Civil Service Pension & Tax

QrizB

Catonthemoon said:

Any thoughts?

You should tell DWP and let them work it out.

Fifefamily

@Fifefamily Many thanks for this, this is really helpful - makes me think that things may not be as bad as I had feared. 

That’s regarding the ESA side of things, however, the greater concern is with HB as that’s where the big numbers lie. To put it into perspective, rent is £1100, receive £1000 in HB. ((£12000 x 12 =£144,000.00), so that on its own wipes out the whole backdated sum!! There may also be some entitlement to HB… not sure if it would be a lot though.

I have been in the support group for the entire period.

I have never claimed PiP as, thankfully, my problems are not that severe.

As for the contributions based ESA, yes I was on it at the beginning, but, as you probably know, it only lasts for 365 days; then (I think), you go onto income based ESA. 

Here’s what I’m unable to clarify… you may be. I’ve read elsewhere about claimants being unsure whether they were on income or cont based ESA. On their award letter giving a breakdown of the entitlement, it states “your income related amount is x”. Unsurprisingly, this led them to believe they were on IR but it later transpired that they were in fact on cont based! It’s the same with my paperwork- all references are to IR, none to cont based.

Any thoughts?

Catonthemoon said:

Fifefamily said:

One aspect that hasn’t been considered yet that may help the OP’s doom and gloom, slightly, is that as they had been working for several years before claiming ESA the likelihood is that they qualified for Contribution based ESA and had that topped up with Income Related ESA therefore not all benefits paid will be means tested, I realise they have now moved over to UC. If the OP has been in the Support Group (now LCWRA on UC), then Cont based ESA will have been in payment the whole time so they may still have some entitlement to some benefit now and during the previous years. For Cont based ESA, it is only 50% of the amount of any pension over £85/week that is taken into account. If the pension is £12000/year then that is approx £231/week, less £85 = £146 x 50% =£73.00 which would be deducted from ESA. If the pension is now closer to £16000/year as mentioned above the deduction would be approx £111.35 and rate payable is £140.55/week which would give entitlement of nearly £30/week. Obviously these amounts will be different for the earlier years but the deduction rate has been 50% over £85 for the whole period. In 2013 the weekly rate of ESA, with support group, was £106.50 so there would still have been entitlement after deduction of pension amount based on the £12000/year figure.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-employment-and-support-allowance-detailed-guide#pension-income

Can also confirm that even if all ESA had been overpaid due to these circumstances then the NI credits would still stand as the OP was assessed as unfit for work and that decision has not changed.

 Contribution ESA does not end after 365 days if you are placed in the support group, it continues. When you transferred to UC, if you were receiving Cont ESA then that would have been converted to new style ESA and the amount of personal allowance/support group element payable (currently £140.55) will be deducted from your UC, so you will receive 2 payments. Are you in that situation? You are correct about ESA letters as they are not very clear especially for clients who have a mix of cont ESA and IR ESA which hopefully was your case.

It may be worth your while having a look at the PIP scoring descriptors because although you say your problems are not that severe, you were given early medical retirement and you have also been placed in the Support Group for ESA so you never know.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system

Hope that helps.                       

Catonthemoon

@Fifefamily  Are you in that situation?

Yes. Exactly that situation; 1 payment of UC & fortnightly payments of £281.10 (ESA).

So I’m definitely on contributions based?

Fifefamily

Catonthemoon said:

@Fifefamily  Are you in that situation?

Yes. Exactly that situation; 1 payment of UC & fortnightly payments of £281.10 (ESA).

So I’m definitely on contributions based?

Well that is a little bit of good news for you. Have you done anything yet to get your pension put into payment or to tell DWP/council about the situation?

Marcon

Fifefamily said:

Catonthemoon said:

@Fifefamily  Are you in that situation?

Yes. Exactly that situation; 1 payment of UC & fortnightly payments of £281.10 (ESA).

So I’m definitely on contributions based?

Well that is a little bit of good news for you. Have you done anything yet to get your pension put into payment or to tell DWP/council about the situation?

Be a very good idea if OP does something sooner rather than later: https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/woman-who-wrongly-claimed-more-10683725

OP, what are you waiting for? The ball is in your court, not the scheme's - and has been for the last 12 years.

Silvertabby

Dare I ask.....any update ?

Catonthemoon

Alas no! I had never been able to log in to the portal when the scheme was being administered by myCSP (despite numerous attempts & phone calls for assistance).

I have, however, been able to do so now that Capita have taken over. The info in my a/c was very sparse… just what my reckonable service was ( which was about 6 years less than my quotation). When I checked again a few weeks later, even that info no longer appeared!!

e-mailed them a couple of months ago…still waiting for a reply. I believe they’re prioritising claims, so perhaps I’m in a queue.

Silvertabby

Capita are working through a HUGE backlog, and their priorities are those who have just retired (and who want/need their pensions), deaths and divorces.

Your case, which will involve many hours of manual calculations, will be way down the list. Sorry, but expect to be in for a very long wait now. If only you'd accepted payment when you were first approved for ill health retirement, all this drama could have been avoided.....

Marcon

Alas no! I had never been able to log in to the portal when the scheme was being administered by myCSP (despite numerous attempts & phone calls for assistance).

That has no impact on your claims for means tested benefits. Hopefully you have now told the DWP and your local authority of your change of position 12 years ago? You are taking an ever-increasing risk if you've not done so.

Silvertabby

To add to Marcon's post, above, the DWP will know that you have a contracted out occupational pension - they just won't do anything about it until you reach SPA. At which point, if you are still claiming means tested benefits, they will ask CSP for details of your entitlements.