Benefits questions and very confused.. help!

Kayla.23

Side note: sorry if this is long, I’m very confused about all this!

Hi, this is my first post on here so I hope I’m in the right place.
My partner lives on a narrowboat and has recently claimed housing benefit for the permanent mooring he has got for the boat. He is on esa, PIP and housing benefit as stated above. I am on contributory esa (I think, I’m not sure how to figure it out!) and I’m thinking about moving in with him; I know, should have thought about that before he claimed HB! I only stay at his place a couple nights a week as I still live with my mum, but we’d like to live together.

I’m trying to figure out what things will happen to our benefits if we are registered as living together? Like I’ve heard from someone we’d have to go on joint esa etc and it may be easier and more ‘money secure’ if I claim something else as we both already struggle with what we get each and will have to find a middle ground. He has very bad autism and barely leaves his home, so the main outside contact he gets is when I come over to look after him. I have read over a couple forum posts a few weeks ago and saw something about claiming full time carers allowance and income support as it works out at the same amount but I’m not sure if I have that wrong. I have been wanting to claim carers allowance as when he lived with his parents, I visited a lot more often and caring for him during that time was amazing for our relationship and he feels I helped through a lot of his problems living daily.

We’re quite young so have very little knowledge on what will be effected if I moved in. We also don’t know if the housing benefit will be effected by me moving in and also being on benefits.
I’m very confused, and worried that I won’t be able to move in without having to live on barely any money! All we want is to start a new chapter together but I’m worried about all the legalities and stress it may put on him. Thanks in advance for any help!

pmlindyloo

Before we can help we need to know the following information as the answers will make a difference. (For information about your ESA and your partner's ESA you need to look at the award letters. You can be on contribution based ESA, income based ESA or contribution based ESA with an income based 'top up'. If you are unsure you can tell us the amount of money you get and we might be able to figure it out.)

1. What kind of ESA are you both on? Which groups are you in ? Support group? WRAG group?

2. What PIP is your partner receiving? daily living/mobility?
Do you receive PIP?

Kayla.23

I’m getting £127.15 a week, I have had a job once before but it was for under a year (apparently that has something to do with which one you get) we’re both in the support group. On my letter it says ‘we have used the tax years ending 6 April 2014 and 5 April 2015 to assess your claim’ so I’m unsure which group that puts me in. My partner has contacted his mum about his letter as he doesn’t have it here.
My partner is receiving daily living PIP and I’m not receiving it, I’m only on ESA. Thank you for replying!

pmlindyloo

It looks like you are receiving income Based ESA with the support group component and an enhanced disability premium added (because you are in the support group).

If you are both receiving income based ESA (or even one with contribution based ESA with an income based 'top up') then you can be added onto your partner's claim.

Since your partner receives daily living component of PIP then you could apply for Carer's Allowance for him. You would be paid the carer's allowance separately but it would be counted as income for you ESA claim but then a carer's premium would be added on to the ESA.

If your partner is living alone and claiming income based ESA then it is possible that he has the severe disability premium added onto his claim because he is also receiving PIP daily living. He would lose this when you move in with him.

For him to retain his severe disability premium then you would have to be receiving daily living PIP.

Plus, you cannot receive the severe disability premium if someone is claiming Carer's allowance for you!

All very confusing isn't it?

What I suggest you do is take all of your award letters - ESA, PIP, HB, Council tax plus your most recent bank statements to CAB and they will do a benefit check for you and give you your different options. (Both of you)

Because you are both in the support group of ESA then claiming Income support as a carer would, most likely, be less financially rewarding for you both. CAB will advise re: this.

The good news is that you will be able to make claims together and the housing benefit will stay the same. Visiting CAB will help you maximise your income.

Have you looked at the PIP descriptors to see if you might be eligible?

Good luck!

Kayla.23

Thank you! That has cleared up a few of my questions. I was mainly confused as I had read on another thread similar to my position we would HAVE to mak a joint esa/income support claim to live together. My partner also gets the same amount for esa so I’m not sure if he gets an added severe disibility premium or not.

I’m not sure if I’m eligible for PIP too as I don’t have any ‘diagnosed’ problems other than M.E, the others are things like manic depression, severe anxiety and extreme paranoia (sounds like they don’t want to diagnose me with anything so put big words in front of it haha) so I will go have a check on GOVs website to see if I’m eligible. Thanks again for your advice, it’s helped a lot!

pmlindyloo

Kayla.23 wrote: »

Thank you! That has cleared up a few of my questions. I was mainly confused as I had read on another thread similar to my position we would HAVE to mak a joint esa/income support claim to live together. My partner also gets the same amount for esa so I’m not sure if he gets an added severe disibility premium or not.

I’m not sure if I’m eligible for PIP too as I don’t have any ‘diagnosed’ problems other than M.E, the others are things like manic depression, severe anxiety and extreme paranoia (sounds like they don’t want to diagnose me with anything so put big words in front of it haha) so I will go have a check on GOVs website to see if I’m eligible. Thanks again for your advice, it’s helped a lot!

You do!

I think you missed the part in my post where I said you have to be added to his claim. (i,e a joint claim)

Basically you have to have a claim together so you can be added to his claim or he can be added to your claim.

I only said you can be added to his claim because if he is added to your claim then only you will get NI credits which go towards your state pension. Whereas if you are added to his claim he will get the NI credits and you can get NI credits through claiming Carer's Allowance.

It is always very difficult to advise when we only have part of the information we need which is why I suggested you visit CAB with you and your partner's paperwork.

Benefits are very complicated and I really do not want to bombard you with too much information without knowing all the facts.

I wish you well.

Edit: CAB can also do a pre assessment for PIP to see if you are eligible which I suggest you ask for.

Ames

You can get PIP for mental health problems (I actually think it's better than DLA was for them).

I agree a visit to CAB would be helpful.

Can I just check though that you'd be living on the canal boat with him, not renting a property somewhere else?

Alice_Holt

Just to second pmlindyloo's excellent advice.

I too think getting a benefit check would be a good idea, you can take in all the paperwork and have a discussion with them. As pmlindyloo says "It is always very difficult to advise when we [may] only have part of the information we need"

Re: PIP I agree with Ames that PIP is worth a very careful look.
There are some helpful websites around -
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/images/image/samples/dla/sample_pip_jan17_v24.pdf
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system
(Note the "needs prompting" descriptors - these often apply with depression and anxiety; social engagement and budgeting may also be applicable if you can't do these activities reliably for the majority of the time)
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/725533/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-assessment-criteria.pdf
(page 73 onwards look at reliability - with ME it may well take you twiice as long to complete a PIP activity, and so score PIP points)
https://www.rethink.org/living-with-mental-illness/money-issues-benefits-employment/personal-independence-payment
(see the Useful Resources link on the bottom left of the page. The downloadable PDF has some excellent advice and examples).
https://www.actionforme.org.uk/uploads/pdfs/pip-filling-in-the-form-april-2017.pdf
("It’s really important that you explain if activities take a long time and if you need to keep resting either during the activity or afterwards. You may be able to do an activity such as getting dressed and undressed but it takes you a long time, leaving you completely exhausted, drained and experiencing a worsening in your symptoms. Therefore, although technically you can do the activity, you are not able to do it [reliably].
Some people like to keep a brief diary to help them when they complete the form and some people actually submit this with their claim form. ")

Try to get help with the PIP2 form if you do decide to apply (nothing to lose), if you can't, then membership of Benefits and Work may be worth thinking about in order to get access to their full guides.
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip


Good luck.

calcotti

I agree with all the advice above about getting all your paperwork reviewed if you have access to a CAB or other advice agency and to look at whether you may qualify for PIP yourself.

However even if you might qualify for PIP it takes a long time to get a decision after claiming so will definitely not help in the short term. Unless you get PIP, based on what you have said, you should expect your joint income to go down.

I would expect the following to apply. Your partner's PIP will not change, nor will his HB. You say that you are both getting £127.15 on ESA which means that you have combined income of £254.30. If you are added to his claim his ESA award will change to £176.05 (couple allowance but support component plus couple enhanced disability premium) and you will get nothing (your ESA claim will end). If you claim Carer's Allowance you will get £64.30 and your partner's ESA will become £147.75 making a combined total of £212.05.

This reinforces the need to get everything checked so that you are fully informed before deciding what to do.

If, in the future, you were able to get PIP that would be extra income and, if it it included the daily living part, would also result in an increase in the ESA amount payable.

One other point to note is that, once you added to your partner's ESA claim to create a joint claim, if you subsequently separate you will not be able to make a new single ESA claim for yourself if you live in a Universal Credit area but would have to claim UC instead.

calcotti

Further thoughts.

1) If you partner has been on ESA including an income based amount and has been getting daily living part of PIP and has been living alone and no-one has been claiming Carer's Allowance for looking after him then he has been entitled to Severe Disability Premium worth £64.30/week.

If you now move in and/or claim Carer's Allowance your partner's entitlement to SDP will end but they are still entitled to be paid it for any period of time during which all of the above applies or has applied including full backdating. Depending on how long this is it could add up to a helpful lump sum payment of arrears. Partner can simply ring ESA and ask them to review his entitlement to SDP. Very important however that you partner keeps DWP fully informed about situation to avoid any risk of overpayment.

2) If you think you may wish to apply for PIP and claim Carer's Allowance give some thought to what your difficulties are in respect of meeting the PIP descriptors and how these fit with what you do for your partner in respect of caring.