WRAG - Advice please...

blueoceans1971

Hi there,

Would like some advice.

My girlfriend recently, moved from esa support group to my income support claim, couples.

We have now received a questionnaire to fill out. With relation to the work related activity group. Her esa claim is still open, with a nil payment, so they could continue to apply her national insurance stamp.

I still don't get why they are asking her to fill out a wrag form though.

She has just had our baby, last week.

She is a carer to her son, who receives middle care dla.

She receives middle care/mobility dla for herself that is indefinite.

Should she have to fill out this form???

rogerblack

blueoceans1971 wrote: »

I still don't get why they are asking her to fill out a wrag form though.<snip>
Should she have to fill out this form???

She does.

She needs to fill in the form as simply being on credits only does not make her entitled to ESA forever.
If she is found to be entitled to the support group, her payments will resume.

merlin68

DLA awards are no longer indefinite. Will be changing to pip by 2017.

blueoceans1971

She stopped claiming esa back in June, as we moved in together, and we applied, and got couples income support in my name.

Her old esa claim has been left open, with a nil payment, and ni stamp being applied.

tomtontom

Is it an ESA50 form? If so it needs to be completed - she will continue to be assessed periodically for as long as she has an active claim. If not an ESA50, what exactly is the name of the form?

blueoceans1971

tomtontom wrote: »

Is it an ESA50 form? If so it needs to be completed - she will continue to be assessed periodically for as long as she has an active claim. If not an ESA50, what exactly is the name of the form?

Just checked. Yes, it is an ESA50 form.

But I thought as our baby is only 6 days old, she wouldn't need to fill this form out.

nannytone_2

why are you bothering to get her NI credits via ESA?
as long as the child benefit is in her name, she will be receiving a NI credit anyway.

even if she only receives NI credits through ESA, she still has to remain eligible for ESA itself, and so will be required to complete ESA50's and attend medicals if deemed necessary

densol_2

blueoceans1971 wrote: »

Just checked. Yes, it is an ESA50 form.

But I thought as our baby is only 6 days old, she wouldn't need to fill this form out.

Having a baby isn't a reason for ESA. I was back at my desk 3 weeks after the birth of my child in order to pay the mortgage The ESA form is in relation to her long term health issues. It's similar to completing the PIP form. Same sort of questions - so you will also get an idea of what that form asks ( harder than DLA )

rogerblack

densol wrote: »

Having a baby isn't a reason for ESA. I was back at my desk 3 weeks after the birth of my child in order to pay the mortgage The ESA form is in relation to her long term health issues.

This is incorrect.
Having a baby can be a reason for ESA - if your health or your babies health would be affected if you worked.
ESA can also be claimed for very short periods - one day in principle.
It is common for people to claim ESA for short periods of incapacity - not expected to last 13 weeks.

TELLIT01

densol is correct in saying that having a baby isn't a reason for getting ESA any more than pregnancy itself is. Medical conditions brought on by pregnancy or childbirth would be reasons for claiming ESA. There is a subtle but important difference. There are also now 7 'waiting days' for ESA so claiming for one day would be pointless.
What I'm more concerned about though is why the OP's partner moved from ESA Support Group to IS in the first place. She will have lost the premium for the Support Group by doing that.
It's not impossible that the couple will receive more on IS than on ESA but it's unlikely if one of them is in the SG.

densol_2

rogerblack wrote: »

This is incorrect.
Having a baby can be a reason for ESA - if your health or your babies health would be affected if you worked.
ESA can also be claimed for very short periods - one day in principle.
It is common for people to claim ESA for short periods of incapacity - not expected to last 13 weeks.

Well of course obviously but OP didn't say that - he just mentioned the timing of the baby ( ie just been a week ) if the baby exasperates the condition - even more reason to fill the form in.