A question regarding the loss of the Severe Disability Premium from my Mum's ESA claim

richiem

My Mum has been in hospital 7 times since the start of March 2022.  To say that she has been really unwell feels like a fairly big understatement.  She is only 64 years old (almost 65) and had a stroke in 2012 which left her partly paralysed down her right side (both her hand/arm and her leg).  She was then diagnosed with stage 4/5 kidney disease in 2018 which led her to start outpatient kidney dialysis in August 2020.  That was going OK until she somehow cut her left big toe last January / February and was told that she had vascular disease.  After bypass surgery in her lef*t leg in March 2022 followed by a bout of septicemia and two angioplasties in May / June 2022 she had her left leg amputated below the knee on 17th June 2022 and was in hospital then until 10th October 2022.  During that time her Disability Living Allowance stopped (from about the start of July 2022) and we were advised her Employment Support Allowance would also be reduced a bit.  That never actually happened - more on that shortly.  Just before Christmas last year she then discovered a water blister had broken on her right little toe.  She then underwent both a bypass and an angioplasty in her right leg between Christmas and New Year and was discharged home but unfortunately then was readmitted in mid February 2022 and had her right leg amputated, this time above the knee.  She has been in hospital since then.  I have this week spent about half a day on the phone to different sections of the DWP and have been advised again that her DLA has now been stopped (which I understand) and that her Employment Support Allowance will be reduced.  I am more than a little confused by the explanation that I have now had (at least twice) from the DWP about why that is and my question relates specifically to that and will follow in the post immediately adfter this one - as I'm getting nervous something goes a bit wrong and I lose all of the above backstory and have to start typing it all out again!

calcotti

richiem said:

..  I have this week spent about half a day on the phone to different sections of the DWP and have been advised again that her DLA has now been stopped (which I understand) and that her Employment Support Allowance will be reduced.  ..

I infer that the ESA included a Severe Disability Premium and that the reason for inclusion was her award of DLA.

After 28 days in hospital (and inclusion linked together within 28 days are added together). A hospital stay therefore has to be told to DLA and ends DLA entitlement after the 28 days. The end of DLA ends the SDP in ESA.

Of/when she is discharged from hospital she can tell DLA and that will be restarted. If she also goes back to living alone with nobody claiming a carer element for looking for her she will also be entitled to SDP added back to ESA.