Lost an intestine and therefore work, struggling to get any benefits!

Ames

I second the suggestion to apply for PIP, although he might not qualify yet. I can't remember how many months care needs have to be present for, I think it's either three or six.

sheramber

DWP don't deal with NIC so wonlt have any details of how the amount is arrived at.

You should have been sent a notice advising you how much the fine is. There will also be penalties due to the lateness of payment and interest.

The person you spoke re payment may not have known about the fines etc. They would only have a screen which showed the amount overdue.

The fines etc would be worked out by the computer once the payment was logged.

The Contributions Agency would be able to tell you how the payment due was made up.

The DWP are not fining you. The amount due will be deducted from the benefit payment on behalf on th Contributions Agency

marliepanda

Ames wrote: »

I second the suggestion to apply for PIP, although he might not qualify yet. I can't remember how many months care needs have to be present for, I think it's either three or six.

Present for 6 and likely to continue for 6 I believe...

A well recovered stoma will not need ongoing care from an additional person. I very much doubt it would qualify someone for PIP (from my admittedly limited experience of 2 friends with them)

haras_nosirrah

unfortunately there isn't much help for homeowners. I don't suppose you took out any kind of income protection policy for the mortgage you have forgotten about?

poppy12345

For PIP you must have had the condition for at least 3 months and expect it last at least a further 9 months.

sheramber

marliepanda wrote: »

Present for 6 and likely to continue for 6 I believe...

A well recovered stoma will not need ongoing care from an additional person. I very much doubt it would qualify someone for PIP (from my admittedly limited experience of 2 friends with them)

2. Eligibility

You must be aged 16 to 64 and have a health condition or disability where you:

have had difficulties with daily living or getting around (or both) for 3 months
expect these difficulties to continue for at least 9 months (unless you’re terminally ill with less than 6 months to live)

You must have lived in England, Scotland or Wales for at least 2 of the last 3 years, and be in one of these countries when you apply. If you’ve recently returned from living in another EEA country, you might be able to get PIP

RatQueen

Forgive me for addressing multiple points in one post, I'll try to cover everything mentioned above and provide a bit more info!

I've just had a callback for someone from DWP to explain what's going on. I'm told that despite us being unaware any payment was outstanding until the day we paid it back, there is a rule by which 6 weeks have to pass from the date of payment before benefits can be awarded.

I'm struggling with this (well, everything today!) as we would have had to go back in time to pay the outstanding £150 contribution otherwise. As the fee was paid early December - and DWP can see that it was paid on the date we were informed of it - benefits don't start until mid January.

My husband has been paying his full stamp every year since he was of age, this £150 underpayment has come out of nowhere and we were happy to pay it the moment we were aware of it. At no point were we told this would be detrimental to our claim. The underpayment was for the tax year 2014/15, not a peep from anyone about it until our ESA application.

We've gone from him earning ~£700/week to nothing, I am barely keeping us fed, and the only bit of help DWP could offer was "Ring National Insurance, ask them to remove the late payment notice. If they do we can backdate your claim to September". Brilliant! "Don't get your hopes up though because I don't think they will". Brilliant.

I can pick up more hours at work but the reason I am part time is I have my own (non PIP qualifying) disability and working much more than I do would mean CH and I would both need a carer, haha! My mobility isn't great but it's leaps and bounds better now I'm part time, full time hours cause severe mobility issues. CH also needs my help at home to get dressed, cook most meals, he has only just been given the OK by his surgeon to lift a full kettle.

There's no point in applying for PIP etc as a) I don't think it would count, he's mostly out of the woods now and the stoma is working fine, and b) he's going to have to go back to work like...NOW, if we aren't getting any ESA backdated!!

We have blasted through our savings so are running on fumes at the moment, so I'm quite distraught haha, but the sensible side of me did re-do all our insurances et al to save money, renegotiated our mortgage to save us £200/month and swapped bank accounts, loads of those little money saving things. Thank god for MSE because it got us through Christmas for sure! We don't spend a awful lot, we're hermits who don't drink or smoke so we don't have huge huge outgoings.

I've got a bit lost here, I'm not sure what I've answered and what I haven't, my head's quite all over the place.

I don't think either of us qualified for any other kind of financial assistance either, as we own the house and have no kids.

Why is life so naff eh?!

marliepanda

Benefits are never going to replace a £2800 a month income, theyre not designed for that. Hindsight is wonderful but that is what income protection products are for (and savings!)

The debt free wannabe board could be good if you are earning £3600 a month between you, living like hermits without huge outgoings but still unable to manage a brief lapse in income or save enough to cover that.

FBaby

My husband has been paying his full stamp every year since he was of age, this £150 underpayment has come out of nowhere and we were happy to pay it the moment we were aware of it.

He can't have come out of nowhere though. How does he normally pay it?

I expect the fine is to ensure people don't just 'miss' payments and then think they can just pay the difference in one go when they actually need it.

I do feel for you though. If your OH didn't recognise at the time that he had missed the payment (although I fail to understand how this could happen), it's a very harsh punishment, especially for a first 'offence'.

RatQueen

(I hope quoting worked, I'm on mobile now!) That's essentially what they're saying, once the payment is made there's a block on benefits for 6 weeks. I was told (by the lass at DWP!) it's really to stop people manipulating JSA.

There was no letter or any other correspondence sent regarding an underpayment- NI themselves have no record of having sent anything and seemed surprised to find the underpayment when I called, but this got us nowhere when we initially queried it in December. CH pays his NI contributions yearly and has never had an issue that we knew about, for 12odd years!

It's not the loss of earnings that stings, thankfully our savings ate most of the damage, it's just incredibly galling that we've both paid so much in tax and insurance (as many have!) over the years just to be told that when we need it the most, the government can't even offer us £73.10 per each week CH was in and out of surgery et al. That's real life though I suppose!

I'm at least thankful for the NHS, if we were in the US I dread to think what our situation would be.