Some questions about benefits...

alyusiea

Hi,

I am looking for some information regarding paypal and benefits. I am currently on DLA and ESA. I know that with my ESA I am allowed to do some permitted work - but I am not sure on the rules for DLA.

I am thinking about doing some editing from home and charging a minimal amount for it - is this something that DLA will allow? My health hasn't changed; this is just something that is slightly easier for me to do and will stop me from going out of my mind.I was thinking about offering paypal as an option for payment but again don't know the law.

Any and all help would be much appreciated. I have already talked to CAB over the phone and was told an assessment would have to be made as and when my plan came into action.

Darksparkle

DLA isn't means tested so as long as there is no change in your condition then income won't affect it.

Mrs_Ryan

My OH works full time and claims DLA quite legally so it's completely possible to do.

HappyMJ

alyusiea wrote: »

Hi,

I am looking for some information regarding paypal and benefits. I am currently on DLA and ESA. I know that with my ESA I am allowed to do some permitted work - but I am not sure on the rules for DLA.

I am thinking about doing some editing from home and charging a minimal amount for it - is this something that DLA will allow? My health hasn't changed; this is just something that is slightly easier for me to do and will stop me from going out of my mind.I was thinking about offering paypal as an option for payment but again don't know the law.

Any and all help would be much appreciated. I have already talked to CAB over the phone and was told an assessment would have to be made as and when my plan came into action.

DLA is paid to meet the additional day to day living expenses you have with your disability. It's not means tested and you can work a full time job if you wish.

If you're just doing light clerical work then I wouldn't worry about any assessments as nearly everyone could do that.

Bananas123

but what about the esa ?

surely that would be affected / troubles caused if they went over / approaching the limits ?

it says you are only allowed to gain £20 p/w extra by working more then 16 hours a week ?, i don't envy an editor...

or more, for 1 year of work <16hours p/w, then you should stop. unless you are in the support group, then you are fine i think provided less then 16 hours.

(like 1 paragraph of editing for me)

---

paypal tax you ALOT of money i think 10/20% (?)... but funds go through fine.

unless things have changed.

Ames

alyusiea wrote: »

Hi,

I am looking for some information regarding paypal and benefits. I am currently on DLA and ESA. I know that with my ESA I am allowed to do some permitted work - but I am not sure on the rules for DLA.

I am thinking about doing some editing from home and charging a minimal amount for it - is this something that DLA will allow? My health hasn't changed; this is just something that is slightly easier for me to do and will stop me from going out of my mind.I was thinking about offering paypal as an option for payment but again don't know the law.

Any and all help would be much appreciated. I have already talked to CAB over the phone and was told an assessment would have to be made as and when my plan came into action.

Going off topic, but how do you get into editing? It's something I think I might be able to do but I haven't a clue how you'd enter the industry.

Detroit

DLA as others have said, is not affected by earnings.
However, you should be careful that your ability to do this work doesn't call into question the difficulties you have reported that have resulted in your DLA award.
This is particularly important as you will at some point have to move to PIP and be reassessed against more rigorus criteria.
Obviously this depends on your condition and certain disabilities may no impact on your ability to carry out the role.
However, you should be cautious if you are claiming due to difficulties with activities you would need to carry out while doing this work.

Similarly for ESA, be careful you are not going to be doing things that could be seen as evidence you don't meet the descriptors, such as sitting for long periods, manual dexterity, communication and so on, depending on which descriptors you scored under.
Be sure also to check out the permitted work rules for ESA as they are quite specific.

alyusiea

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the advice - my apologies, MSE didn't inform me of any replies so I haven't checked for any till now!

I know the waters are murky, and appreciate everything you all have to say. After speaking with the DLA team, they confirm they're unable to confirm anything until I begin and can be assessed.

@Ames, I love playing with words, and have edited (for free) for friends before - I know it isn't for everyone, and it takes a lot of patience. To try it, you could always post up on g+ or somewhere similar to see if anyone wants a free editor to begin with. Twitter is a good start, too!

@Detroit: This is what concerns me. No one seems willing to be able to say I'd be affected one way or another until I start trying to edit, and I don't want to find myself in the position where I don't have enough income to support myself. My DLA shouldn't be called into question as my health issues are all to do with the body - without going into detail - and editing can be done sitting down on a computer. But with the current government, who knows?I do appreciate your words though, and will take them into careful consideration. I'll also double check the ESA rules before leaping into anything.

To everyone - Should I ask for an assessment and see what happens? I haven't yet taken up editing (except for friends), but would like to, I'm just very wary about upsetting the balance.

Thanks again to everyone!

Diary

Not sure what they mean by assessment. A person on DLA can earn as much as they like without question, if we're talking simply in monetary terms.

Do they mean you'll be assessed to change to PIP I wonder? Triggered by a change in circumstances.

TELLIT01

For ESA, you do need to get agreement from DWP before you start Permitted Work to be completely safe. We did used to get requests in after the work had started and that can lead to problems.
Unless you are in the Support Group, you can only do Permitted Work for a maximum of 52 weeks, and have to work less than 16 hours per week. There is also an upper limit on earning which used to equate to 16 x National Minimum Wage. I don't know if that has been increased to 16 x National LIVING wage, so you should check that also.