Can my husband claim any benefits?

janetfishwick · January 2020

My husband has been Ill for 9 weeks and has been in hospital for 3 weeks with vasculitis and a pulmonary haemmorage.He is off work and unlikely to return due to poor health. He will be on medication for the predictable future. He is currently taking 14 tablets daily to manage his condition. His mobility is severely compromised by his inability to breathe normally due to lung damage. He is unable to get upstairs and has to sit down to enable his swollen bloated feet ( water retention because of the 6 steroid tablets daily) to reduce in swelling.
Please could you tell me if there are any benefits he could claim as a result of his illness, and if so, how do I beghin the process of application?
Thankyou.
Jp. Fishwick (Mrs)

poppy123456 · January 2020

Hi and welcome,

I'm one of the community champions here on scope and i'm here to help and advise others.

I'm sorry to hear this and i hope he recovers soon. For the benefits because he works then he will need to look at claiming SSP from his employer first. This is paid for 28 weeks and he will need a fit note to be able to claim this. Link here.

https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay

Once this has ended he maybe entitled to New style ESA IF he's paid enough NI contributions in the year April 2017 to March 2019. He can start a claim 3 months before the SSP ends but he won't receive any money until SSP stops. He will need a fit note from his GP and an SSP1 form from his employer to be able to claim this, when the time comes.

In the meantime while claiming the SSP, if he claims tax credits, then this will continue while he claims the SSP. If he doesn't claim tax credits, he can look at Universal Credit BUT this is a means tested benefit and claiming it will depend on both of your circumstances. This will include, savings/capitol and income from you, if you work. His SSP will also be taken into consideration and be classed as income. My advice here is to use a benefits calculator to see if you maybe entitled to it. If you put all of your details in correctly then it will tell you if you're entitled. He will also need a fit note from his GP to be able to claim limited capability for work. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

PIP, this isn't means tested BUT he needs to have had the condition for at least 3 months and expect it to last at least a further 9 months. If he's been ill for 9 weeks, then he won't qualify for this at the moment.

Once those 3 months have passed, he can start a claim, providing he's not still in hospital. Those that have been in hospital for more than 28 days are not entitled to PIP. PIP isn't awarded based on a diagnosis, it's how those conditions affect his ability to carry out daily activity based on the PIP descriptors. Evidence will be needed to support his claim and a face to face assessment is most likely. A successful claim could take several months, maybe longer.

Hope this helps.

Adrian_Scope · January 2020

Hello @janetfishwick. How are you and your husband getting on? The benefits system can be a bit of a minefield. Have you made any headway?

Can my husband claim any benefits?

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