Will my husband have to start new claim if he takes me off? Will we lose IS? How much can I work?

shazt

Hi everyone i'm new on here and wondred if you could help me.
I havn't worked for a few years but have done voluntary work. I'm looking to get back into part time employment.
My husband gets contribution based ESA, is in the support group and I am also on his claim. This gets topped up with a small amount of Income Support.  He also gets PIP. My question is....
If he takes my name off the ESA claim will he have to start a new claim just in his name? Or will they just remove me from it?.
Also will we lose the Income Support benefit? 
Would it be better for me to work under 16 hours or over 16 hours? I probably wont be much better off financially but still want to get back into emolyment. I keep reading conflicting things and am so confused with it all. Any advice would be helpful, thank you.

L_Volunteer

Hello @shazt

Welcome to Scope's forum. It is great to see you have joined us.

Unfortunately, ESA, PIP and income support are not areas of my expertise. This means I can only hope someone with more knowledge in these areas is able to respond to you soon.

In the meantime, I just wanted to respond to greet you and let you know we hear you 

shazt

 I will wait n see if anyone else can help me. Thanks for replying to me. 

calcotti

shazt said: My husband gets contribution based ESA, is in the support group and I am also on his claim. This gets topped up with a small amount of Income Support.  He also gets PIP. My question is....

If you are on his ESA claim he must be getting income based ESA on top of contribution based ESA, in which case I can't see how it is possible for either of you to be receiving In come Support.

shazt said:

If he takes my name off the ESA claim will he have to start a new claim just in his name? Or will they just remove me from it?.

If he wishes to continue to receive income based ESA you must remain on the claim (assuming you are still living together).

He can cancel the income based ESA if he wishes and continue to receive the contribution based entitlement.

shazt said:

Would it be better for me to work under 16 hours or over 16 hours? I probably wont be much better off financially but still want to get back into emolyment. I keep reading conflicting things and am so confused with it all. Any advice would be helpful, thank you.

The 16 hour rule applies to how much work he can do.

If you work 24 hours or more then his entitlement to income based ESA will end.

If you work less than 24 hours your earnings will be deducted from the income based entitlement (subject to a £10 disregard) - which may mean there is no income based ESA entitlement anyway.

It may be worth doing a benefit check. Your situation may be one where you would be better off on UC because a higher portion of your earnings would be disregarded.

poppy123456

Your husbands ESA will be topped up with the Income Related top up and not topped up with Income Support.

If you start working then any earnings of up to £20 per week will be ignored (for the Income Related top up) anything more than this then the Income Related top up will be reduced £1 for £1.

The Contributions based part which has now increased to £117.60 per week will not be affected by your earnings. He will need to report the changes if you start working.

You can also look at entitlement to Universal Credit which maybe better in your case. His Contributions based ESA will continue but be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. As he's in the Support Group he'll be entitled to the LCWRA element from the start of your claim.You can use a benefits calculator to check entitlement. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/Intro/Home?cid=512df756-ba3c-4a22-9374-a57e935bfe32

calcotti

If your husband gets Daily Living part of PIP you could claim Carer's Allowance for looking after him. As you don't mention it I assume you don't do this. If you do receive it, be mindful that you cannot continue to receive CA if you earn more than £132/week.

If he does receive Daily Living PIP and you were to claim UC you would be entitled to the carer element in the UC calculation (regardless of how much you earn).

shazt

I think the income related part of the esa is £15 a week so if i got emoyment under 24 hours i would just lose that part and my husband will still get his full vontibution based ESA? And PIP? Thanks

shazt

I dont get carers allowance for him 

poppy123456

It will be more than £15 per week if he’s claiming for you as well. As advised, any earnings of more than £20 per week and the income related part will reduce £1 for £1.

shazt

Thank you Poppy and Colcotti for your helpful advice, i really appreciate it.

poppy123456

You should still check entitlement to UC If you start working. 

shazt

Ok i will do thank you