PIP, ESA and carers allowance confusion.

Mentalist

Hi guys, I'm new here and looking for advice. After losing my 39th job recently due to my bipolar I am finally taking the advice of my team and claiming PIP and ESA. I have my ESA assessment coming up soon but I only made the call to PIP yesterday due to being unable. I live in privately rented accommodation and have partial housing benefit paying 3/4 of my rent. My partner is also disabled (severe mental health) and has PIP support group and ESA already long term.
We are a very unpredictable couple with frequent hospitalisations and bouts of mania and severe depression, we look after each other when it comes to day to day living.

My partner moved in with me recently and we thought it would be easy to just tell the DWP but after taking advice from welfare rights and then the CAB we are confused over what to do. One told us we should be claiming carers allowance for each other and the other told us we should be claiming ESA as a couple with the carers component.

Can anyone advise? I am not a stupid man but I am flummoxed by this and the more I read the more confused I get.

Many thanks.

pmlindyloo

Can you please tell us exactly what you are both claiming?

So, for each of you:

You - ESA - on the assessment phase - is it contribution based ESA or income based ESA? Application for PIP being made.
Your partner - ESA - contribution based or income based? Which group - WRAG or Support Group? PIP - which components and rates? Daily living? Mobility?

Any savings/capital for either of you?

Mentalist

Myself- ESA income based assessment. PIP application pending.
Partner- ESA income based, support group. PIP Daily living enhanced rate.

Thanks.

IAmWales

We are a very unpredictable couple with frequent hospitalisations and bouts of mania and severe depression, we look after each other when it comes to day to day living.

What happens if you're both manic or depressed at the same time? Your unpredictability and frequent hospitalisations strongly suggest you are not capable of keeping each other safe.

Claiming CA for each other would be making a mockery of the system. Claim ESA and PIP, and if you have additional care needs speak with your mental health worker or GP.

nannytone_2

you HAVE to make a joint claim because you are not receiving income related ESA.
it would be easiest if you are just added to her claim for now.

if you are living together and both have income related claims, you will have been overpaid and you need to sort this out as soon as possible.

going forward ....

at the moment, you can claim carers allowance. this would be deducted from the joint ESA claim but a carers premium would be added. so around £34 a week better off.

however, if you are awarded PIP you should stop the carers allowance and instead both claim the severe disability premium instead.

as both receiving the relevant disability benefits you are allowed to claim SDP.
this would be an extra £120 a week

poppy12345

Mentalist wrote: »

Myself- ESA income based assessment. PIP application pending.
Partner- ESA income based, support group. PIP Daily living enhanced rate.

Thanks.

Agreed with nannytone you can't both recieve Income Related benefits. You need to ring ESA as soon as possible and be added to your partners claim. The longer you leave it the bigger the over payment will be.

Mentalist

IAmWales wrote: »

What happens if you're both manic or depressed at the same time? Your unpredictability and frequent hospitalisations strongly suggest you are not capable of keeping each other safe.

Claiming CA for each other would be making a mockery of the system. Claim ESA and PIP, and if you have additional care needs speak with your mental health worker or GP.

I agree it seems ridiculous to be claiming carers for each other, this was advice given to me by a group called welfare rights who specialise in welfare claims, I thought it sounded wrtong so I went to the CAB and got conflicting advice.

The mania and depression is me. My partner is anorexic and severely self harms. I try to feed her and hide the blades and bandage her up when I fail, she looks out for me when I'm up or down. It's actually quite effective as we understand each other and we are both more stable than we were before we met.

Mentalist

nannytone wrote: »

you HAVE to make a joint claim because you are not receiving income related ESA.
it would be easiest if you are just added to her claim for now.

if you are living together and both have income related claims, you will have been overpaid and you need to sort this out as soon as possible.

going forward ....

at the moment, you can claim carers allowance. this would be deducted from the joint ESA claim but a carers premium would be added. so around £34 a week better off.

however, if you are awarded PIP you should stop the carers allowance and instead both claim the severe disability premium instead.

as both receiving the relevant disability benefits you are allowed to claim SDP.
this would be an extra £120 a week

So, as I understand this I should add myself to my partners claim as a couple and arrange a repayment of the overpayment, (a few weeks) then claim carers allowance. Will the premium be added automatically or do I need to apply? I'm assuming I would claim as carer for her as she already has PIP in place?

I haven't heard of SDP. I will have to go and look that up. Many thanks for your help on this. It's been getting me mighty stressed.

poppy12345

Mentalist wrote: »

So, as I understand this I should add myself to my partners claim as a couple and arrange a repayment of the overpayment, (a few weeks) then claim carers allowance. Will the premium be added automatically or do I need to apply? I'm assuming I would claim as carer for her as she already has PIP in place?

I haven't heard of SDP. I will have to go and look that up. Many thanks for your help on this. It's been getting me mighty stressed.

Yes you need to ring ESA tomorrow and claim as a couple with your partners claim. You can then start your Carers Allowance claim off, but this will most likely take several weeks because i believe there's a backlog in a lot of areas. Once it's up and running you'll recieve the Premium of £34.60 on top of your ESA instead of the Carers Allowance.