No benefits after car crash puts you out of work?

carcrash

Hi. I am a long term forum member but wish this issue to remain anonymous hence the new user name.

3 months ago my partner was involved in a car crash and airlifted to a trauma specialist hospital for treatment. Her main injury was bleeding on the brain which left her with severe memory loss and lack of mobility.

She was discharged after two weeks and is thankfully recovering well with (limited) support from physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist etc. She is left with altered sensations in her lower body and anxiety attacks that leave her with a difficulty in communicating in any kind of challenging situation. This has left her unable to return to work. While she continues to recover from this she has been signed off sick by her doctor.

The worry of what to do about her job was in my opinion significantly impairing her emotional recovery and following an aborted attempt to return to work she decided to quit her job in order to focus on her recovery.

She has been signed off sick for two months by her GP.

According to the benefits calculator here (thanks for that very useful) she is not entitled to any benefits of any kind. This I suspect is due to my salary which is above £50k pa.

We very much keep our finances to ourselves and do not pool resources. It seems incredible to me that someone who has worked all her life and been through what she has is entitled to nothing when she needs it. She is a very proud lady and will struggle I know to have no income of her own and live off me.

Can anyone confirm the bandings in income that affect benefits in this case? Any help or advice very much appreciated.

Thanks

GwylimT

She may be able to claim PIP, however as a couple you are earning far far too much to need any income related benefits.

pmlindyloo

Since you say that she has worked all her life then she will probably be eligible for contribution based JSA or ESA. This is based on her NI contributions and your income and savings will have no effect on her eligibility. As she is signed off sick form work then Employment Support Allowance is the obvious one to claim.

Personal Independence Payment is also a non means tested benefit which is for someone with care and mobility needs. You can google for the descriptors to see if she is eligible.

Is she going to receive compensation for her injuries?

All means tested benefits are assessed using household income so your salary will take you beyond any means tested benefits.

If you think she may feel too proud to 'live off' you, ask what she will have done if the positions were reversed.

There are often threads on here about how you work out your finances in a partnership and many people seem to keep their finances separate. However, when something like this happens you have to 'pool resources'. This is what is expected when applying for means tested benefits.

Hope she gets well soon.

Londonsu

carcrash wrote: »

Hi. I am a long term forum member but wish this issue to remain anonymous hence the new user name.

3 months ago my partner was involved in a car crash and airlifted to a trauma specialist hospital for treatment. Her main injury was bleeding on the brain which left her with severe memory loss and lack of mobility.

She was discharged after two weeks and is thankfully recovering well with (limited) support from physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist etc. She is left with altered sensations in her lower body and anxiety attacks that leave her with a difficulty in communicating in any kind of challenging situation. This has left her unable to return to work. While she continues to recover from this she has been signed off sick by her doctor.

The worry of what to do about her job was in my opinion significantly impairing her emotional recovery and following an aborted attempt to return to work she decided to quit her job in order to focus on her recovery.

She has been signed off sick for two months by her GP.

According to the benefits calculator here (thanks for that very useful) she is not entitled to any benefits of any kind. This I suspect is due to my salary which is above £50k pa.

We very much keep our finances to ourselves and do not pool resources. It seems incredible to me that someone who has worked all her life and been through what she has is entitled to nothing when she needs it. She is a very proud lady and will struggle I know to have no income of her own and live off me.

Can anyone confirm the bandings in income that affect benefits in this case? Any help or advice very much appreciated.

Thanks

I have worked and paid in for 45 years and because my Husband has a state pension (which he also paid in for 45 years to get) I myself am not entitled to any income related benefits should I lose my job, and my Husbands pension is nowhere near your 50k not even a fraction of it.


IR benefits are for people living on a low income for no income all not for people who think they are entitled it because they have paid in or are 'too proud' to share their partners salary and want their 'own' money.


Personally I believe that sharing finances and supporting each other in times of hardship is part and parcel of a committed relationship, its certainly worked for me and my Husband during our 43 years of marriage

outofworksch

Assuming the accident was not her fault, can she not claim from the insurance company for loss of earning, damages etc, keeping any money for herself?

swingaloo

Its terrible that she has been involved in an accident but she is lucky in one way- She has a loving partner who is willing and able to support her emotionally and financially through this period until she is well again and receives compensation. Doesn't she?

carcrash

Thanks for your comments, although it appears that I have accidentally posted in the 'jealousy forum'.

Hope she gets well soon.

Thanks

I have worked and paid in for 45 years and because my Husband has a state pension (which he also paid in for 45 years to get) I myself am not entitled to any income related benefits should I lose my job, and my Husbands pension is nowhere near your 50k not even a fraction of it.

I am very glad for you that you appear to be happy with this state of affairs.

Assuming the accident was not her fault, can she not claim from the insurance company from loss of earning, damages etc, keeping any money for herself, since you do not share with life throws you ?

She is claiming although the process will take approximately 3 years. Perhaps I should have made it clear in my post above that I am very unselfish and have happily spent already thousands of pounds in order to aid her recovery. I didnt feel that was relevant to my point at the time. My bad - I underestimated the animosity of this forum.

carcrash

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Since you say that she has worked all her life then she will probably be eligible for contribution based JSA or ESA. This is based on her NI contributions and your income and savings will have no effect on her eligibility. As she is signed off sick form work then Employment Support Allowance is the obvious one to claim.

Personal Independence Payment is also a non means tested benefit which is for someone with care and mobility needs. You can google for the descriptors to see if she is eligible.

Is she going to receive compensation for her injuries?

All means tested benefits are assessed using household income so your salary will take you beyond any means tested benefits.

If you think she may feel too proud to 'live off' you, ask what she will have done if the positions were reversed.

There are often threads on here about how you work out your finances in a partnership and many people seem to keep their finances separate. However, when something like this happens you have to 'pool resources'. This is what is expected when applying for means tested benefits.

Hope she gets well soon.

Thanks. Exactly what I needed to know.

carcrash

GwylimT wrote: »

She may be able to claim PIP, however as a couple you are earning far far too much to need any income related benefits.

Thanks for the info.

carcrash

swingaloo wrote: »

Its terrible that she has been involved in an accident but she is lucky in one way- She has a loving partner who is willing and able to support her emotionally and financially through this period until she is well again and receives compensation. Doesn't she?

No.

I have been able to cope with the 96 straight hours by her bedside in trauma without sleep or food, 2 weeks of hell trying to figure out whether she will be able to speak/walk/talk again and 3 months of rehabilitation where she has talked many times about wanting to end it all.

But her not being able to contribute anything to the household financially I think can only result in terminal separation. :wall:

Edit: To be absolutely clear the final paragraph above was a very poor use of sarcasm.

Indie_Kid

Just to warn you - PIP is taking some 26 weeks (maybe longer) to sort out.