Ill health retirement and UC

pearlywhirly

I will soon be in receipt of a local government pension. I left there years ago and the pension was deferred. Until recently I was s/e but applied for pension early on the grounds of ill health when my conditions made it impossible to carry on. It has been awarded, tier 1, unfit for any work forever.
Will this qualify me for the not working group ? 
My partner gets carers for me, I get std rate living and high rate mobility pip.  Getting the pension will prompt a coc in wtax credits which will force us onto UC.  

Adrian_Scope

Hello @pearlywhirly and a warm welcome to the community. 

Unfortunately, unless you have an existing entitlement to ESA, you'll still need to be assessed under Universal Credit to be put into the no work group.

Have you put in your application for Universal Credit yet?

pearlywhirly

No. The pension is still going through. I do not have an existing ESA claim. I am just so weary of having to justify everything to the same people who put me through the pip wringer. just a few months ago. But thank you for your reply. Since my pension is based on me being found unfit for any work ever, now I'll have the worry that the whim of a case officer could put that in jepordy.  It is a cruel system.

Joanne_Alumni

Hi @pearlywhirly,

I am sorry to hear that you are going through such a stressful time.

You said that you will be getting a pension and that your partner has Carers Allowance. Both of these will be taken into account as income for UC purposes. 

It may be worth using our benefit calculator to see what you are entitled to, or speak to your local Citizens Advice. 

You may be able to make a claim for ESA based on your National Insurance contributions. This could also be affected by your pension as they take into account 50% of anything you get over £85 per week.

As @Adrian_Scope says, you would have to go through a Work Capability Assessment to be placed in the no work group (known in UC as the Limited Capability for Work Related Activity group). There is a 3 month waiting time before you can be assessed if you are not already on ESA. During that time you are not treated as sick and would have to negotiate with your work coach to get any job search requirements reduced. 

In your circumstances I would hope that they would reduce them. If not, there are ways of challenging this so get back in touch if you need any further help.

Chris1234x

I have been receiving I'll health pension from public sector for about 12 years now, it is always taken in to account when working out the benefits, I have about £500 a month from pension and although I am not claiming at the moment because my husband works fulltiime,but in the past when we have claimed for esa or job seekers it has always stopped us from getting any help as it works out at more than £100 a week,not sure how this would be under universal credit,however it doesn't affect the amount you get with pip.