Question about benefit entitlement

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sparrow91
sparrow91 Online Community Member Posts: 3 Listener
edited May 2018 in Benefits and income
Hello everyone. My mum is disabled and currently receives PIP as well as Widows benefit and income support.
Weekly she gets:
80.74 Widows Benefit
25.91 Income Support

and 466.74 monthly for PIP.

She also receives housing benefit which is paid directly to the landlord.

My question is could she claim ESA and would it leave her better or worse off? It's very confusing, I understand she might lose some benefits if she does so, so i'm wondering if it's worth it.  She lives in a 3 bedroom counsel house with no savings.

Thanks for any advice.

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    Hi,
    What's the reason she's claiming Income support? Is it because she's a Carer or does she have a child under 5?


  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,602 Championing
    Hi @sparrow91

    We have a benefits calculator here that is a good starting point to figuring out what support your mum may be entitled to
  • sparrow91
    sparrow91 Online Community Member Posts: 3 Listener
    edited May 2018
    poppy123456 said:
    Hi,
    What's the reason she's claiming Income support? Is it because she's a Carer or does she have a child under 5?


    Hi. I've looked at her latest income support letter and it doesn't specifically say. She's not a carer and all her kids are adults.

    It says something like, the law says you need to live on £106
    then they add 20 something income support to the 81 widows benefit to make it add up to 106. It's like a top up.

    Part of the 106 is made up of some money because "you are sick or disabled", which confuses me because she is not on ESA.
  • sparrow91
    sparrow91 Online Community Member Posts: 3 Listener
    I see. Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate everyone's help.
  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Online Community Member Posts: 2,621 Trailblazing
    Hello sparrow91

    Please note that Universal Credit is replacing some benefits including income related ESA,  Income Support and Housing Benefit.  The roll out of this benefit is by postcode and so different areas will be affected at different times. I have put a link to a webtool below, if you enter your postcode it will tell you on making a new claim for benefit whether you HAVE TO claim Universal Credit.

    https://universalcreditinfo.net/

    Universal credit is significantly different to e.g. Income Support, Housing Benefit in terms of the rate of pay, how frequently payments are made and who payments go to.

    If you are at all unsure contact a local advice centre for help. 

    Maria

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