You would qualify as living alone.

Tom

hi, thanks!

so the living alone thing means, alone as in no relations or partners etc?

is this easy to apply for, is it simply case of asking for it, as its an extra component to the esa, or will i have to cancel claim n start over again, which i hope not!

It's a simple tick box form, you may have to add a few details to confirm your living situation. You just need to ring ESA and ask for the form to be sent out.

What DLA rates were you on?

Normally living with a close relative/partner would disqualify you from SDP, unless they were also in receipt of PIP/DLA.

Tom

cool, thank god it seems straight forward, and no definitely not related or partnered, as i say, 2 single men, and he works full time, no claims for nothing.

dla was mid care, higher mobility. i may appeal the pip decision, which first payment is due next month, but im wary of the award being lost or lowered even further. I am due to go to CAB for an unrelated matter next week so may ask then if in their opinion its worth it.
as i say i have had appeals on ESA WCA and won twice, and currently in the 2 years period where "do not assess till xx date" almost, and i think that 2 year period is "up" in the next month or so but found it very stressful doing them, and would be wary of doing PIP too, because if i am to be assessed for ESA soon and then PIP on top that would be very un-nerving for me!

2 thoughts:

Do you have a commercial agreement with your friend? You may need to demonstrate you pay rent, with your friend being the live in landlord.

Would you not have qualified for SDP prior to your PIP award? Mid care is a qualifying benefit.

Tom

yes i can show bank statement of transfer to him, and is always close to date i received my DLA. and we did cobble together a small but with all the relevant details document, nothing fancy but it states the basics of the circumstance.

and i didnt know about it till now, would i be able to get backdating? and would this be as far back as i've been eligible for PIP or even DLA (which i did have lifetime award of, before the "rebranding to pip")

it was simply by chance, as i googled the rates (as i didnt have DLA letter showing the break down of mid care rate / mob rate etc, as i was figuring out how worse off the PIP transfer has made me, and came across the severe disability element and then googled that! and thought i'd ask on here

Yes it can be backdated, definitely to the start of your PIP award. You would need to speak to the DWP and/or take further advice as to whether it could be backdated further.

Tom

Does anyone claim carers allowance for you, if so you wont get the severe disability premium.

nope, and never have. i went to CAB today and they initially seemed to say that applying for this would require a medical.

but i said that i had some advice here that its an additonal form, tick box almost and they have made appointment to go to a more specialised centre in couple weeks!

bit concerned that they feel you need specialist advice to claim severe disability premium!

phone DWP and ask for form IS10.

it iOS straightforward and only asks if you claim the relevant income related benefits and disability benefits.
it connfirms that you live alone and no one claims carers for looking after you.

thats as complicated as it gets

update on this, i phoned up and asked for IS10 form to be sent, and indeed i even had a copy i found online and would have printed myself to speed up the process.

but they told me they now do the form over the phone and i answered that way.

they took a while getting back to me, told me it'd be 3-5 working days as its merely an add on component to existing claim, but they never and i phoned up and was apologised to and given a 24 hour call back as priority, and was told a payment of roughly 10 weeks would be due to me which is the time my PIP was instated, and is one of the conditions of eligible "qualifying other benefit" i think.

so all is well! but i had thought that as my DLA was moved to PIP, and my circumstances on the other conditions of qualifying were the same since september, that i may have gotten it backdated from then, eg DLA was the qualifying other benefit and now its PIP, and ive recieved both, and phased into PIP.

or do they only assess on PIP, or the most recent criteria?

thanks

It is possible for the SDP to be backdated to when you qualified - September you say - but it may depend on whether you notified the DWP of a change of circumstances at the time. In other words when you moved into your friend's house did you notify the DWP of the new circumstances, explained your arrangements etc and enquired about the SDP?

Just had a thought.. (had a peek at your profile and saw that you are under 35)

Do you claim Housing Benefit?

If you do, have a look at the award letter and see if they have used the SDP in their calculation.

If you are under 35 then you would usually only be allowed the shared accommodation rate of the local housing allowance but if you are entitled to the SDP then you would be eligible for the one bed rate.

Which rate have they used since September when you moved in with your friend?

IGNORE THIS!

Didn't read the profile properly - doesn't apply!

yep, ive been recieving DLA since my 10th birthday, and moved in first week of sept 16, told them this as close to that time as i could, a few days after. and in mean time was phased into PIP, enquired about SDP, recently, but both the ESA and DLA were told of me moving in september, i remember because i spent a long time on hold both times, as had to phone the two different depts seperately! lol.

do you think i'd be eligible, for a further back, ermm backdating? given this?

Potentially, yes. You need to give ESA a call in the first instance to query the date to which it has been backdated. A form should have been sent to you when you moved, and if it wasn't there were definitely be grounds to request backdating to September.

UPDATE: phoned esa week or so ago, they gave me a call back and they are looking into it with reagrds to a further backdating, as they also believe that i should be entitled to it under DLA before my PIP. and a decision maker would look at this.

told me to leave it till end of month and then if havent heard nothing by then to call back up.

i have phoned them and they told me that they would look at it and didnt (in the time frame they told me) so phoned back etc and the latest is, they said they sending me an IS10 form to be completed about my previous address. i recieved this yesterday but im confused. as...

they dated backdating to my pip a couple of months ago, but i was asking for them to go back further, as i have been eligeible from september last year, when i moved.

why do they need this, i phoned in sept and told i moved etc and the situation i mention in my first post above.. and i wouldnt have been eligeble for the SDP before sept as i lived at home with my mother.

so what relevance does that have? as im not asking for them to consider it before september, so why do they need to know? and the form itself doesnt lend itself well to filling out for when i lived with mum, as the questions dont seem to apply, as she wasnt a landlord or anything and my mum! and they are asking also for a tenancy agreement between me and the person i live with now, aka my live in landlord. which i have and can also prove ive paid him through bank every month since sept (when i moved). im really worried as, this is big big help to me, and also i have provided teneacy agreement to local council and they seem fine with my living arrangements and are happily paying housing benefit so why are dwp disputing it! the woman on phone said that they may stop SDP. im really worried, and i cant understand why, as seems they only looked into it and asking more questions after they been paying me for around 6-8 weeks and only coz i have asked for further backdating, as i think im ok for backdating from date i moved in here, and seem to satisfy all the criteria i can find online, aka, no one claiming carers and not live with relative etc.



also the letter is handwritten address and with a handwritten note which seems unusual for dwp, and im really worried that they will want a months worth of payment back and also £600 of backdating from pip claim, and im worried i have upset them by asking for further back to sept as i felt i am entitled to that, given i satisfy the rules, for not living with anyone claiming carers etc and not a relative!

they also said to me on phone that they were under impression that i lived with a relative even though i did my IS10 form over the phone, and they asked and i said i wasnt and given details of that person etc.

anyoen got any advice?

It seems to be getting complicated, personally I would go and see my MP and ask them to intervene.

thats the thing! it shouldnt be.

tbf i have lead a simple life, lived at home, then moved out.

have always had dla (well since my 10th birthday) im now 30, and then was phased over to PIP (and lost out) so heard about SDP and applied and all the criteria seems to be is, live alone (which for purposes of this sdp, i was told im classed as this, as basically just use a bedroom and shared facilities with the live in landlord as such, no relation) they give me it and now seems that now i have asked for my dla to be taken into account from september 16 when moved out of my mums house (which i cant see the relevance as i wouldnt have gotten sdp coz of her being my mum). so why do they want to know about the time when i lived with her, eg, pre september 16. surely they need to know my situ now, as this is the only time ive been eligible for sdp and the only time im asking for it!