Benefits

lees
lees Community member Posts: 20 Listener

Hi not sure if anyone can help , we have a joint claim, my husband gets pip high for care low for mobility and esa cont based and income based, ( anyone know how its worked out as to hm you get if both)son 19 finished college so lost 400+ a mnth child tax child ben yet have to pay 200 mnth rent/ c tax, i work 10 hrs a wk as care for husband who now is under consultant for sig changes on his brain becoming very forgetful meaning soon i will have to stop working as i wont be able to leave him alone as advised, council say its correct as the cont part of esa is more that the income based therefore its classed as cont based meaning we dont get full hous ben and have to find that xtra 200 , if im forced to stop work ( its a bit of my time , break if you like) will that change the esa to one or the other, ive no clue as to what entitles you to cont part or income based part , couldnt afford to be any worse off nor could i deal with any further stress, sorry this is long x

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 60,312 Championing

    Are ESA aware that you're working? If your husband is the main claimant of the ESA and it is Income Related then there's only a £20/week disregard for your earnings. After that the ESA would be reduced £1 for £1 for your earnings. Working 10 hours per week would mean the ESA would be reduced by about £94/week, if you're on National Minimum Wage (£11.44 per hour)

    If part of the ESA is contributions based, this isn't affected by your earnings. This would mean the ESA would be £138.20/week. (this is assuming he's in the Support Group)

    This could mean that your housing benefit would be less because there's no Income Related part to the ESA. I'm afraid I don't know how much the housing benefit would be reduced by.

    You could use a benefits calculator to check entitlement and this will give you some idea.

    https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/

    In this situation you maybe better off by claiming Universal Credit. Your husbands contributions based ESA would continue but be deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

    Your husband would be entitled to the LCWRA element from the start of your claim because he's in the Support Group for ESA. You will also have the work allowance, which means some of the earnings you receive each month will be disregarded before deductions apply. As you're claiming for help with the rent then your work allowance will be £404/month. For every £1 of earnings over that amount your UC would reduce by 55p.

    You should use a benefits calculator to check if you would be better off by claiming this. If you claimed UC then housing benefit would continue for 2 weeks and then stop. Your UC would then include housing element. (which replaces housing benefit)

  • lees
    lees Community member Posts: 20 Listener

    Yes they know i work 10 hrs and he is main claim and in support group, has more problems now going on and im worried i may not be able to continue working therefore will this change again, i find it so stressful! Age concern also said not to do new claim wait for them to tell us to change over, will esa be all cont based if i stop or all income based i really dont understand it all, i tried ben calc and every time said wel get full hous ben yet we dont, lost over 400 a mnth yet have to find xtra 200 plus, doesnt make sense

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 60,312 Championing
    edited October 8

    I'm not understanding the advice from Age concern to wait until you receive the letter inviting you to claim UC. You will have the work allowance if you claim that because it applies to the claim. Where as claiming ESA the earnings disregard is less generous if you work when you're not the main claimant.

    Did age concern actually do a full benefits check for you?

    Are you claiming Carers Allowance for looking after your partner? Assuming your earnings are less than £151/week.

  • lees
    lees Community member Posts: 20 Listener

    Me neither its all confusing! He said if we move over wed be worse off but if wait for a letter wed be better off, ive looked after him for years and never claimed carers as believed it was my job to care for him but they advised to claim it and i did 4 wks ago but hearx nothing back yet just they have recieved it, thdn im thinking is it worth it will they just up rent again,

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 60,312 Championing

    Not everyone is worse off when claiming UC, some are actually better off. If you are better off then you wouldn't be entitled to any Transitional Protection through managed migration.

    His ESA would continue as normal and UC would then top up your Income. I honestly can't see how you would be worse off by claiming UC.

    Your UC would include standard couples allowance, LCWRA element, carers element and housing element. £404/month of your earnings would be disregarded due to the work allowance.

    His ESA and your carers allowance would both be deducted in full.

    I'd advise you to speak to a different advice agency and have a full benefits check. You can check which advice agency is local to you here.

    https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

  • lees
    lees Community member Posts: 20 Listener

    Thanks for your help, appreciate it x

  • lees
    lees Community member Posts: 20 Listener

    Going through the letter it says 117.40 living exp 24.60 disability guarantee xtra for support group 39.40 which gives income related amount of 181.40, 1st 20 not counted for your partner so

    Income rel am 181.40 less 69.10 be entitled to 112 .30 but as you are entitled to cont based esa we will pay 168.45 2 wkly

    Does this mean the claim is income related more than contrib as thats how i read it yet counil say they base it on whatevers more in our case cont based 🤷

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 60,312 Championing

    With an amount of £168.24 every fortnight, that's not contributions based, if your partner is in the Support Group. Unless they are claiming a pension of more than £85/week, which would mean the CB ESA would be reduced by 50p/week for every £1 of pension over that amount.

  • lees
    lees Community member Posts: 20 Listener

    No pension and its 336.90 every 2 wks

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 60,312 Championing

    That can't be correct because you are working 10 hours per week. As your partner is the main claimant of the ESA claim this means that only £20/week of your earnings are disregarded. After that the ESA reduces £1 for £1 as I explained earlier in the thread. Contributions based ESA Support Group is £138.20/week. (£276.40 every 2 weeks)

    Your partner will need to contact ESA and tell them that you're working 10 hours per week.

  • lees
    lees Community member Posts: 20 Listener

    What you saying it should be, i only spoke to them today after waiting 1hr 20 mins, asking for a break down, i said ( i may have to stop the 10 hrs ) theyve known all along i did 10 hrs , she even said you do 10 hrs if this changes let us know, its all very confusing

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 60,312 Championing

    The figures you mentioned do not make sense. If your partner is the main claimant and isn't the person that's working those 10 hours then that ESA amount is not correct.

    If it's the main claimant that's working then permitted work earnings of up to £183.50/week, working less than 16 hours per week are allowed and will not affect the ESA.

  • lees
    lees Community member Posts: 20 Listener

    No my husbands disabled, weve getting the 336.90 every 2 wks for yrs now so even more confusing, should it be more/less , terrible when you give them every detail

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 60,312 Championing

    It should be less than that because you are working 10 hours per week.

  • lees
    lees Community member Posts: 20 Listener

    I dont get it, if its wrong its their fault but as always wel suffer