Spring Statement 2025: Universal Credit and disability benefits shake-up confirmed

TimeLord1

I see it used on the news tonight these changes will affect people on Incapacity benefit. Maybe it will be brought back. Let's face it @Newcad when has anything written by the DWP been Chrystal clear the yearly letter is bad enough.

Spoonie_Turtle

TimeLord1 said:

I see it used on the news tonight these changes will affect people on Incapacity benefit. Maybe it will be brought back. Let's face it @Newcad when has anything written by the DWP been Chrystal clear the yearly letter is bad enough.

Not surprised at all.  In the first year or two of the energy cost crisis they were all reporting the price cap as the maximum price for energy, which led people to think - understandably - that meant they wouldn't have to pay more than that for a year's energy usage.

Benefits are far more complicated than energy bills, even when full and accurate information is given.  Unclear reporting makes things even worse.

HillStreetBlues

incapacity benefit is now used as a catch all term, Heath related benefits is broken down into incapacity benefit & disability benefit (which is also a catch all term). It's unfortunate that it's the same name as a previous benefit.
 

Newcad

HillStreetBlues said:

incapacity benefit is now used as a catch all term, Heath related benefits is broken down into incapacity benefit & disability benefit (which is also a catch all term). It's unfortunate that it's the same name as a previous benefit.
 

Incapacity Benefit is a current benefit, not a 'previous' one.
IB is still paid to existing claimants, and the rates for it are published each year.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-and-pension-rates-2025-to-2026/benefit-and-pension-rates-2025-to-2026#incapacity-benefit.

To use the name of one particular current benefit as a 'catch all' for a range of benefits is sloppy language usage at best, and it will confuse some people (particularly those still being paid Incapacity Benefit?), at worst it's misinformation, or possibly disinformation.

So bear it in mind that if/when you now get a question in the benefits forum from somebody saying that they are getting "Incapacity Benefit" you will need to check if it is in fact the old IB or if they mean UC-LCW(RA), or ESA, or even PIP.
(Or even Income Support? Yes that's still a current benefit too).

TimeLord1

I can't see how anyone would be claiming it,  abolished 2008 only those who were reaching retirement remained on Incapacity their last few years because it was pointless to move them. So 17 years ago now most if alive 80+ so how those statistics stand up today is bizarre.  I'm thinking it's must be linked to contribution rates 

Newcad

There are obviously still some IB recipients, they would not still be updating/publishing the rates each year if not.

The problem is that it was always difficult to find out how many remained (the DWP were even cagey about it in FoI requests, probably not wanting to admit just how long migration to ESA was taking) and with events of this week there is no chance of finding much at all about IB because it's now been swamped

HillStreetBlues

Newcad said:

There are obviously still some IB recipients, they would not still be updating/publishing the rates each year if not.

You might be giving the DWP to much credit

Newcad said:

HillStreetBlues said:

incapacity benefit is now used as a catch all term, Heath related benefits is broken down into incapacity benefit & disability benefit (which is also a catch all term). It's unfortunate that it's the same name as a previous benefit.
 

Incapacity Benefit is a current benefit, not a 'previous' one.
IB is still paid to existing claimants, and the rates for it are published each year.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-and-pension-rates-2025-to-2026/benefit-and-pension-rates-2025-to-2026#incapacity-benefit.

To use the name of one particular current benefit as a 'catch all' for a range of benefits is sloppy language usage at best, and it will confuse some people (particularly those still being paid Incapacity Benefit?), at worst it's misinformation, or possibly disinformation.

So bear it in mind that if/when you now get a question in the benefits forum from somebody saying that they are getting "Incapacity Benefit" you will need to check if it is in fact the old IB or if they mean UC-LCW(RA), or ESA, or even PIP.
(Or even Income Support? Yes that's still a current benefit too).

It was bad wording by me and thanks for the correction.
I do agree with you that it was a bad term to chose.

TimeLord1

Newcad said:

There are obviously still some IB recipients, they would not still be updating/publishing the rates each year if not.

The problem is that it was always difficult to find out how many remained (the DWP were even cagey about it in FoI requests, probably not wanting to admit just how long migration to ESA was taking) and with events of this week there is no chance of finding much at all about IB because it's now been swamped

Now if you received the migration to ESA letter they stated you must claim it or your claim will close, so could it be people refused or was unable to deal with making the claim that if young enough could still be receiving it.

Newcad

It's a bit of an oddity because IB was meant to migrate to CB ESA, (possibly also with an IR ESA premium entitlement if they did it right).

"Income Support" for health/long term sickness reasons was the one that was meant to migrate to IR ESA only.
That still hasn't been completed either, - and so there is provision in the UC Managed Migration to migrate IS at the same time as IR ESA, IB JSA, and HB.

The old "Incapacity Benefit" was/is not a means tested benefit so isn't migrating to UC.

Which begs the question of what will happen to any remaining IB claimants now that it's been announced that CB ESA will be replaced by a new all-in-one CB benefit? Presumably provision will have to be made in that change for remaining IB awards to be included too.

TimeLord1

I don't think they'd give a straight answer even if a freedom of information message was sent.  And on all the forums we've been on nobody has stated they're still receiving it.  So I think it could be people in permanent care, unable to manage their own claims.  I worked for the NHS and there was hundreds like that.