Income Based Versus Contribution Based Benefits

gjw59help

Having been on ESA for a while I receive the DWP letter every year saying "you are entitled to *** however as you have paid your contributions you will get ***"
Therefore I am classed as on Contribution Based ESA but not entitled to any of the benefits of Income Based ESA despite being on the same low income,I cannot get The Warm Home Discount etc etc I think someone needs to look at changing these rules as many people on low incomes are missing out and the only option is a Food Bank

calcotti

If you are not entitled to income based ESA (assuming you are legacy benefits) then it means that if you were getting income based ESA rather than contribution based ESA your ESA payments would almost certainly be lower.

Have you used a benefits calculator or got an advice agency to do a benefits check to check you are claiming everything you are entitled to?

I see from your previous post
I am 61 and on old style ESA contribution based support group — Scope | Disability forum
that you have an older wife who is now in receipt of her State Pension.

You could have your ESA checked to see whether you have any entitlement to income based ESA. Because your wife is a pensioner you would be entitled to an additional amount called the pensioner premium in the calculation. However if she gets the full State Pension of £179.60/week there will be no income based ESA entitlement. 

ESA standard couple allowance £117.40
Pensioner premium and Support component £152.90
Maximum ESA £270.30
Assuming State Pension, say £179.60 (and no other income or savings over £6,000)
Maximum Income based ESA payable = £90.70
Contribution based ESA £114.10 is in excess of this so no income based ESA is payable.

In this scenario if you didn't get contribution based ESA you would get £23.40 less per week which would be £1,216 less per year whereas the Warm Home Discount is only £140/year.

Do you or she claim any other benefits?

poppy123456

I note from a previous thread in 2020 that your wife was close to claiming her state pension, is she now claiming this?

Do you rent or own your own home?

gjw59help

No savings at all and my wife is on new state pension

gjw59help

We own our home and get council tax reduction

poppy123456

If she gets full state pension this would mean there will be no entitlement to Universal Credit because her pension and your ESA would be deducted in full which means UC is reduced to zero. 

It sounds like you’re both claiming everything you’re entitled to.

poppy123456

Believe it or not you are actually better off because your ESA is contributions based.
 If it was Income Related then it would have ended when your wife claimed their state pension. As a mixed aged couple you would have had to claim Universal Credit which would mean a very small amount paid each month because of the deductions for her state pension. UC payable would be a lot less than your ESA is now. 

gjw59help

Thanks for the advice it's just that Electric and Gas has doubled in the last year and food up 10% so in and out of emergency credit and overdraft so just about getting by,dreading more price increases

calcotti

poppy123456 said:

 If it was Income Related then it would have ended when your wife claimed their state pension. As a mixed aged couple you would have had to claim Universal Credit 

That isn't correct. As OP is the younger partner the income based ESA would have continued past the older partner reaching pension age.

However, as per my calculation above, if OP was not entitled to contribution based ESA they would be significantly worse off because the ESA would be lower due to the pension deduction.

poppy123456

Thanks calcotti, i didn't realise that. I also didn't see your calculation above until just now, not sure how i missed it but using my phone instead of my desktop never helps.

gjw59help

In answer to Calcotti I get the support group component adding up to £114 and no other benefits apart from wife on new state pension

calcotti

poppy123456 said:

Thanks calcotti, i didn't realise that. 

It is a widely held misconception that all MACs have to be on UC. There is an exception for couples where the younger partner is the one receiving the legacy benefit. Unfortunately even Housing Benefit administrators are often unaware and have to be told.

poppy123456 said:

I also didn't see your calculation above until just now, ..

It was one of those I kept editing so it might not have all been there when you first saw it!

calcotti

gjw59help said:

In answer to Calcotti I get the support group component adding up to £114 and no other benefits apart from wife on new state pension

I picked that up from your previous answers (plus Council Tax Reduction). As explained in replies above you are therefore getting everything you are entitled to (and are significantly better off than you would be if only entitled to income based ESA).

calcotti

woodbine said:...food inflation is only around 1% 

I thought figures suggested much higher than that rising to 2.7% annual rate in January
https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2022/02/02/food-inflation-at-highest-point-since-2013-brc-reveals/

gjw59help

Try telling that to my shopping bill,it's there in black and white gone up 10% as I buy the same every week also my Gas and electric have ALREADY doubled and I am on the cheapest prepayment going as for the council tax it won't affect us as we get a rebate so basically all you said was wrong

poppy123456

@calcotti thanks for explaining that. I will remember this in future.

Coming back to my advice above, my apologise for giving incorrect information to the OP.

calcotti

On the subject of food inflation
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60290236

Overall, the price of a basket filled with 15 standard food items rose by £1.32, or 8%, in just one year.

but at the same time

The same basket of food made up of items from the cheaper "value" ranges at the supermarkets recorded an overall fall in price,

The reality is that regardless of headline statistics everybody gets hit differently by changes in price depending on a whole variety of factors. I think however it is clear that the general trend is upwards (and much more so than we have become accustomed to although those of us who are more advanced in our years will recall previous periods of rapidly rising prices). Spare a thought for those in other countries dealing with much higher rates of inflation (close to 50% in turkey, 60% in Zimbabwe to name but two).