Advice required on incapacity benefits to esa transitional benefits

ettsam

Hi,


I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on transitional benefits especially if they were entitled to transitional addition only


Should I still be entitled to the £106 benefit that I received when on incapacity even if I receive a pension


Thank you for your help

pmlindyloo

IS this what you are looking for?

Pensions prior to conversion

Certain pension payments or PPF periodic payments, do not fall to be deducted from ESA(Cont). In addition any pension payment or PPF periodic payment is disregarded where:

1. . the claimant was entitled to IB immediately before conversion to ESA and
2. . IB was not reduced by a pension or PPF payment because
2.1 the claimant was entitled to DLA care component at the highest rate or
2.2 the claimant qualified for IB under the provisions for those incapacitated in youth because of previous entitlement to SDA or
2.3 the claimant was entitled to IB before 6.4.01 on any day of IfW in a PIW which began before and continues after that date

Vol 8 Amendment 7 February 2011

So the question is were you receiving IB before 6.4.01 or are you receiving DLA care component at the highest level?

calcotti

pmlindyloo wrote: »

So the question is were you receiving IB before 6.4.01 or are you receiving DLA care component at the highest level?

My reading of this is that the highest rate DLA care component is only relevant if it applied at same time as IB, not if it arose later.

ettsam

Hi
Thanks for that information I should have said that after the 365 days I was put into the wrag group and they say pensions are only disregarded for contribution based esa what I was wondering is if I should have still been entitled to the transitional allowance of £106

pmlindyloo

ettsam wrote: »

Hi
Thanks for that information I should have said that after the 365 days I was put into the wrag group and they say pensions are only disregarded for contribution based esa what I was wondering is if I should have still been entitled to the transitional allowance of £106

I think you need to take all your paperwork and timeline of events to CAB and ask them to check your current award.

It is difficult for us to answer your question without knowing a timeline of your benefits, pensions, personal circumstances.

It seems that you were originally on IB with a pension that was ignored and on transfer to ESA were placed in the Support Group but since your ESA was less than your IB you received a transitional addition - is this the £106 you are talking about or the amount you actually received - and your pension ignored?

Now you have been transferred to the WRAG group with income related ESA and they are saying they will no longer pay the transitional addition and are deducting the pension £ for £. Is that correct?

calcotti

You say you were put into the WRAG group after 365 days.

I infer that you transferred onto ESA from IB at which time you were put in the Support Group. At a later date you have had a new Work Capability Assessment which has resulted in you being moved into the WRAG and because more than 365 days had already gone you are now receiving income based ESA.

If your pension was not in payment prior to switching from IB to ESA I believe the situation is as follows. Your initial ESA award included a transitional addition to make sure your ESA was not less than you received on IB. This TA reduces slightly each time general ESA rates increase (and will disappear completely on 5th April 2020). Although this provides protection it does not exclude you from normal ESA rules. You have now started to receive a pension. For income based ESA any pension income is deducted in full from the ESA award and your ESA award will reduce, although it will still be more than you would otherwise have got because of the inclusion of the transitional addition.

If this is correct your ESA award will say something like this:
Basic amount
WRAG component
Transitional addition
Making a total of
less pension income
Amount payable

However this will not be the case if any of the circumstances identified in pmlindyloo's post apply to you.

Critical question is was your pension in payment before transfer to ESA or did it start afterwards.

calcotti

Just found something else:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738546/dmgch45.pdf

"Termination of the transitional addition

Paragraph 45845 Entitlement to a TA terminates
1. where the TA is reduced to nil . . .
2. where the claimant’s entitlement to ESA ends(but see DMG 45845 for exceptions)
3. on 5.4.20
whichever is the earlier.
Note: DMs should note that a TA is part of the appropriate ESA contributory or income-related allowance. See DMG 45780- 45781 for further guidance.

Example
Wesley is entitled to IB, which includes an age addition, He is not entitled to IS. His award of IB is converted to ESA( Cont). His award is made up of the personal allowance, the WRAC, and a TA. Wesley’s award of ESA(Cont) is terminated after 365 days. As he has no income, Wesley is entitled to ESA(IR) when the ESA(Cont) award is terminated. The TA is part of his entitlement to ESA(Cont) only, and terminates on the same day as entitlement to ESA(Cont)."

This indicates that when you switched to income based ESA you lost the TA and your claim is now simply a standard ESA claim and pension income will be fully taken into account (again assuming that none of the exceptions listed in pmlindloo's post apply).

ettsam

Hi


Thanks for the information. My benefits have become complicated because at the time of transfer from IB to ESA I was actually on bereavement benefit. I have been told my pensions are disregarded if I was on contribution based benefits. I was put in the wrag group but did not realise this would have any effect on my benefits and didnt appeal the decision, therefore I wondered if I would be entitled to the transitional only addition which would have been the £106 i was receiving when i was on IB I have now been put back in the support group but will not receive any benefits as they say I do not have enough contributions

calcotti

ettsam wrote: »

I have now been put back in the support group but will not receive any benefits as they say I do not have enough contributions

Even if not entitled to contribution based ESA but will still be assessed for entitlement to an income based payment. However if your other income (including your partner's income, if you have one) is higher than your ESA entitlement you will get nothing. If you live alone your income based ESA Support Group entitlement would be £127.15/week (unless you get daily Living component of PIP and no-one gets Carer's Allowance for looking after you in which it would be £191.45/week).

However I've got an idea that if your original ESA was contribution based (which it will have been at transfer from IB) then although you have been getting income based WRAG now that you are back in Support Group you become entitled to contribution based ESA again. I haven't got time to check that at the moment - anybody else any thoughts on that?

ettsam

Thank you for your help they are saying i would need to make a new claim for ESA and they would then use last year to check if I had enough contributions but since I was on ESA and not working I do not have enough contributions

calcotti

ettsam wrote: »

Thank you for your help they are saying i would need to make a new claim for ESA and they would then use last year to check if I had enough contributions but since I was on ESA and not working I do not have enough contributions

I've lost the plot here. If you were getting ESA when in the WRAG and were then moved to Support your ESA entitlement would go up even if it was all income based. You say that you are not entitled to anything although in the Support Group in which case you wouldn't have been entitled to anything in WRAG either and your claim would have ended, in which case why were you reassessed?

Could you clarify your ESA history and when other income kicked in which affected your award.

---

I have now found what I was thinking about in my earlier post

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181603/esa-changes-q-and-a.pdf

"If someone has claimed contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance for 365 days will they be able to re-qualify?

Claimants may be able to re-qualify for a further 365 days of Employment and Support Allowance if they leave benefit for more than 12 weeks and, on a repeat claim, they meet the National Insurance conditions in full.

Contribution-based ESA is not time limited for claimants in the Support Group. If someone’s contribution-based ESA ceases as a result of time limiting and their health deteriorates to such a degree that they move to the Support Group, then, as long as they have continued to have limited capability for work, they will, on a repeat claim, automatically qualify for a further award of contribution-based ESA. This award will continue for as long as they remain in the Support Group. If they are later placed in the Work Related Activity Group, their award will end, unless they re-qualify using new National Insurance contributions."

It looks as if I had misremembered it. This refers to a repeat claim and having to meet the NI conditions in full which if you have been on ESA for a long time you will not be able to do. You would need to have actually paid 6 months NI contributions in either the tax year 2015-2016 or 2016 to 2017.