ESA moving in as a couple

obsidian_eclipse

Hello I hope you can help me here, it's very confusing trying to find the correct information.

Me and my partner are looking to move in together.

I have been claiming ESA for some time, transitioning to it from Incapacity Benefit, so I am in the Support Group with permanent entitlement to contribution based ESA. I recieve £112.05 p/w

My partner is on income based ESA and recieves the same figure with the enhanced disability premium (for being in the support group also).

Now. If we move in together are we able to keep our current claims but count my Cb ESA as income deducted from her Ib ESA? Or do we have to go through the whole ordeal of reapplying for a joint ESA claim with reassessments and so forth?

I can just about manage the rent on my property with some housing benefit (but pay a chunk out of my ESA). If we had to go to the 13 week assessment phase it would be impossible to survive as there would be no money for food or bills.

I have heard conflicting information and it is very hard to decipher.

If i fill out the 'Entitled To' form as myself it states we would be entitled to around 174p/w (112.05 Cb ESA plus 60 Ib ESA). However if I fill it out as my partner then it comes out 210p/w (98 Ib ESA plus 112.05 Cb ESA), which is clearly a big difference considering its the same information - just different primary claimant.

Im not sure how to proceed. Citizens Advice have been useless to me in the past and seemed to just want footfall through the door, one in one out. Is it a case of moving and submitting a new claim or amending an existing one?

Is it more straightforward than I'm making out and our claims are Open until the process is completed and we don't lose out?

Thankyou so much in advance.

Stop_Watch

They say you can't buy love.....

However what people forget is it is a lot cheaper to run a household with two people, For example you both use the same light bulb, you both watch the same TV, one council tax bill. if you have a hot water tank this could be used for two showers not just one. when cooking for two you use the same amount off gas and electric as for one. Only one water bill, only one internet bill. Cooking for two is easy as well as it is difficult to cook a say a stir fry for one as who wants a whole pepper in it or onion? Alot of the time this would end up waste.

poppy12345

Stop_Watch wrote: »

They say you can't buy love.....

However what people forget is it is a lot cheaper to run a household with two people, For example you both use the same light bulb, you both watch the same TV, one council tax bill. if you have a hot water tank this could be used for two showers not just one. when cooking for two you use the same amount off gas and electric as for one. Only one water bill, only one internet bill. Cooking for two is easy as well as it is difficult to cook a say a stir fry for one as who wants a whole pepper in it or onion? Alot of the time this would end up waste.

What sort of answer is this? How is the going to help answer the OP question? :rotfl:

obsidian_eclipse

To be fair the majority of the household bills aren't the problem. Im not one of those who manages to have sky and all the other bits and pieces. I don't smoke or drink either. My biggest outgoing is rent (moving is technically impossible for me because the costs make it prohibitive and it's already the cheapest I could get). weekly budget for food and all sundries is £25-30. Benefits isn't the choice I made, it's the predicament I'm left in after working 60 hours a week in my prime as well as volunteering in the community and being diagnosed with a immune disorder. My partner has MS and spinal legions and was getting DLA and carers until the PIP reassessment, she couldn't even leave the house so they had to assess her at home - but that's another fight which could take a long time to resolve.

It's not always so straightforward as it being cheaper to live together because of frying onions and sharing baths.

Time has been difficult and my health to the point I've considered giving up on life and even overdosed some time ago. It seems that at times society has given up to.

All I want to know is how to get what I'm entitled to get and what I am entitled to get. There's nothing anyone can teach me about budgeting, I've always managed my best. Or is it because i am disabled maybe I don't deserve a life or the live with a partner?

I tell you. If someone said they'd have to break every bone in my body to fix me I'd say do it. I'd love to be able to do the job I once did, have the income, the holidays and independence I once did. Heck, I used to work for nothing at all just because!

obsidian_eclipse

Forgive my repetitions.

BorisThomson

Sorry to tell you there is no permanent entitlement to ESA. You will be reassessed at some point in the future.

You've calculated your joint entitlement. Just notify the DWP and ask that your partner be added to your claim. There shouldn't be any gap between payments as it is an existing claim.

TELLIT01

BorisThomson wrote: »

Sorry to tell you there is no permanent entitlement to ESA. You will be reassessed at some point in the future.

You've calculated your joint entitlement. Just notify the DWP and ask that your partner be added to your claim. There shouldn't be any gap between payments as it is an existing claim.

If his partner is added to his claim she will lose her NI credits. His Conts only claims needs to continue, and SHE needs to add him to her Income Related claim. As the OP rightly surmises, his ESA money will be deducted from her claim. His partner needs to ask for an ESA3, change of circumstances form, and return that. Neither party will need to make a new claim.

obsidian_eclipse

Thank-you for your helpful replies! It's hard to make sense of a lot of the information out there, just having anothers input makes a big difference. I worry alot because with our combined problems it becomes a death sentence if finances are damaged by long waits and problems with claims. No income and being unable to work would be too much to bare.

I didnt mean permanent entitlemeny to esa, merely my contribution based esa doesn't expire to become income based.

So I would be added to her claim rather than starting a whole new process.. Thankyou.

epitome

Your ESA Conts claim should continue to be in payment just as it is now, do not close your claim. By the way, have you considered asking your ESA to be Income Related backdated to your date of migration, it would then be £125 a week backdated to when your IB stopped, unless there is a reason that you would not have gotten ESA IR ?????

Her ESA claim is already ESA IR, she just has to ask them for an ESA3 to add you to her claim from the date you moved in together.

Do either of you or both get DLA care or PIP DL?

At your existing homes do you both live alone? or who do you live with?
At your new home apart from each other will you be living with anyone else?

You said your partner had DLA and carers.... who was she caring for (to get carer's allowance)?
what rate of DLA Care? Was PIP refused for her? What about you?

There is another angle you will not have considered, by making this change the DWP can require your partner to claim UC instead of ESA you will have to wait and see.

obsidian_eclipse

I had no idea I could ask to change to Ib ESA or that it could be backdated. I migrated sometime in 2011. The letter from them was quite confusing and I originally asked for clarification as the Ib ESA would include a disability premium, it seemed none of them understood even when I went to the jobcentre and said I'd need to reapply for ESA which scared me off from upsetting the apple cart.

Im worried about applying for PIP as my partner had such an ordeal with DLA originally and the stress was so bad. She was originally offered it after appeal and then one day about 10,000 appeared in her bank (many years ago). She currently lives in her exes house even though they aren't a couple and he was her carer. She has significant mobility and care needs. So of course it's difficult relationship wise which is why it would be better to live together and move on from that part of her life.

It's been difficult because when they came to assess her for PIP they wrote a load of nonsense down which was nothing like what she said. A complete fabrication, so it was rejected. The whole thing is taking so long to sort out, it's nearly killing her and even the doctors are outraged. I don't think I could take the same.. I just want some quality of life, not loads of money. Enough to live without being hauled through the grinder. It might sound daft not to claim it. When you see these programs on TV where people seem to get everything and without issues, it's the total opposite. We were both professional people once, graduates, before all this I was only on the dole once and for about 3 days when I was 20.

I want to be able to pay the rent. Pay the bills and close the door without worry. A bit of security and no stress.

These are all things to consider though and I appreciate it greatly. I just need to take things step by step. Extra does help, so long as there's no strings attached.

obsidian_eclipse

Sorry it takes me a little while to process.

Currently we both only claim esa (myself Cb and her Ib). I live by myself and so have housing benefit and council tax benefit.

In the past she had DLA (lower rate care and medium mobility I think). It took so long to sort out it was paid in arrears. She had already split up from her ex at the time, though he cared for her. It is unreasonable after all this time for him to continue doing so. He has his own life and we have ours.

Universal credit isn't rolled out in our area yet.