Backdated ESA after medical, will it affect housing benefit?

epitome

squashynose wrote: »

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.

It should have been, because you were getting ESA C at £100 and he was getting JSA C at £71

That's a total of £171

The ESA IR entitlement would have been £140 - £141

Which means you had an income of £30 above the applicable amount that Housing Benefit would use to calculate the HB amount payable.

Maybe "Housing Benefit Officer" can shed some light here.

squashynose

epitome wrote: »

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"



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.

epitome wrote: »

It should have been, because you were getting ESA C at £100 and he was getting JSA C at £71

That's a total of £171

The ESA IR entitlement would have been £140 - £141

Which means you had an income of £30 above the applicable amount that Housing Benefit would use to calculate the HB amount payable.

Maybe "Housing Benefit Officer" can shed some light here.

Hmmm I don't think you've quite understood it, and I don't appreciate you implying we were committing some kind of fraud...

Of course they knew we were a couple, if we weren't, then why would they have already been taking some off for our joint income being over the applicable amount? As we were both claiming separate contribution based claims, the IR amount of ESA was based on a single person claim, as I'd not needed to fill in the IR section, so my IR entitlement was still the same as my C based.

We would have been financially better off on a joint IR based claim, as our council tax support would have gone up. We'd have received the same cash, but owed less out. As it was, with two separate C based claims, we were about £30 a month worse off with council tax, and having to pay for 6 prescriptions a month.

And I'm sure the housing benefit officer will confirm that the component part of ESA doesn't count towards the applicable amount or whatever it's called. The gov say you can have £112 a week to live on as a couple. The basic ESA rate is £71, with the extra component on top of that. His C-JSA was £71, so £142 that did count, and already getting the extra knocked off our housing. My ESA extra component amount I could keep. Hence why getting my backdating didn't create a further overpayment

As it turned out, when his contributions ran out, we did add him on to mine as an income-based top up, for all of 3 weeks before he found some work and went self-employed!

epitome

squashynose wrote: »

Hmmm I don't think you've quite understood it, and I don't appreciate you implying we were committing some kind of fraud...

Any inference is in your own imagination. You commited no fraud because you were entitled to ESA C so there was no overpayment, not that an overpayment necessarily means you have committed fraud.

Of course they knew we were a couple, if we weren't, then why would they have already been taking some off for our joint income being over the applicable amount?

You are talking about Housing Benefit knowing here, I am talking about DWP/ESA not knowing.

As we were both claiming separate contribution based claims, the IR amount of ESA was based on a single person claim, as I'd not needed to fill in the IR section, so my IR entitlement was still the same as my C based.

IR is NEVER based on a single rate when 2 people live together, that's my whole point, the fact that they said your IR rate was £100.15 (single rate) prooves that they did not know you had a partner.

And I'm sure the housing benefit officer will confirm that the component part of ESA doesn't count towards the applicable amount or whatever it's called. The gov say you can have £112 a week to live on as a couple. The basic ESA rate is £71, with the extra component on top of that. His C-JSA was £71, so £142 that did count, and already getting the extra knocked off our housing. My ESA extra component amount I could keep. Hence why getting my backdating didn't create a further overpayment

No, I think I have worked it out why it didn't affect you, it's not because the component part of ESA "does not count" as such.

It's because the adjustment had already been made and the difference between applicable amount and what you were getting did not change.

Before your decision
You = £71.70 Him = £71.70
applicable amount = £112.55
difference = £30.85

After your decision
You = 100.15 Him = 71.70
applicable amount = £141
difference = £30.85

squashynose

Yes, which was my original question LOL. I asked if the backdating would create an overpayment, and it didn't.

And as for DWP not knowing we were a couple, they did, but it didn't make a difference as we were both claiming contribution based claims there is no part on the contribution based forms to input info about a partner.