Disability premiums and contribution based esa

Confusedandbothered

And never filled out a form regarding finances, I had to go to the job centre before being put in the support group even though I was registered blind

poppy12345

Confusedandbothered said:

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

Based on the information you've given here there would have been no entitlement to any disability premiums on top of your contributions based ESA. 

Going forward because you're now both claiming UC your partner can claim carers element. There's no earnings limit to this like there is with carers allowance. As a carer they will have no work commitments. As they are self employed they won't be found to be gainfully self employed as a carer. 

Spoonie_Turtle

poppy12345 said:

Confusedandbothered said:

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

Based on the information you've given here there would have been no entitlement to any disability premiums on top of your contributions based ESA. 

Going forward because you're now both claiming UC your partner can claim carers element. There's no earnings limit to this like there is with carers allowance. As a carer they will have no work commitments. As they are self employed they won't be found to be gainfully self employed as a carer. 

Which means no minimum income floor, so OP your UC payment will be calculated based on actual earnings so no worries there about 'earning enough'.

Confusedandbothered

OK thankyou, just wish the dwp new what they were on about when I was told by 3 separate advisors I am entitled to premiums, the system is definatley designed for those that haven't put enough in, I think I will escalate this to my local mp certainly needs looking out, I worked all my life only to find out that if I hant I could be getting an extra £100/£160 a week so wrong very wrong, 

marcia_

Confusedandbothered said:

OK thankyou, just wish the dwp new what they were on about when I was told by 3 separate advisors I am entitled to premiums, the system is definatley designed for those that haven't put enough in, I think I will escalate this to my local mp certainly needs looking out, I worked all my life only to find out that if I hant I could be getting an extra £100/£160 a week so wrong very wrong, 

Which ruling in 2014 are you referring to? 

poppy12345

Confusedandbothered said:

OK thankyou, just wish the dwp new what they were on about when I was told by 3 separate advisors I am entitled to premiums, the system is definatley designed for those that haven't put enough in, I think I will escalate this to my local mp certainly needs looking out, I worked all my life only to find out that if I hant I could be getting an extra £100/£160 a week so wrong very wrong, 

Paying into the system doesn't give anyone automatic entitlement to means tested benefits. Those 3 people you spoke to that you said were from DWP, were they call centre staff? If so then I can see why you were given incorrect advice because they are not benefits advisors and you shouldn't really ring any DWP department for such advice. 

Robbie64

marcia_ said:

Confusedandbothered said:

OK thankyou, just wish the dwp new what they were on about when I was told by 3 separate advisors I am entitled to premiums, the system is definatley designed for those that haven't put enough in, I think I will escalate this to my local mp certainly needs looking out, I worked all my life only to find out that if I hant I could be getting an extra £100/£160 a week so wrong very wrong, 

Which ruling in 2014 are you referring to? 

This is the ruling that when converting from Incapacity Benefit to ESA, the DWP should have considered whether there was entitlemenmt to income related ESA, which could include premiums such as the enhanced disability premium and the severe disability premium as well as an amount for couples. This is because both contributory ESA and income related ESA were both a part of the same benefit. Some people were converted solely from IB to contributions based ESA without being assessed for income based ESA.

However, the OP never moved from IB to ESA but I'm assuming that the same principle also applied to new ESA claims, consideration should have been made whether someone was entitled to income based ESA alongside contributory ESA.

The ESA form was changed at some point to specifically ask whether someone wanted to claim income based ESA as well as contributions based ESA. Most likely it was after the court ruling in 2014.

Confusedandbothered

Thankyou for the replies, one last thing I am on contribution based esa so this I believe is not means tested, so would this be deducted from uc or not thanks

poppy12345

Confusedandbothered said:

Thankyou for the replies, one last thing I am on contribution based esa so this I believe is not means tested, so would this be deducted from uc or not thanks

It’s not means tested but it’s treated as “other income” for UC and deducted in full. The deduction is £598.86/month. It seems higher than what you receive but it’s not. There’s 4.3 weeks in a month not 4 weeks. To work out the monthly deduction you times the weekly amount by 52 and divide by 12. 

Your pension will also be deducted in full. 

Confusedandbothered

So does that count for my pension as well which is £117 a month this is also being taken off uc?