, so there's no guarantee it's even true!

Again this makes no sense, if you would be financially better off why is the IR £0 extra? As I said above whilst JSA C is in payment you would not be entitled to any ESA IR.