Benefits when unable to work

LeafGreen

 

Hi, 

I’ve offered to help my brother look at his finances, particularly what benefits he gets.  He suffers from long-term depression, anxiety and related issues.  He hasn’t been able to work for upwards of 15 years and unfortunately I don’t think this situation is likely to change in the short term.

He is now living in a leasehold flat which is owned outright (purchased recently with proceeds from the sale of our old family home following the loss of our mum).

The only benefit he gets at present is basic PIP of £60/week. 

Fortunately he doesn’t have to worry about mortgage payments, but obviously will have ground rent, service charge, council tax, food and all the other usual bills.  He lives frugally but £60/week still seems rather on the low side to me.  He does have some savings but not a huge amount, maybe a few thousand from the inheritance.  Technically he does owe me money but this is informal and I’m not in any hurry for it to be paid back.

I have put his details through the “entitledto” website, which suggested Universal Credit as a possibility.  But before we make further enquiries down that route, I wanted to ask on here to see if that seemed the most appropriate way to go, given his position.  Or, bearing in mind he is not in a position to be looking for work, whether the £60/week is the most he is likely to be eligible for.

Thankyou for any insight you can give.

calcotti

From the circumstances you describe Universal Credit and Council Tax Reduction are the benefits to look at.

I don’t know how he has managed to survive on £60/week. He has probably been entitled to additional support for many years.

tacpot12

If he claims Universal Credit (UC) the DWP would normally expect him to look for work, and if he is too ill to hold down a job, then for him to ask for a Work Capability Assessment. This assessment can go one of three ways:

• they find that he is fit for work, in which case they will expect him look for work, and will stop the UC payments if he doesn't look for work
• they find that he is not fit for work currently but will be fit at some point in the foreseeable future, in which case the will pay him UC but not expect him to look for work (they will however expect him to do things to prepare him for when he will be fit to work). 
• they find that he is not fit for work currently and is unlikely to be fit to work ever, in which case they will pay him the  standard UC amount and an extra amount (of about £80 per week).

He will have to find out a UC50 form if he asks for a Work Capability Assessment. He will be familar with this type of form as he is claiming PIP, but it is important to realise that whereas PIP is looking at your care and mobility needs, a Work Capability Assessment is looking at your ability to work so they are a different type of assessment.

To ask for a Work Capability Assessment, he will also need a sick note from his GP to say that he is not currently fit for work. He may need some support to get him to the GP to ask for this sick note, or if the GP knows him well, he  may just get one upon request.    

LeafGreen

Thankyou both so much for taking the time out to reply to my query, that is really useful information :-)