Contribution based ESA, Support group to Income based ESA, support group.

dvtrv

Hi,

I've been  on CB ESA Support group since 2013 and have received ESA since becoming disabled in 2011 with a progressive disease.

CB ESA as I used to earn good money up until 2010.

Am I not supposed to now be on Income based ESA?

There are so many more benefits in being on IB.

Any ideas please.

Thanks in advance.

poppy123456

Hi,
That will totally depend on your circumstances. Firstly do you live with a partner that works, if not do you have any other income? Were you claiming Incapacity benefit before ESA? 

dvtrv

I’m married with a child.
my wife works 22.5 hours a week.
not on benefits before.
I do permitted work of 10 hours a week.

poppy123456

As your wife works then you won't be entitled to any Income related top ups because of your household income. 

dvtrv

That appears to be a standard response “No entitled to....”
ah well.

thank you very much for your assistance 

painter

Probably not dvtrv.  You will remain on ESA Contributory as long as you are eligible.  If you lived alone or your wife didn't work or was your carer you would most likely be eligible for an inome related top.  Best getting a benefits check up so as to work out the best way forward.

angel137

Hello dvtrv.
It really just depends on your circumstances.  Whether you have any other income, whether you live alone or with a partner, whether you have any assets-if you own your own home or holiday home, savings over a certain amount, all of these things come into play when deciding whether you qualify for income related ESA.
I'm sure one of the moderators on this site will give you all the information you need.  
Do you receive any PIP? 
I recently applied for ESA IR as I met the qualifying criteria through PIP and ESA support. But it turns out,  as I have other income, I don't receive any of the monies from the premiums I'm technically entitled to (EDP and SDP). My other income cancelled out the premium, as it exceeded the amount I would have received from the  premiums themselves....
You would need an ESA 3 form to apply for income related ESA. I would really try to find out, before you apply, whether you have a good chance of getting it and/ or whether you would be better off on it.
The DWP made mistakes with mine along the way, telling me I would get it and then realising they had made a mistake and I wasn't entitled to the money or any backdated benefit either. Consequently, I was overpaid slightly and that has meant a bit  of faffing about for me. And the temporary stoppage of Housing Ben. due to new calculations needed etc. 
Moral of story? Try to be fairly sure of all consequences b4 you apply!  
Go on the gov.uk site to check the criteria for IR ESA. 
Best of luck with it. 

dvtrv

I’ve had DLA indefinitely since 2011 and am waiting for pip,
i get higher rate mobility and middle carers.
im married. My wife works 22.5 hours.
i work 10 permitted hours.
no other income.
i own our house with a very small amount owing.

thank you

poppy123456

As advised because your wife works 22.5 hours per work then you won't be entitled to any income related top up. 

angel137

Yes, all of your income and your wife's income and all of your assets and savings will be taken into account re: income related benefits.
Only DLA/ PIP is disregarded income.
You would really need to speak to somebody at CAB or similar, to calculate whether you would be better off on IR ESA. 
From what you have stated, you are married. This does not affect your entitlement to ESA CB. BUT, you would likely lose this amount if you moved to ESA IR, because all of your assets and income, and your wife's assets and income, are taken into account.
Don't quote me on that! You need to find out for certain, but that's how ESA CB works. You get ESA CB because you paid enough NI contributions. It is not income based. It doesn't matter if you receive other income/ own property, live with someone, etc. You are still entitled to it. 
But all of these things matter if you move onto ESA IR. 
I think we've answered your question here! But do get expert advice to be sure.
Your circumstances are different to mine. I was technically entitled to the premiums, but receive nothing. I own no property, not over the amount of accepted savings, live alone, get 0. That's the way the cookie crumbles, my friend. 

angel137

Apologies, I've only just noticed the other replies.  Hahaha. Sorted.

sooie

Hi i'm new 
my income related ESA  since ,was changed to contribution based ESA  feb this year, Would I qualify to income related as well. I have been in support group since 2013. After i pay my rent I am left with less than £275 to cover all my monthly bills  buy food.and. My Son and Daughter live with me.and although they are working they are on low incomes I can not move as rental around 25% higher i am paying. My rent is £1150 per month.
I have another query when i was claiming DLA I got £307 per month I now only get £90 PIP mobility . My housing ben has gone from £842 to £720 per month as  Despite the fact my son and daughter care for me they are now non dependants and working full time. I had a ESA  medical earlier this year the lady who did the check up told me at the end of the medical that nothing would change  as i,m in a support group I should be getting the care side of pip as well. I have not done anything to date as i,m petrified they will take the money I get. 
when i went back onto contribution based my council sent me a letter telling me that i Owed them £25,000 from sep 2015 to feb 2018 due to changes in my situation. I had no changes . They carried on  paying my housing ben I appealed it  a month ago i got a letter this time telling me I was not entitled  housing from feb 2018. until now ongoing due to change in circumstance This time they have suspended my housing ben /council tax.leaving me owing £1400 council tax bill I am so scared the bailiffs will come  the council want my bank statements feb to now.I have had to go without hardly food'to buy a printer cartridge How ever> i have appealed again as i do not get a penny more money.o n the back of their letter it list all change  in circumstance nowhere does it say that t
I should of told them in fact I was unaware myself until they contacted me.
My rent was due today but i do not have the money to pay more than £475.of it. I suffer from fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue,arthritis, depression and anxiety,which due to all this stress my depression/anxiety have gotten worse.I feel I am worth nothing and just a drain on my son/daughter. It seems to me that alot of the disabled claimers are getting a bad deal  we keep hearing about min living wage;which is much more than most have to live on. i,m not saying disabled claimants should get the living wage but personally I should not have to use about 
of my ESA to pay my rent it is supposed to help me . with living cost food etc  pip is supposed help me with my mobility am i likely to get a pip review as the DWP acted. unlawfully I appealed my pip when i was first put on it but the person reviewed it upheld it without seeing me. I have seen that over 160,000 claimants are going to be reviewed as it was wrong to not give more people the care part of pip should I wait to till they contact me ? just because the questions  they ask you have changed  my illness will always be  ongoing / getting worse so how come they can say i do not qualify despite I am so much worse than when i first claimed DLA 2011.
I really am so stressed  over this.I need help please advise what do as we will get evicted if i do not get the rest of the rent it is through no fault of mine. actually i was a full time carer to my husband who died in 2015 aged 52 from MS and now i need help there is nothing. but my kids to help me when i feel very ill.

kind regards Susan Burns

poppy123456

Hi,

There's certainly an awful lot going on here but i'll try to get through it and help you.

Why was your Income Related ESA changed to Contributions based? For this to have happened you must have been claiming Contributions based with an Income related top up to begin with otherwise it's impossible to change from Income related to Contributions based. Were you working before you claimed ESA or did you claim Incapacity benefit before being transferred to ESA?

DLA and PIP are totally different and your past DLA claim has no relevance to your PIP claim. The changes to the PIP descriptors are for following and planning a journey part of mobility only and not for the daily living part. The changes won't help you claim the daily living part.

If your conditions have got worse you can report a change of circumstances but by doing this you'll be sent more forms. You'll need more evidence to support your claim and a face to face assessment will be needed as most people have them. It's always risky reporting changes and you need to look at the PIP descriptors to see if you can score those points for a daily living award. They will look at the whole award again. Before reporting any changes i'd get some advise from either your local welfare rights, CAB or other advice centre near you.

You say the council sent you a letter saying you owed the £25,000? was this because you had savings that you didn't report at the time?

There will also be non dependent deductions because you only claim the mobility part of PIP and not the daily living part. Did you fail to report a change of circumstances at some point?

All letters from DWP and local council state that all changes must be reported.

Why has your housing benefit/council tax reduction been suspended? More information is needed regarding this to be able to advise you correctly.

sooie

thanks for your comments

I was put over to contribution based ESA because i'm in a support group and no other reason impossible to do as it has happened . and i was told it is quite usual it allows me to earn up to £87 per week although i do not  I was not working before I changed over  I did not have savings as I said i was a carer to my husband until the end. 2012  got contribution based(365 days) 2012 put on inc rel esa then went into a support group ongoing i did not get a top up of any kind. I had no savings also know that there is a list on the back of DWP letters but non are relevant to me so   i sent proof of entitlement .letter to the council. I know that my kids are non dependants  and deductions are using the descriptors honestly i do qualify for the daily living part . I went over to pip 01/17 I get the mobility part part re planning journey, I can not even step out of the house a lot of the time due to anxiety and pain. I just wanted to know if you can claim both inc related ESA  and con based and wondered  what the criteria was 

poppy123456

If you were working before you claimed ESA were you previously claiming Incapacity benefit before moving onto ESA? being in the Support Group wouldn't be a reason to place you onto Contributions based ESA.

Contributions based benefits are for those that worked and paid enough national insurance contributions and it's not means tested. Those that were previously claiming Incapacity benefit were also placed straight onto Contributions based ESA and weren't assessed for any income related top up.

The earnings you mention is called permitted work and you can do this while claiming ESA providing it's less than 16 hours per week, you can earn up to £125 per week without it affecting your ESA but you must get permission before doing the work.

I'm not fully understanding why they're saying you have an overpayment of £25,000 in your housing benefit as that's a such a large amount of money then you really need to get some expert advice. Your situation is rather complex and it's impossible to advise on an internet forum.