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brown envelope from DWP Belfast

rainbow58

i received a brown envelope from DWPbelfast and am concerned what it is/.It cant be DLA as that was stopped last october.
i can see the words Benefit Office thru the address window and the word "check",i am worried as to what this is as i dont receive any other benefits than ESA.

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Comments

Sam_Alumni

Hi @rainbow58
As scary as it feels, you should probably open the letter to find out what it is about.

Ripples

Why don't you open it or get someone to open it for you if it helps?

wilko

I know a lot of people get worried or upset by the brown envolpes coming through the letter box,but just open them and see what's inside and stop stressing about something that's out of your control. When you can't understand the content get a trusted friend to exsplain things or share with us your friends who will help advise where we can.

rainbow58

i read a post -i think on here -from a year ago about someone who was called to the benefit office because they were told they were working and claiming benefits.ESA is not means tested right?

Sam_Alumni

This information is from Disability Rights UK

1. What is ESA?

You can get ESA if your ability to work is limited by ill health or disability. ESA has two parts, ‘contributory ESA’ and ‘income-related ESA’. You may receive either one of these, or both together, depending on your circumstances.

Contributory ESA

You need to have paid enough national insurance contributions in certain tax years to be entitled to contributory ESA. Contributory ESA is a flat-rate benefit. It is not affected by any savings or other income you have, except for occupational or personal pensions. Unless you are put in the ‘support group’ (see section 3 below), payment of contributory ESA will be limited to 12 months. See section 8 below for more on the time limit.

Income-related ESA

Income-related ESA is a means-tested benefit. Your needs (and those of your partner, if you have one) are compared with the money you have, such as your income and savings. Income-related ESA is worked out from this. It can be paid on its own (if you are not entitled to contributory ESA) or as a top-up to contributory ESA (if you are). Income-related ESA can include amounts to help towards mortgage interest payments and some other housing costs.

Unlike contributory ESA, income-related ESA is not time limited.

You cannot get income-related ESA if your (and your partner’s) capital or savings are over £16,000.

2. Who can get ESA?

There are common qualifying rules that apply to both types of ESA. You must:

be aged 16 or over;
be under state pension age (ESA stops when you reach that age);
not be entitled to income support, jobseeker’s allowance or statutory sick pay;
meet the residence and presence conditions (see section 10 below);
not be in work; however some types of work are permitted (see our Factsheet F35 – permitted work); and
have a limited capability for work. This is tested under the ‘work capability assessment

rainbow58

i am in receipt of contributory ESA .i received an occupational pension 10 years ago when i was 50 taken on ill health grounds and the DWP have never contacted me re this.
i was automatically transferred to ESA from IB in 2013 and it was only last year I had to reclaim.that was four years.When I was awarded ESA last year I was not told it would be for a year

rainbow58

i checked this out online and it said ESA is only affected if occupational pension is over £85.00 a week
mine is a lot less than that at around £55,a week.

rainbow58

stressing unnecessarily tho could not help it with everything else that is going on at the moment,it was a tax/pay certificate,

the words benefit office freaked me out
should i contact the DWP re ,my pension or will they know about it?

poppy123456

You say you had to reclaim last year? Did you stop claiming ESA and that's the reason you had to reclaim? If you stopped claiming did you work at all? If you reclaimed and you hadn't paid enough NI contributions in the previous 2 years then you won't be claiming Contribution based ESA, it will be Income Related.

For Income Related (means tested) benefits then all of your pension will be taken into account and classed as Income, this means that you will lose your ESA pound for pound.

If it is contribution based ESA then any pension over £85 will count. You should have told them about your pension also, was there any reason you didn't?

rainbow58

Hi Poppy
last year the DWP sent me an ESA claim form.I have not worked since 1998 when lost job on health grounds.I remember now they were told of my pension when i first received it when i was 50.I was on contribution based IB and same for ESA.my pension is nowhere near £85.
i know they can access peoples bank accounts.

affii1993

Can I get esa if my husband income is £6700 per year??

poppy123456

affii1993 said:

Can I get esa if my husband income is £6700 per year??

Pop your details into this benefits calculator and it will tell you what you maybe able to claim.

http://ucpostcode.entitledto.co.uk/ucdate

poppy123456

rainbow58 said:

Hi Poppy
last year the DWP sent me an ESA claim form.I have not worked since 1998 when lost job on health grounds.I remember now they were told of my pension when i first received it when i was 50.I was on contribution based IB and same for ESA.my pension is nowhere near £85.
i know they can access peoples bank accounts.

As you reclaimed ESA then you won't be on CB it will be Income Related. Your pension is counted as income £1 for £1 for Income Related, so if your pension is £50 per week then you'll lose this amount off your ESA.

You say you told them 10 years ago but did you tell them again when you reclaimed? Any overpayment since you reclaimed will have to be paid back.

rainbow58

i am not on income based ESA .what is CB?

Ripples

rainbow58 said:

i am not on income based ESA .what is CB?

CB= Contribution based

rainbow58

i am on contribution based .i

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi rainbow58,

Your research is correct in that only occupational pensions over £85 a week affect your ESA C. If yours is less then it's not a problem. If you told them years ago it didn't affect your benefit then and it won't now as long as it's below the limit and you are not on ESA IR.
I assume when you say you had to reclaim, you meant you were sent a capability for work questionnaire (pink form asking how your health problems affect you in a number of different daily activities). You don't mean that your money stopped and had to reclaim?
Everything seems in order to me so please stop worrying about it.

Lee

rainbow58

Hi Lee
yes thats correct I was sent the questionnaire.

[Deleted User]

Hi rainbow58

Another issue is that if your claim is continuous, and was made before 6/4/2001, and there hasn't been a break in your claim, and if it is contributory, then any pension isn't taken into account.

If this applies to you, and you want to see the regulation that confirms this, I will post it here.

Just let me know if your claim pre-dates 6/4/2001.

Best wishes

Gill_Scope
Scope Helpline

rainbow58

ESA is from 2013.

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