Income Support: DP + SDP; Backdated Total?

Aionic

A few weeks back I made a separate thread. I was worried about my income support review form and a severe disability premium form that came all at once; right after I got PIP and my IS was automatically recalculated with the basic disability premium, with TWO backdated payments covering a lengthy period for IS and PIP. It left me in a confused mess.

The good news is, the review form was accepted and nothing changed. Even better, the SDP form was received and the SDP premium was added to my IS. The problems/worries are:

1: The basic disability premium hasn't been taken off my new IS total. I was under the impression the £34 basic rate would be replaced with the £61 severe rate. Is it right that both now make up my total?

2: Before even receiving the new IS rate/SDP letter, I was shocked at how much was in my account. When I phoned to query this, the person I spoke to went away for ten minutes and said it was fine, they don't make mistakes, etcetc. I thought it strange at the time because surely they'd only backdate the SDP to the date the form was sent, rather than my PIP claim start. They'd already paid £1000 for the backdated basic disability premium. But, using a calculator, it seems they've multiplied the £61 weekly SDP by the three quarters of a year I was waiting for PIP. The letter with the new breakdown arrived today and the backdated total that already went in is only in the hundreds; as if they moved the decimal point.

Now I'm just horribly confused: firstly, is it correct that BOTH the basic and severe premiums by paid at the same time? If so, it makes more sense. BUT, the fact that the backdated total on the letter doesn't match with what was paid into my account/said on the phone makes me concerned there's perhaps been a typo: either on the letter or what was paid to me. I mean, wouldn't the person I spoke to have noticed when he checked?...

nannytone_2

yes, they should be paying both premiums so that is correct.
yes, the SDP should be backdated to the date that PIP was dated from

pmlindyloo

Please check your amounts here: (you seem to have misquoted)

https://www.gov.uk/disability-premiums-income-support/what-youll-get

SDP is an extra amount to the basic disability element.

If you think they have backdated it incorrectly (as Nannytone says it should be to the date PIP was awarded) then ring them again and query it.

This time take the name of the person you speak to, the date and time of the call and exactly what they say (you can follow up in writing, if you like - keep a copy and receipt of postage)

All calls are recorded so if you tell them and they still say it is correct but later they say it is an error then it will have to be written off as an official mistake as you will have evidence that you notified them.

Aionic

Just to clarify, my money goes into a Post Office account and I only get statements every 6 months unless I request one be sent out (which I did, recently). So, I wasn't sure of the exact figure that went in; just that it was £2000+. On the phone - before the letter arrived - I was told £2440 went in.

£61 x 4 £244.4. 9x £244.4 = £2199.6. So, very roughly, around the full backdated total + IS went in. And that should be fine if they were meant to backdate, as you say.

The problem is, on the letter it says only £244.4, which would be a month. Whether they made a separate backdated payment I'm unsure, but I can't see why they'd do that. This isn't really something that can be cleared up here: will have to phone again. Just wanted to check it's correct that both premiums are paid at once. Thanks for that.

I do have another question, though: roughly £5000 in backdated payments have gone into my PO over the last month. As far as I'm aware, £5500 is the limit, then £1 is taken off for every extra £250. Does this mean my IS will have to be recalculated every few weeks/month unless I constantly withdraw? That seems a bit silly, if so... not my fault PIP took so long to be awarded! Didn't even know about IS disability premiums before claiming.

PS: I checked the amounts online before. Was quoting my CA premium with £34 mention. Sorry; easy mistake.

Horseunderwater

Savings threshold = £6k. Between that & £16k £1/£250 is taken off the IS.

nannytone_2

backpayments arent classed as savings for 12 months

lld01

Aionic wrote: »

The problem is, on the letter it says only £244.4, which would be a month. Whether they made a separate backdated payment I'm unsure, but I can't see why they'd do that.

The income support system often only automatically backdates a certain number of weeks, so additional payments are usually needed using a separate system - this will account for the separate payment.