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Esa query
ollieandduke
Member Posts: 165 Courageous
Last july i was put on cb esa support group because my husband started doing 2 days a week work.
My carers was stopped or so i thought because we never heard anything from them.
Ive paid £5 per week rent because i was told by my council my husband didnt earn enough for it to change. I gave the council all receipts i had for my husbands jobs.
But i was put on cb esa cus of his 2 days work.
4 weeks ago my housing benefit was stopped completly my husband hours dried up i was paying £86 per week it was a struggle but i didnt want to get in arrears.
My council rang me and said are you still getting carers allowance cus your still down as getting it i told them no so they rang carers allowance and found out my claim was not stopped but suspended and they would be sending me a letter.
Question is am i still entitled to it on cb esa and if so will i get all that back pay
My carers was stopped or so i thought because we never heard anything from them.
Ive paid £5 per week rent because i was told by my council my husband didnt earn enough for it to change. I gave the council all receipts i had for my husbands jobs.
But i was put on cb esa cus of his 2 days work.
4 weeks ago my housing benefit was stopped completly my husband hours dried up i was paying £86 per week it was a struggle but i didnt want to get in arrears.
My council rang me and said are you still getting carers allowance cus your still down as getting it i told them no so they rang carers allowance and found out my claim was not stopped but suspended and they would be sending me a letter.
Question is am i still entitled to it on cb esa and if so will i get all that back pay
Replies
I'm sorry to hear you're having such a frustrating time getting this all sorted out! Hopefully, someone with more knowledge on ESA will be along soon to offer some advice.
Carer's Allowance is a benefit that is claimed by a carer who looks after a disabled person. You cannot get Carer's Allowance and contribution based ESA at the same time but it is worth being recognised by the CA unit as a carer because you can get a carer premium (it's called having an underlying entitlement) added on to your income-related ESA, if you are entitled to the income-related part.
In theory, if you have had an underlying entitlement, and still continue to do so, this Carer premium should be on your Housing Benefit claim. You should also claim or reclaim income-related ESA if your husband is not getting any work anymore.
You also need to find out why your Housing Benefit stopped. It may have been a mistake on their part that needs to be rectified. Your husband's hours being reduced means you have less income, so you should get more HB not less.
To answer your final question, you cannot get CA at the same time as getting ESA C, so the only arrears that may be due, if any, would be if you weren't getting a carer premium on any income-related benefits (such as HB) when you should have been. I hope this makes sense.
Lee