Severe disability premium

Bruno78

Not sure if this is in the right section. I am on income based ESA (support group) and get the enhanced disability premium and was on low rate DLA for care and mobility. I was told over the phone yesterday that I have been awarded PIP enhanced rate for both daily living and mobility. Do I have to make a claim for SDP or would I get it automatically added onto my ESA if I qualify for it? Thanks

poppy123456

Hi,

The SDP isn't automatically paid because of the criteria that comes with it.

To be eligible you must live alone or be classed as living alone and no one must be claiming carers allowance for looking after you. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/severe-disability-premium

If this is you, once your PIP is in payment then ring ESA and ask to fill out the IS10 form over the phone. Decision will most likely be made within 2 weeks of that call.

Great news on the PIP too!

Jaderwoman1

Hi 

Please can you help. 

I was working and paying ni contributions before I applied for esa and was put in a support group in 2013.I've been in the support group ever since. 

I was told that I was on on contribution esa. 

My letters say, your esa is based on you ni contributions and any additional money the law says you have to live on. 

Your living allowance, 73.10

Extra money because of a disability guarantee, 16.80

Extra money because you are in a support group, 38.55

Income and benefits 

No money will be taken off your employment and support allowance 

so your income related allowance is 128.45. 

Please can you confirm that this surely is contribution esa with an income top up. 

I live alone, I've just received 15.450 lump sum occupation pension and will be getting 98 pounds a week from this. I've sent all the information to the ESA. 

I'm so worried that they will no longer give me my contribution part of my esa. 

Look forward to hearing from you 

poppy123456

@Jaderwoman1 hi,

 It sounds like your ESA is Contributions based with an Income related top up but they do have a very strange way of wording those letters.

If this is correct then you will lose the Income related top up (£16.80) per week.

As your pension is £98 per week then this will also affect your Contributions based part (£111.65). Pension income of more than £85 a week, then the amount of benefit payable will be reduced by half of the excess.
The excess is the difference between £85 and the actual pension income. This means that there's a difference of £13 for you, so your Contributions based ESA will also be reduced by £6.50 per week.

Total deductions providing your ESA is Contributions based with an Income related top up is £23.30 per week.

If your ESA is all Income Related then you'll lose £98 per week plus the savings you have which are over £6,000 will reduce it further by £1 for every £250 over that amount. Which is approximately £37 per week and will mean you won't receive any ESA because it will reduce to zero BUT this is only if your ESA is all Income Related.

You will of course need to wait for the decision letter, which will tell you exactly what you'll receive, if anything.

Also because of the lump sum you received all changes need to be reported so if you're claiming any housing benefit or council tax reduction then you need to report the changes to your local council.

Jaderwoman1

Thank you so much for the information. I am not receiving any housing benefits or council tax. I am also on PIP middle rate for daily and middle rate for mobility. Thank you again. 

poppy123456

No problem. May i also ask if you live alone or with a partner? Does anyone claim Carers allowance for looking after you?

Jaderwoman1

I live alone and no one claims carers allowance for me... 

poppy123456

Jaderwoman1 said:

I live alone and no one claims carers allowance for me... 

This means that you should have been claiming the severe disability premium (SDP) in with your ESA (see link in my above comment) This is an extra £65.85 per week from 8th April 2019, less in previous years.

You need to ring ESA and ask to claim the SDP and for it to be backdated to the date you qualified. May i ask how long you've been claiming PIP daily living? and were you claiming DLA mid/high rate care before that?

It won't be paid in future payments because of your pension but it can definitely be backdated to the date you qualified.

Also do be aware than once your Income Related ESA ends then you'll no longer be entitled to free NHS treatment. You can apply for the NHS low income scheme but your savings will go against you for this.

Jaderwoman1

I was awarded PIP from December 2018. I'm 60 now so I was told I can now get free prescriptions. I thought I couldn't get any SDP... 

Jaderwoman1

I'm claiming middle care for day time and middle care for mobility. I didn't claim it earlier as I didn't know about it... 

poppy123456

As you're over 60 then you're correct you'll still receive free prescriptions, as i didn't know your age.

There's no such thing as middle rate of PIP, it's standard or Enhanced for both parts, which is daily living and mobility.

You do qualify for the SDP from the start of your PIP daily living award because you live alone and no one claims carers allowance for looking after you. Ring ESA and ask to fill out the IS10 form over the phone. Also ask for it to be backdated to the start of your PIP award. As advised, it won't be paid in future payments because of your change of circumstances but £65 is per week from December 2018 is quite a lot of money.

Jaderwoman1

Thank you so very much. Be well. 

poppy123456

You're welcome and you too.

Adrian_Scope

Great news on your PIP @Bruno78 and welcome to the community @Jaderwoman1!

Thank you for all of your help here @poppy123456, it's very much appreciated. 

poppy123456

Anytime @Adrian_Scope

Bruno78

Do you still get the enhanced disability premium if you qualify for SDP, or does the SDP override that? Some of the websites about it are confusing

poppy123456

Bruno78 said:

Do you still get the enhanced disability premium if you qualify for SDP, or does the SDP override that? Some of the websites about it are confusing

They are both totally different, with different criteria. EDP is paid automatically if claiming Income Related ESA. SDP isn't automatically paid and getting either doesn't override the other because you can claim them both, if you qualify. See the above link for eligibility criteria.

Jaderwoman1

Hi

I filled in my PIP review form and posted it on Friday the 13/01/2023, received a text on the 18th.
I asked them if they would email me the review form as I live in an apartment and my letterbox keeps getting broke into.I did try to phone them and was waiting for ages,I was distressed and when I get distressed I stutter so I emailed them instead.
They emailed me the form,I filled it in with no changes and as I have a carer now,they posted it for me.

How long do you think I will have to wait and will they do a paper assessment as at my previous assessment I got 10 points with E.. "Can not undertake any journey due to overwhelming psychological distress."
Also,I was given two points "needed promoting" ,is it possible they might give me 4 this time as I was awarded 2 in Activity 9 ,needs prompting to be able to engage with other people.On the nurses report she said I needed support and reassurance to engage .
I was awarded 11 points so missed out on the enhanced.I didn't ask for an MR as the whole procedure distressed me so much.. I've dreaded the review for 18 months now and have problems sleeping,I now sleep a couple of hours here and there...I'm 63 years old and struggling with it all 
Thank you in advance for your help

Kind regards,Heather 

poppy123456

@Jaderwoman1 I gave advise about reviews on your thread here  https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/101386/pip#latest
We can't tell you how long it will be. All you can do is wait, i know it's stressful but try to focus on something else.

Jaderwoman1

Thank you for your reply 🙂