Disability premiums and contribution based esa

Confusedandbothered

Hi, confused and frustrated, I was registered blind in 2011, due to a genetic disorder known as retinias pigmentosa and claimed contribution esa and dla, then moved to pip and still on contribution esa, I have been told by 3 yes 3 dwp advisors I am entitled to disability premiums, namely the disability premium and enhanced disability premium, but apparently not I have also read that after a judgement in 2014 both contribution esa and income related esa are one and the same according to the backpay, for the premiums but this is where I get lost, after spending what seems like years on the phone to dwp to confirm this but nobody seems to know, so my question is
A, Am I entitled to disability premiums
B will I get backpay as it seems to me the dwp are just fobbing me off
C If this is the case and the answer is No to both then the system is truly broken, because as someone who has paid national insurance since I left school and had to retire through no fault of my own, I am being penalised as if somebody who hasn't paid into the system would get at current rates approx an extra £100 to £160 a week now me thinks that is somewhat wrong thankyou

marcia_

Confusedandbothered said:

Hi, confused and frustrated, I was registered blind in 2011, due to a genetic disorder known as retinias pigmentosa and claimed contribution esa and dla, then moved to pip and still on contribution esa, I have been told by 3 yes 3 dwp advisors I am entitled to disability premiums, namely the disability premium and enhanced disability premium, but apparently not I have also read that after a judgement in 2014 both contribution esa and income related esa are one and the same according to the backpay, for the premiums but this is where I get lost, after spending what seems like years on the phone to dwp to confirm this but nobody seems to know, so my question is
A, Am I entitled to disability premiums
B will I get backpay as it seems to me the dwp are just fobbing me off
C If this is the case and the answer is No to both then the system is truly broken, because as someone who has paid national insurance since I left school and had to retire through no fault of my own, I am being penalised as if somebody who hasn't paid into the system would get at current rates approx an extra £100 to £160 a week now me thinks that is somewhat wrong thankyou

 People claiming contributions based ESA as i do too, are not entitled to premiums. They only apply to income based ESA which you can no longer claim. 

poppy12345

A/ It will depend on your circumstances and you haven't given any information for anyone to be able to advise.

B/ If entitled then yes. 

C/ Paying your NI since you left school is irrelevant for means tested benefit such as the Income Related top up (disability Premiums) for ESA. 

More information is needed to be able to advise. Do you live alone or with a partner? If with a partner do they claim any benefits their self or do they work? If benefits, which ones exactly?

Are you receiving any pensions? Do you have capital of more than £16,000? 

HillStreetBlues

marcia_ said:

Confusedandbothered said:

Hi, confused and frustrated, I was registered blind in 2011, due to a genetic disorder known as retinias pigmentosa and claimed contribution esa and dla, then moved to pip and still on contribution esa, I have been told by 3 yes 3 dwp advisors I am entitled to disability premiums, namely the disability premium and enhanced disability premium, but apparently not I have also read that after a judgement in 2014 both contribution esa and income related esa are one and the same according to the backpay, for the premiums but this is where I get lost, after spending what seems like years on the phone to dwp to confirm this but nobody seems to know, so my question is
A, Am I entitled to disability premiums
B will I get backpay as it seems to me the dwp are just fobbing me off
C If this is the case and the answer is No to both then the system is truly broken, because as someone who has paid national insurance since I left school and had to retire through no fault of my own, I am being penalised as if somebody who hasn't paid into the system would get at current rates approx an extra £100 to £160 a week now me thinks that is somewhat wrong thankyou

 People claiming contributions based ESA as i do too, are not entitled to premiums. They only apply to income based ESA which you can no longer claim. 

I believe if you claim an income related benefit such as housing benefit then you do get the disability add ons for ESA. That would mean a person's ESA consist of both con & income. 

Confusedandbothered

Hi sorry, I live with my partner who is self employed, we run a restaurant, I claim full pip, enhanced on both, contributory esa , no savings and a small pension of £117 a month also my partner just started getting uc migrating from working tax credits and she was told to claim the carers element of uc thankyou

Confusedandbothered

What is bothering me is the fact that I am still on contribution based esa and never had an assessment even though I am in the support group for esa, and the ruling that was made in 2014 concerns me regarding the backpay for the disability premiums thanks

marcia_

Confusedandbothered said:

What is bothering me is the fact that I am still on contribution based esa and never had an assessment even though I am in the support group for esa, and the ruling that was made in 2014 concerns me regarding the backpay for the disability premiums thanks

 If you are in the support group you will have had an assessment. However it may have been a paper assessment based on your form and any evidence you sent in. 

 What 2014 ruling are you talking about? 

Spoonie_Turtle

Did you ever fill out a form regarding your overall financial situation?

The NI you paid is what entitles you to contributions-based ESA.

Someone else who didn't pay NI, in the same situation as you, may not be entitled to anything if their overall financial situation meant they had too much income to qualify for income-based ESA.  I think for income-based a partner only gets to keep £20/week of what they earn and the rest is deducted from the ESA.

Have you been with your partner since you started claiming ESA, and have they been working full-time all that time?

If no, then it may be possible to fill in a retrospective income-based form to cover the times when it was possible you may have qualified for an income-based top-up.  But that would only be if your overall financial situation meant you qualified at any point, and so far nothing you've said indicates that you likely did.

poppy12345

Confusedandbothered said:

Hi sorry, I live with my partner who is self employed, we run a restaurant, I claim full pip, enhanced on both, contributory esa , no savings and a small pension of £117 a month also my partner just started getting uc migrating from working tax credits and she was told to claim the carers element of uc thankyou

Then this would be the reason why you may not have been entitled to any disability premiums. The disability Premiums are means tested and living with a partner would mean their circumstances would also be taken into consideration. 

As a partner on your claim earnings of up to £20/week would have been ignored, for every £1 over that amount the IR ESA would have reduced £1 for £1. 

Living with your partner would also mean no entitlement to Severe disability Premium, even if there was entitlement to Income Related top up, unless your partner was also claiming a qualifying disability benefit such as PIP/ADP daily living or DLA mid/high rate care or they are also registered blind. 

Your pension would also be treated as income for the Income Related top up of ESA and would reduce it £1 for £1. For all those reasons they was very likely no entitlement to any top up. 

The ruling you mentioned, if that's the underpayments and you've always lived with your partner who's worked, there would very likely not be anything that's owed. 

You would have also been claiming tax credits as a couple. Same applies to your UC, your partner would not be claiming that as a single person because it's means tested. 

Your UC will include the LCWRA element from the start of the UC claim. 

Are you claiming either daily living PIP/ADP or DLA mid/high rate care? If so then your partner can claim carers element of UC for looking after you. Providing no one else is claiming this or carers allowance for looking after you. 

Edit to add, the disability premium you mentioned is not payable when claiming ESA. It's only payable when claiming Income Related JSA or Income Support. 

poppy12345

marcia_ said:

Confusedandbothered said:

Hi, confused and frustrated, I was registered blind in 2011, due to a genetic disorder known as retinias pigmentosa and claimed contribution esa and dla, then moved to pip and still on contribution esa, I have been told by 3 yes 3 dwp advisors I am entitled to disability premiums, namely the disability premium and enhanced disability premium, but apparently not I have also read that after a judgement in 2014 both contribution esa and income related esa are one and the same according to the backpay, for the premiums but this is where I get lost, after spending what seems like years on the phone to dwp to confirm this but nobody seems to know, so my question is
A, Am I entitled to disability premiums
B will I get backpay as it seems to me the dwp are just fobbing me off
C If this is the case and the answer is No to both then the system is truly broken, because as someone who has paid national insurance since I left school and had to retire through no fault of my own, I am being penalised as if somebody who hasn't paid into the system would get at current rates approx an extra £100 to £160 a week now me thinks that is somewhat wrong thankyou

 People claiming contributions based ESA as i do too, are not entitled to premiums. They only apply to income based ESA which you can no longer claim. 

For the old contributions based ESA there are disability premiums possible, depending on circumstances. For New Style ESA, which I believe is what you're claiming as well as UC? There's no disability Premiums payable because it's a contributions based benefit only. 

Confusedandbothered

I'm on old style esa, never changed from 2011,i think I was getting IB when I had to retire, then my other half split her work between caring for me and the restaurant probably 20 hours on each and has been doing this for the last 13 years since I was retired, and never claimed carers as we were told by dwp that it was not enough hours caring, thanks