Hi, my name is Kingsland! Will my claim be effected if I cash in a work pension?

Kingsland

I am claiming esa due to being put on disability for a year ot 2 will it affect my claim if I cash in 25% tax free private work pension it's 5400 I owe over half this out in bill s allready.

poppy123456

The lump sum will be treated as capital. If your ESA is Income Related and that lump sum doesn't bring your total capital to more than £6,000 it will have no affect on your ESA.

If your ESA is New style or the old contributions based then it will have no affect because it's not means tested.

You will still need to tell ESA then you withdrew the lump sum, regardless of which ESA you're claiming.

Kingsland

Thankyou.

Albus_Scope

It's good to see Poppy has already been able to answer your question there @Kingsland I just wanted to pop in and give you a quick welcome to the community. 😊

Kingsland

OK thankyou.

Esa have contacted me now and confirmed all OK, how long will it take before first payment goes into my bank account. Or will a letter come first

poppy123456

Is this a new claim? In your first comment you said you were already claiming it? If it is a new claim then it can take a few weeks for your first payment.

Kingsland

Started claiming on 29th july

poppy123456

Ah ok, thank you. Then it will be New style ESA you're claiming, which isn't means tested. Pension income of up to £85/week is also disregarded.

Usually it can take up to about 4 weeks for your first payment. ESA will not be paid for the first 7 days of your claim.

Kingsland

I'm being put on disability and can't work for at least 12 to 18 months. So put on group claim I think

poppy123456

Sorry but I don't know what you mean by group claim. For ESA you'll be sent a work capability assessment form (ESA50) which you will need to fill in and return with all your information and any relevant evidence you have.

When you first claim you'll be on what's known as assessment rate of £90.50/week and this is for 13 weeks.

Once a decision is made on your work capability assessment if you're placed into the Support Group you'll receive extra money from the 14th week of your claim, which will then be £138.20/week.

Are you claiming Universal Credit as well as ESA? if not have you used a benefits calculator to check entitlement?

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator

If you claim both ESA and UC at the same time the ESA will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

Kingsland

That's great thankyou for your help.

Kingsland

I can't claim uc because my partner works 40 hours per week

poppy123456

That doesn't mean there's no entitlement. It will depend on your joint circumstances. Use a benefits calculator I provided above and put both your details into it.

If you have capital/savings of more than £16,000 you're excluded from claiming.

Kingsland

Ive been waiting since 21st June when first applied for pip, I had a call few weeks ago saying I will get pip, and now got a letter saying we now have information we need to decide if we can award pip, and will write to me when made a decision, is this the usual processs.

poppy123456

Have you actually had the decision on that claim yet? It’s not been long since you applied. Usually they send that letter before you receive the decision letter. However, there can sometimes be a delay receiving that letter so it’s possible to receive it after you’ve had the decision.

Kingsland

Question I cannot find online.

It tells you, you can have savings up to 6k not affecting your benifits, up to 16k with penalties. But if your holding bill money in your bank account, how much can you hold in there for a month or bit longer without them penalising you.

poppy123456

As your ESA is New style then it doesn't matter how much capital/savings you have because it's not means tested. Also pension income of up to £85/week is ignored. For every £1/week over that amount your ESA is reduced by 50p/week.

To answer your question, if you were claiming means tested benefits then your income, whether it's from benefits or earnings are ignored for the period they are paid for. After that period all of your capital/savings are counted, regardless of what they are for. (even money for bills)

There are some disregards, for example, if you're selling the home you live in and buying another, it can be disregarded for up to 6 months, sometimes longer.

For working ages people that maximum savings limit is £16,000 anymore than that and your benefits would end.

If you're claiming council tax reduction then some local Authorities have a savings limit of £6,000 before CTR stops.