ESA, UC and Veteran's War Pension

LuckyPhil

I've just discovered that if I was on UC my War Pension would be disregarded as income but as I'm on ESA I have only had £10 disregarded and the remainder has been counted as income and my fortnightly ESA payment has been reduced. So being on ESA has meant that I've been £60 or so a week worse off than had I been on UC. How is that fair? Daft question but why have I only just found out about this? How many other people does this apply to? I'm waiting for the RBL to get back to me as I'd like to see if there is any chance of us Appealing to the DWP and getting our money back-paid.....  Anybody else with the same problem?

NedS

Correct, a War Pension attracts £10 disregard on ESA and is fully disregarded on UC.

I am unsure why they are treated differently. You have little chance of appealing and getting it overturned as it is the law.

You are of course welcome to claim UC if you are entitled and can then benefit from the higher disregard.

LuckyPhil

NedS said:

Correct, a War Pension attracts £10 disregard on ESA and is fully disregarded on UC.

I am unsure why they are treated differently. You have little chance of appealing and getting it overturned as it is the law.

You are of course welcome to claim UC if you are entitled and can then benefit from the higher disregard.

I see what you mean NedS BUT as this lady recently proved, it can be done...  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/single-mum-takes-dwp-high-21369627

poppy12345

LuckyPhil said:

NedS said:

Correct, a War Pension attracts £10 disregard on ESA and is fully disregarded on UC.

I am unsure why they are treated differently. You have little chance of appealing and getting it overturned as it is the law.

You are of course welcome to claim UC if you are entitled and can then benefit from the higher disregard.

I see what you mean NedS BUT as this lady recently proved, it can be done...  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/single-mum-takes-dwp-high-21369627

I don't understand how you can compare that to yourself when that was childcare and UC. What's stopping you from claiming UC and then your pension will be completely disregarded.

JamesPeter

LuckyPhil said:

I've just discovered that if I was on UC my War Pension would be disregarded as income but as I'm on ESA I have only had £10 disregarded and the remainder has been counted as income and my fortnightly ESA payment has been reduced. So being on ESA has meant that I've been £60 or so a week worse off than had I been on UC. How is that fair? Daft question but why have I only just found out about this? How many other people does this apply to? I'm waiting for the RBL to get back to me as I'd like to see if there is any chance of us Appealing to the DWP and getting our money back-paid.....  Anybody else with the same problem?

Lucky Phil,

Get either the RBL or Veterans Welfare Service to work out a specific calculation, individual to yourself, to make sure you won’t be worse off.

 Although the 'Basic’ War Pension' (ie your percentage pension) is disregarded under Universal Credit, if you get certain supplementary allowances with your war pension, they are included in the calculation (such as Allowance for Lowered Standard of Occupation ((ALSO)) – which ironically if claimed pre 5th April 2009 may be excluded from an ESA calculation if you transferred across from Incapacity Benefit).  

 Comforts Allowance is another and you open up a whole can of worms if you try to claim UC whilst in receipt of War Pension Unemployability Supplement.

I am a veteran myself and helped another veteran who got into an awful mess with Universal Credit because of his supplementary allowances not being worked out correctly by the DWP.  The online benefits calculators are useless for veterans with a War Pension as they don’t work out the supplementary allowances correctly, so it needs an individual manual calculation to make sure you won’t be worse off.

NedS

JamesPeter said:

I am a veteran myself and helped another veteran who got into an awful mess with Universal Credit because of his supplementary allowances not being worked out correctly by the DWP.  The online benefits calculators are useless for veterans with a War Pension as they don’t work out the supplementary allowances correctly, so it needs an individual manual calculation to make sure you won’t be worse off.

Unfortunately pensions and allowances such as these are not straight forward and require manual intervention to ensure they are handled/processed correctly on UC. They are not covered very well on the UC training so many advisors may not be aware that they are treated differently to other pension income. Although once you have mentioned it or brought it to their attention, there is no excuse not to refer to the relevant guidance and ensure they are handled correctly. I get the frustration this must cause.

LuckyPhil

poppy12345 said:

LuckyPhil said:

NedS said:

Correct, a War Pension attracts £10 disregard on ESA and is fully disregarded on UC.

I am unsure why they are treated differently. You have little chance of appealing and getting it overturned as it is the law.

You are of course welcome to claim UC if you are entitled and can then benefit from the higher disregard.

I see what you mean NedS BUT as this lady recently proved, it can be done...  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/single-mum-takes-dwp-high-21369627

I don't understand how you can compare that to yourself when that was childcare and UC. What's stopping you from claiming UC and then your pension will be completely disregarded.

Oh hello again Poppy12345, 
I wasn't comparing myself to anyone. I think you are confused. If you read the thread again you can see that I'm making the point that just because it is UC or ESA doesn't mean that it can't be challenged and overturned. I'd like to get the money refunded that's been classed as income and deducted from my ESA. I'm hoping to get the RBL to assist.
Hope this helps. 

LuckyPhil

LuckyPhil said:

poppy12345 said:

LuckyPhil said:

NedS said:

Correct, a War Pension attracts £10 disregard on ESA and is fully disregarded on UC.

I am unsure why they are treated differently. You have little chance of appealing and getting it overturned as it is the law.

You are of course welcome to claim UC if you are entitled and can then benefit from the higher disregard.

I see what you mean NedS BUT as this lady recently proved, it can be done...  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/single-mum-takes-dwp-high-21369627

I don't understand how you can compare that to yourself when that was childcare and UC. What's stopping you from claiming UC and then your pension will be completely disregarded.

Oh hello again Poppy12345, 
I wasn't comparing myself to anyone. I think you are confused. If you read the thread again you can see that I'm making the point that just because it is UC or ESA doesn't mean that it can't be challenged and overturned. I'd like to get the money refunded that's been classed as income and deducted from my ESA. I'm hoping to get the RBL to assist.
Hope this helps. 

And, yes, I could apply for UC. I'm looking in to it. But I'm also interested in finding out if many more Vet's have had their War Pensions counted as income on Legacy Benefits like ESA. Then we may be able to group together to fight for the money to be refunded. 

Spoonie_Turtle

LuckyPhil said:

poppy12345 said:

LuckyPhil said:

NedS said:

Correct, a War Pension attracts £10 disregard on ESA and is fully disregarded on UC.

I am unsure why they are treated differently. You have little chance of appealing and getting it overturned as it is the law.

You are of course welcome to claim UC if you are entitled and can then benefit from the higher disregard.

I see what you mean NedS BUT as this lady recently proved, it can be done...  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/single-mum-takes-dwp-high-21369627

I don't understand how you can compare that to yourself when that was childcare and UC. What's stopping you from claiming UC and then your pension will be completely disregarded.

Oh hello again Poppy12345, 
I wasn't comparing myself to anyone. I think you are confused. If you read the thread again you can see that I'm making the point that just because it is UC or ESA doesn't mean that it can't be challenged and overturned. I'd like to get the money refunded that's been classed as income and deducted from my ESA. I'm hoping to get the RBL to assist.
Hope this helps. 

So in other words you want them to change the legislation for ESA, a legacy benefit that is being phased out and has already been replaced with UC with (on first glance at least) more favourable rules in this area.  I wouldn't hold out much hope, but if you have the time and energy this may be a fight where you feel you have nothing to lose.

LuckyPhil

Spoonie_Turtle said:

LuckyPhil said:

poppy12345 said:

LuckyPhil said:

NedS said:

Correct, a War Pension attracts £10 disregard on ESA and is fully disregarded on UC.

I am unsure why they are treated differently. You have little chance of appealing and getting it overturned as it is the law.

You are of course welcome to claim UC if you are entitled and can then benefit from the higher disregard.

I see what you mean NedS BUT as this lady recently proved, it can be done...  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/single-mum-takes-dwp-high-21369627

I don't understand how you can compare that to yourself when that was childcare and UC. What's stopping you from claiming UC and then your pension will be completely disregarded.

Oh hello again Poppy12345, 
I wasn't comparing myself to anyone. I think you are confused. If you read the thread again you can see that I'm making the point that just because it is UC or ESA doesn't mean that it can't be challenged and overturned. I'd like to get the money refunded that's been classed as income and deducted from my ESA. I'm hoping to get the RBL to assist.
Hope this helps. 

So in other words you want them to change the legislation for ESA, a legacy benefit that is being phased out and has already been replaced with UC with (on first glance at least) more favourable rules in this area.  I wouldn't hold out much hope, but if you have the time and energy this may be a fight where you feel you have nothing to lose.

The RBL has an excellent recent report,  Making The Benefits System Fit For Service,  so I'm hoping that now is a good time to try to make the DWP a bit more consistent when it comes to Veteran's War Pensions. Fingers crossed. 

calcotti

LuckyPhil said:The RBL has an excellent recent report,  Making The Benefits System Fit For Service,  so I'm hoping that now is a good time to try to make the DWP a bit more consistent when it comes to Veteran's War Pensions. Fingers crossed. 

For those interested, you can find the report here https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/things-to-do/campaigns-policy-and-research/campaigns/making-the-benefits-system-fit-for-service