Esa and dental treatment

mrdavidjk

I am on esa and pip and i am entitled to free dental, prescriptions etc and i assumed my wife would be also as she does not work as she cares for me (doesn't get an allowance for it )
She has been to the dentists several times but this time they asked her for proof of entitlement, they have a copy of my paperwork so i am a little concerned.
surely if she was not entitled someone would have flagged it by now  

calcotti

She needs to show your income based ESA entitlement letter. She is entitled to free dental treatment as your spouse
https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/dental-health/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/

If you get Daily Living part of PIP and your wife is not earning more than £123/week she is entitled to claim Carer’s Allowance. This would be deducted from your ESA but your maximum ESA entitlement would be increased by a Carer Premium of £36.85/week so you would be better off by this amount each week if you are getting maximum ESA.

If your ESA is a mix of contribution based and income based ESA and already has amounts deducted from it such that you get very little income based ESA then it might not be appropriate to claim Carer’s Allowance because without income based ESA you would not get passported benefits such as free dental care.

mrdavidjk

Thank you ever so much this has made me feel much  more at ease