ESA back payment and Disability Premiums

ww88

Hi , I cannot get help I need in my Local area as it is so busy and not yet as familiar as it seems your Forum seems though I cannot find how certain Benefits may work myself yet , in particular the possible back payment regarding ESA , and if possible to claim for Disability premiums if I am entitled to.
I am a single male aged late 50s and living alone.

I had been receiving Incapacity benefit since around late 1980s and then when I was migrated to ESA around 2014 or so I was told that I was automatically put onto Contributions based ESA Support Group and am still on CB ESA , though I'm not sure if they maybe top it up with some Income Related ESa. When I phoned the DWP last year they said that I would be worse off if I claimed Income Related ESA and they were not sure if I was entitled to any Disability Premiums anyway.

I mentioned that I may be entitled to backdated Disability Premiums but they said I probably wasn't and anyway because I receive some Reduces Earnings allowance and Industrial injuries then if I claimed any Premiums or Income Related ESA then if I was paid any more then they would take my REA/ IIDB from me and thaat would not just be the case now but also when I was Migrated from IB to ESA several years ago.


I have always been single , living alone , no carer. I was receiving DLA at time of Migration to ESA but not Higher rate. not longer after migration to ESA CB Support Group I went onto PIP aat Enhanced rate on Care and Mobility components. I am currently on PIP Standard care from review this year but still on Enhanced Mobility. Another person from DWP said he could not help with possible Back dated ESA payment from the time of Migration to ESa because my PIP enhanced care only started shortly after my Migration.
Benefit calculator seems to work out that I could receive more Council tax help and that it also points me to claim SDPremium. Any advice appreciated

pmlindyloo

ww88 wrote: »

Hi , I cannot get help I need in my Local area as it is so busy and not yet as familiar as it seems your Forum seems though I cannot find how certain Benefits may work myself yet , in particular the possible back payment regarding ESA , and if possible to claim for Disability premiums if I am entitled to.
I am a single male aged late 50s and living alone.

I had been receiving Incapacity benefit since around late 1980s and then when I was migrated to ESA around 2014 or so I was told that I was automatically put onto Contributions based ESA Support Group and am still on CB ESA , though I'm not sure if they maybe top it up with some Income Related ESa. When I phoned the DWP last year they said that I would be worse off if I claimed Income Related ESA and they were not sure if I was entitled to any Disability Premiums anyway.

I mentioned that I may be entitled to backdated Disability Premiums but they said I probably wasn't and anyway because I receive some Reduces Earnings allowance and Industrial injuries then if I claimed any Premiums or Income Related ESA then if I was paid any more then they would take my REA/ IIDB from me and thaat would not just be the case now but also when I was Migrated from IB to ESA several years ago.


I have always been single , living alone , no carer. I was receiving DLA at time of Migration to ESA but not Higher rate. not longer after migration to ESA CB Support Group I went onto PIP aat Enhanced rate on Care and Mobility components. I am currently on PIP Standard care from review this year but still on Enhanced Mobility. Another person from DWP said he could not help with possible Back dated ESA payment from the time of Migration to ESa because my PIP enhanced care only started shortly after my Migration.
Benefit calculator seems to work out that I could receive more Council tax help and that it also points me to claim SDPremium. Any advice appreciated

We will need some more information before we can help.

As a background...………

When you transferred from IB to ESA you may have had a 'transitional protection' - basically, you will have continued to receive the same amount of ESA as when you were on IB.

It is this amount of money that you use as a 'base' for the calculations. So what amount of ESA are you receiving at the moment? Check what it says on your award letter.

When transferring from IB to contribution based ESA you should have been assessed for income based ESA which would consist of having disability premiums added to the basic standard ESA rate for being in the support group.

Based on what you have said I think your income related ESA should be made up of basic rate +support component, plus the enhanced disability premium (for being in the support group) plus the severe disability premium for having med/high rate care DLA, living alone and no one claiming CA for you.

BUT you are receiving Reduced Earnings Allowance and Industrial Injuries. These will be counted as income (£ for £) for income based ESA and may 'wipe out' any income based 'top up'.

They should have done the assessment for income based ESA and compared it with your contribution based ESA award. Which ever is the greater will be paid.

If you tell us what your Reduced Earnings Allowance is and your Industrial injuries amount we should be able to do a rough calculation.

I am assuming you do not (have not had) savings over £6000.

Complicated without seeing your paperwork so you may wish to check with your local CAB. Anything owed can be backdated so you do have time on your side.

ww88

Hi , thanks for reply. I have no pension , the awards of reduced Earnings allowance and Industrial Injuries are banded together and paid in one 4 weekly amount. I rang the DWP last year and they said it would not be worthwhile claiming IR ESA because of my IIDB , though I thought I already had some IR topping up my ESA CB Support Group amount.

I thought I would still be entitled to at least one of the Premiums regardless of being on ESA CB Support Group , regardless of any IIDB payment. Regarding backdated ESA from Migration from Incapacity Benefit I was automatically put on CB ESA Support group and not offered IR ESA , I'm still on CB ESA and at point of Migration I was on DLA but maybe my DLA Award at time didn't qualify my for Premiums but a few months or so later I went onto PIP Enhanced rate on each Award. When I rang Oldham they said they couldn't deal with my possible backdating because at point of Migration I was not on PIP , but they said another Dept' may look at it , I rand DWP but to no avail. I was to believe regardless of ESA Award I would still be able to have a Premium , on my Housing Benefit award I still pay some rent and some Council tax but it says in Applicable amount a mention of : Single to Pension £73.10 , Enhanced Disability - Single £16.80 , ESA support £38.55 , Sev Disability Premium Single £68.85 , total applicable amount £194.30.

My ESA Award is : Living expenses £73.10
Extra money because severly disabled £62.45
Extra money because of Disability income guarantee £15.90

Limited Capability for Work addition:
Extra money because in support group £36.55
Which gives a total income-related amount of £188.00

Income and Benefits
Ind Injuries Dis Benefit for you £138.02
PIP not counted for ESA
Your total income £138.02
Your total income-related amount is £188.00 less £138.02 so you would have been entitled to £49.98

However because you are entitled Contribution-based ESA we will pay you £115.10 per week.

Top up payment
Included in your ESA Aloowance entitlement is a top-up payment ensures you won't see a reduction in
your benefit as a result of the change to ESA
The amounts on this page apply from 6th April 2018 to 12th April 2018.

My ESA CB support Group has been £115.10 per week for about 4 or 5 years , no increase at all.
I'm not sure if claiming IR ESA will give me full Housing and Council Tax benefit or that doing so will
make me have to then claim Universal Credit.

Advice always appreciated as I've searched online for so long but found no one in similar
circumstances to me regards

calcotti

Although the amounts you have quoted are from a previous year what this shows is that you have already been assessed for income based ESA giving a maximum entitlement of £188 (which includes the Severe Disability Premium). However your income of £138.02 is deducted from this giving an income based ESA entitlement of £49.98. This is less than your contribution based entitlement of £115.10 so you receive only the contribution based payment. The reason this has remained unchanged is that it includes transitional protection from your transfer from IB which sets your contribution based amount at a minimum level which is more than you would otherwise get (it would otherwise currently be £111.85).

If you did not get the IIDB then you would get income based ESA and this would get you full HB and CTR (assuming there are no savings to be taken into account) but your income would of course only be £188/week rather than the £253.12 you currently receive.

ww88

Hi , not sure if it makes any difference but I only filled in ESA IR form last year. I was not contacted on Migration to ESA several years ago , I only became entitled ti PIP after Migration

calcotti

ww88 wrote: »

Hi , not sure if it makes any difference but I only filled in ESA IR form last year. I was not contacted on Migration to ESA several years ago , I only became entitled ti PIP after Migration

Doesn't make a difference assuming you were in receipt of IIDB throughout. The calculation clearly shows that because of the IIDB there is no entitlement to income based ESA even with all the applicable premiums because the income based entitlement is less than the £115.10 you are already getting.