ESA - Am About to Receive an Ill Health Pension

Rutty

My wife receives ESA (WRAG) £100.30 pw but we appealed this decision as we feel that she should be in the support group. (We have heard nothing back yet).

In the meantime she is now about to receive an ill health occupational pension from her former employer.

Can anyone inform me if this will affect her ESA payments and if so how will her ESA payments be affected?

Thanking you in anticipation.

DomRavioli

Is she on income based or contribution based ESA?

Do you work yourself? If so, what is your income (don't need it to the penny, just a guesstimate)

Can't answer it until we know that much unfortunately.

whodathunkit

Occupational pensions over a certain amount affect both means tested and contributions based ESA - how much is she expecting to receive?

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Your income may affect the amount of income-related ESA you get. Income means the money you (and your partner) get from part-time work, benefits or other sources. If you have savings of more than £6,000, the DWP will assume you get income from these savings. This is called "tariff income" and is worked out in a standard way (see the section on Capital, below, for more details). Because of tariff income, any actual income you get from your savings won't count.


If you work while claiming income-related ESA, you must do so within the permitted work rules, and the maximum you can get is £95 a week. If you exceed this level, you won't be eligible for the benefit.
If you do any other kind of work that is allowed, up to £20 a week of earnings will be disregarded. If your partner works part time (less than 24 hours a week), their income will affect your income-related ESA, but up to £20 of this may be disregarded.
Earnings from work

If you work, your net weekly wages (after tax, national insurance and half of any contribution to a personal or occupational pension) are taken into account as income.
If you're self-employed, your net profit after reasonable expenses is taken into account.
Income from benefits and pensions

Most benefits and pensions (including private and occupational pensions) count in full as income, with nothing disregarded. If not mentioned below, any benefits you receive count in full as income.
Statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay (or similar pay as part of your contract of employment) count as income in full, minus any deductions for tax, national insurance contributions and half of any contributions you make towards an occupational or personal pension.


The following benefits count as income, but with £10 disregarded:

• Widowed Mother’s Allowance
• Widowed Parent’s Allowance
• War Disablement Pension and certain other payments for disability or death in the armed forces
• pensions paid to victims of Nazi persecution

The following benefits don't count as income:

• Disability Living Allowance
• Attendance Allowance
• Child Benefit
• Child Tax Credit
• Guardian’s Allowance
• Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
• Social Fund payments
• Mobility Supplement (under the war pensions scheme) and some other special war widows’ payments
• Christmas bonus

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Contributory ESA is not affected by most of your income or capital, or that of your partner. However, if you receive a personal pension or payment from the Pension Protection Fund, this will affect your ESA payment. In this case, half your pension income over £85 a week is taken from your ESA. This doesn’t apply to some pensions and payments that are paid in respect of military service.

If you serve as a local councillor, any councillors' allowance you receive in excess of £97.50 a week will affect your ESA. For every extra £1 of allowance, your ESA will be reduced by £1.

Rutty

Thank you for the info everyone. I have calculated my wife's pension to be about £97 pw. She is on contribution based ESA. We may therefore take a bigger lump sum and reduce her pension down to the £85.00 pw.

HB58

Even if your wife takes the full amount, her ESa would only be reduced by about £5.50 per week as 50p of ESA is removed for every £1 pension over £85 per week.

Horseunderwater

The permitted work weekly limit is now £101 not £97.50 - just thought I'd point this out.

sleepless_saver

Rutty wrote: »

Thank you for the info everyone. I have calculated my wife's pension to be about £97 pw. She is on contribution based ESA. We may therefore take a bigger lump sum and reduce her pension down to the £85.00 pw.

If she is not successful in her appeal for support group then her contribution based ESA will end after a year, so the bigger lump sum option may not be the best long term choice. Just depends on your other circumstances.