esa private pension worries

puma999

hi , i am receiving esa and have £475 per month early retirement pension , i am 61 , i have just had an increase and it is now £550 per month , i am away to inform esa and am concerned i am going to loose a lot of my income , my rent has increased as has my council tax which has swallowed the pension increase , i also get rent help from the council , how will this increase effect me ? thanks

pmlindyloo

Have a look at your ESA award letter to see if you are receiving contribution based ESA as part of your claim.

Also which group of ESA are you in? Support/WRAG/

Do you receive any PIP/DLA? If so which rates?

You ESA award letter should tell you exactly how much ESA you are receiving and how it has been worked out.

The we might be able to check the figures and how the pension will affect you.

Dazed_and_confused

You might want to keep HMRC informed just to make sure you don't run an unexpected tax bill. If your private pension and ESA are more than about £969/month then you getting towards potentially being liable for tax.

puma999

Hi , i get the high rate of pip , i am disabled through osteoporosis and have had both knees and hips replaced and several bones fused so have limited capacity and chronic pain , i also suffer from ptsd and depression ,i was assessed as being able to do sedentary work ?? i turned up dressed smartly and tidy ,freshly shaved and clean as i have done my whole life and this was noted in my assessment ,why? ,apparentyly i didnt fidget enough yet i shake like a leaf and can barely write,its a nightmare,this is now the subject of an appeal which ca are comfortable will go through and i will be moved to support from wrag,i am receiving contribution based award as it has been more than 365 days since my first claim ,thanks for your replies

TELLIT01

£550 pcm equates to roughly £126 per week. If you are on Conts ESA £85 is disregarded so the amount taken into consideration is roughly £40. Half of that figure is deducted from ESA so there is a net reduction of about £20 per week from the normal rate.
However, your ESA would already be reduced by about £12 per week due to your current pension. You will therefore see an additional reduction of about £8 per week.

TELLIT01

Dazed_and_confused wrote: »

You might want to keep HMRC informed just to make sure you don't run an unexpected tax bill. If your private pension and ESA are more than about £969/month then you getting towards potentially being liable for tax.

The pension provider should be informing HMRC about the pension increase. HMRC issue me with regular paperwork which does have an accurate record of my 3 company pensions and state pension.

puma999

ok thasnks , i will of course inform hmrc , i get taxed but also have been given most of it back every year in rebate ,thanks,so in effect i will be worse off , time to get rid of the mobility car and get a cheap one i think

epitome

How much ESA do you receive each fortnight? Is it always the same amount?

If you are in WRAG and had ESA Conts and it has been more than 365 days your ESA should have gone down after those 365 days...did it? What amount did it used to be?

What are your marital circs and How much savings do you or both of you have?

Do you live alone?

Does anyone get paid Carers Allowance to care for you?

Do you get PIP care or PIP mobile or both which rate for each?

What is the gross pension and the net pension?
Is the Pension through your pension provider or is it Permanent Health Insurance Policy?

Dazed_and_confused

ok thasnks , i will of course inform hmrc , i get taxed but also have been given most of it back every year in rebate ,thanks,so in effect i will be worse off , time to get rid of the mobility car and get a cheap one i think

Then this is an opportunity to make sure your tax code is up to date and avoid paying tax unnecessarily. Unless you are doing it deliberately as some sort of unusual savings scheme!

TELLIT01

puma999 wrote: »

ok thasnks , i will of course inform hmrc , i get taxed but also have been given most of it back every year in rebate ,thanks,so in effect i will be worse off , time to get rid of the mobility car and get a cheap one i think

No you won't be worse off overall. You will 'lose' half of the pension increase, so will be better off by about £35 per week overall.

puma999

hi , my circumstances are that i am alone , have no savings whatsoever , my tax code is up to date ,i get the same every fortnight and it went down after the 365 days from £153 to £134 per fortnight ,i do not get carers allowance as my sister comes in every day and she looks after me and does not want payment due to her own circumstances,i get the high rate of pip with mobility car,my net pension is £553 per month and its a local authority pension ,i retired early due to ill health but i had done more than thirty years so went straight on to the pension ,the lump some was divide with my ex wife and what was left was used to furnish and rent a cottage suitable for my needs, i understand the response saying i will be better off despite my reduction in esa but my rent and council tax increased and it dosdnt cover it , i will be £64 per month worse off , cheers all