income support and incapacity benifit

netty6787

Hi can anyone please help me with some advice,ive been suffering with a bad back since 25th dec 07.I went the doctors ive been in really bad pain and been sleeping on the couch since xmas im only getting bout 4hrs sleep.

Cut a long story short ive been seeing my doctor since xmas i have had physio,blood tests x rays and ive just had an mri scan,im just waiting for the results .The doctor thinks it may be slipped disc but until we get the mri scan we cannot be sure.the pressure has been on between me an my husband as he has been the bread winner as i finished work late last year and cannot go back until i know what is wrong with me.my husband is self employed so he was basically running the house,taking our daughter to school and sorting out our 3yr old son out aswell as helping me,but that has changed now as ive got in a rut we keep rowing and all added pressure of being unwell has been the icing on the cake,so we have parted i dont know if this is long term i just feel less stressed since he has gone.

I have now had to claim income support and incapacity benefit,i have had the letter back today saying im going to be paid income support of £59.15 but there has been no mention of IB ,the letter says that the £59.15 is what the law says i need to live on and will change from 11th of april to £60.50 and this will be paid fortnightly.

I have never claimed benifit before as ive always worked ,but i have never paid tax as i dont think ive ever earned that much and have been gettin tax credits,So will i be entitled to IB and if so is this included in my £59.15 income support

The letter i received stated that it was about my claim for income support nothing mentioned about IB.

If anyone has any advice please help sorry its a long one

MARTINS_DOLL

Income Support is totally different from Incapacity Benefit.

IB is payable to someone who is unable to work due to Health issues.

You do need to put in a claim seperately to receive this Benefit.

Hope this helps.

Try these links ...

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/DG_10016082

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017626

Hope all goes well.

stazi

An IB claim would normally have been decided before an IS claim.

If you are entitled to IB it would be £61.35pw and your IS claim would then end because IB is more than IS.

MARTINS_DOLL

As I understand it though Stazi, is that if you are in receipt of IB, Then it is worked out by IS, if you are entitled to the Benefit, then the difference would be made up.

EG... If someone had a Mortgage.

mum2one

Another thought re Incapicity Benefit, think that it is dependant on the amount of NI stamps that you have paid in the last x months.

You should be entitled to tax credits for you son, thats apr £42 a week, plus ur child benefit.

z

stazi

IB is a contributory benefit, whereas IS is means tested. IS of £59.15pw would not be payable if IB is equal to £59.15pw or more.
IS treat IB as 'income'.
Depending on someones weekly IS entitlement, then yes, IB and IS can be both payable, but mortgage interest is only allowed from week 39?.

stazi

IB is only payable if enough NI has been paid in the last 2 complete tax years before the claim.
For an IB claim from 6/1/08>, the tax years are 05/06 and 06/07, both years need earnings of £4K or more.

netty6787

Thanks everyone ,but im still none of the wiser.As i said ive always worked my wages would have been between £5,000 and £6,000 in the last 2 yrs

When i applied for IS i also claimed for IB, the lady done it over the phone and sent me the forms out to sign then i passed then tp job centre tuesday and got a reply yesterday (sat) and it mentioned nothing about IB but it did say this is what we will pay you while you are sick.

But i thought that IB would be a seperate payment as the £59.15 is a standard income support payment

I have sent in a back dated sick note from dec with the claims.
And was told anything owed would be back dated but the only money i have had back dated is the IS and that was from when i put the claim in in march.

MARTINS_DOLL

Have you had a reply from IB?

If not, then they may still be processing your claim. If that is the case, then you will receive an updated IS letter, if IB is awarded.

netty6787

MARTINS_DOLL wrote: »

Have you had a reply from IB?

If not, then they may still be processing your claim. If that is the case, then you will receive an updated IS letter, if IB is awarded.

No nothing is mntioned at all about IB in the letter