Claiming Benifits.. What more can I do

Tharweb

Rikki wrote:

you can get incapacity benifit credits that take you up to your year of contributions and then you get incapacity payments. Basically you claim it but get no money until you have 12 months NI credits. Claim straight away don't wait. Get a sick note from your GP and put your claim in.

Rikki wrote:

If you don't have 12 months for the previous tax year you will have to build up 12 months this will start from the day you make your claim. ie august 05/august 06. They do not back date so you need to do it sooner rather than later.

I may be wrong but I think you may be referring to the Disability Premium which is part of Income Support not Incapacity Benefit.

SARAH570_2

To qualify for Incapacity Benefit you need two full tax years of employed Contributions or NI credits from receiving a contribution benefit, ie JSA or Incaapacity Benefit, they go from Ap 6th to Ap 5th. Ie if you made claim now the DWP would look at Apr 02/03 and Apr 03/04, you would need to have NI credits from getting a benefit or employment for the whole of the tax yrs and also there is a first contribution condition which would mean you have to have paid 25 times the lower earnings limit (ie earning enough to pay NI out of your wages for 25 wk) in one of the tax years 01/02,02/03 or 03/04. If you don't satisfy both conditions you will only qualify for DWP to credit your NI record. The only other benefits you would get are DLA or Income Support due to being sick which is means tested and depends on what other income and savings you have. To claim Incapacity Benefit initially you need to complete SC1 and obtain a medical certificate from your GP. In some areas you will need to attend a work focused interview at the DWP.