Welfare Rights
Benefit Changes
Training 2012
January 2012
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) restrictions for under 25's
extended to under 35's in Private rented tenancies.
Previously, LHA for single childless people under 25 was
restricted to the rent level of a bedsit (or shared
accommodation) rate about £60 weekly.
This restriction is now extended to include those under 35
who previously were allowed the one bedroom LHA rate
about £80 weekly so a loss of about £20 weekly.
Always ask for the Council for a Discretionary Hardship
Payment (DHP) to top up any shortfall in your benefit
New claims from 1 Jan 2012 will have the lower shared rate
applied straight away.
For those already claiming LHA on 1 Jan 2012 the restriction
will be applied after that date, this is starting to happen now.
For example,
- For those who claimed before April 2011 - the restriction will
apply 9 months after the anniversary of their claim
For those who claimed after 1 April 2011 but before 1 Jan 2012the restriction will apply from the anniversary date of their claim.
This transitional protection may end earlier or the rate may
change if there are certain changes in circumstances.
April 2012
Tax Credits
The 'protection' of the family element (£10+) from reduction is
removed, as a guide one child income needs to be under £26K,
two children under £32K, higher amounts are used if disabled
or child care ect. It obviously means that a lot less people will
now get Child Tax Credits.
The extra £4 a week Child Tax Credit for each child aged one
and two promised for 2012 by the last Government will not go
ahead.
A way to claiming Working Tax Credit (WTC) is by those aged
50 or over, who are starting work after being on certain Benefits
for six months. This route to WTC is abolished.
But it does not stop the over 50’s getting WTC for other reasons
E.g working over 30+ hours or aged over 60
The couple rule:
The minimum hours that a couple with children must work has
increased from 16 to 24 hours a week, with at least one
working 16 hours. The impact could be an immediate loss of up
to £74 a week (over £3,000 a year) for a working family earning
£7,000 a year. But there are exceptions to this 24 hour rule, for
example where someone is incapable of work, on DLA or
entitled to Carers Allowance.
Backdating:
The backdating of claims reduces from 3 to 1 month.
This also applies to backdating increases of existing awards for
changes in circumstances, so it is important to stay on Tax
Credits even if no money is paid.
Changes in Income:
Falls in annual income of up to £2,500 will be ignored. This new
rule means that Tax Credits will not be increased until annual
income has dropped below £2,500.
Incapacity Benefit (IB)
Most people getting Incapacity Benefit, Severe
Disablement Allowance and 'Incapacity related' Income
Support will be reassessed under the Employment and
Support Allowance (ESA) medical test.
A very difficult medical test to pass?
If they pass the test they will go onto Employment and
Support Allowance. If they fail it, they will have to:
claim Jobseekers Allowance
find work, or
find another reason for remaining on Income Support like being
a carer or a lone parent with a child under 5
appeal the decision (Possibly staying on the basic £71 weekly)
or
do without anything
If the claimant passes the medical and their previous
Incapacity related Benefit was higher?
Employment and Support Allowance is topped up with an
extra amount which is then frozen until "normal"
Employment and Support Allowance rates catch up.
Timescale:
The national roll out started from 28 February 2011 and has
been running at full capacity from May 2011. About
11,000 claims a week nationally are being reassessed.
People who reach state pension age by April 2014 will not
be reassessed.
Incapacity Benefit and Income Support claimants started
being reassessed from February 2011 onwards.
People only getting Severe Disablement Allowance will not
be reassessed until all the Incapacity Benefit and
Income Support reassessments have been completed.
Reassessments are planned to finish by the end of March 2014.
From 31 January 2011 it has not been possible to make a "linked claim"
(8 weeks or within two year of starting work) for Incapacity Benefits.
Claims that would have previously been linked will be treated as new
Employment and Support Allowance claims.
How will they transfer over?
People will get a letter and a phone call to tell them they are going to be
reassessed under the ESA test.
People do not have to fill in a claim form but most people will get an
ESA50 medical questionnaire form to fill in and return and most will be
asked to attend a medical at a local Jobcentre.
People will carry on getting their Incapacity related Benefits
while being assessed.
After they have been reassessed they will get a phone call from
Jobcentre Plus to tell them if they will transfer to ESA and what
they can do if not.
People who fail the ESA test will probably be asked during the
call if they want to claim Jobseekers Allowance or appeal.
They do not have to make a decision then.
Everyone will then get a letter from Jobcentre Plus confirming
the decision.
People who pass the ESA test will start getting paid it between
two and four weeks after the decision date.
People who fail the ESA test will have their Incapacity Benefit
stopped two to four weeks after the decision date.
Results
DWP estimate that about 23% of people reassessed will be
found fit for work. Out of those, they estimate that:
50% will move onto Jobseekers Allowance
20% will move onto another Benefit (for example, Income
Support, Carers Allowance or if possible re-claim Employment
and Support Allowance)
30% will move off Benefit, for example, into work
Terminally ill people should not have to complete an ESA50 or
go to a medical as long as they provide a DS1500 report from
their doctor as evidence they are terminally ill. If they have
already sent a DS1500 for their Incapacity Benefit or Disability
Living Allowance claim they should not have to provide another.
They should automatically be transferred to ESA with a support
component.
People with severe illnesses and disabilities may not have to
complete an ESA50 or go to a medical. It will depend on
whether there is already enough evidence for a decision maker
to decide they pass the ESA test.
If so they will go onto ESA with a support component. They may
be asked to fill in a shorter form called an ESA50a to check if
they are unfit for work related activity.
People who are at this time exempt from being assessed for
their Incapacity Benefit will still have to go through the ESA
reassessment process.
Pension age by April 2014?
People who reach state pension age by 6 April 2014 will not be
reassessed. They will stay on their Incapacity Benefit until they
reach pension age. For men this means 65.
Women born up to and including 5 April 1952 will reach pension
age on 6 March 2014 and will not be transferred.
Women born on any date after 5 April 1952 will not reach
pension age until 6 May 2014 at the earliest and will therefore
go through the ESA transfer process.
Challenging a reassessment decision
People can appeal against a reassessment decision. Their old
Benefit will stop and they can choose whether to:
Get the basic 'assessment phase' Employment and Support
Allowance rate pending the appeal. They do not have to
make a claim but they must make a valid appeal in writing
before they can be paid and submit medical evidence that
they are sick. Or
Claim Income Support (Only if they satisfy the rules on another
ground) no disability premium will be paid for sickness or
Jobseekers Allowance if they satisfy the rules. Claiming
Jobseekers Allowance pending the appeal does not affect the
later ESA appeal decision.
Important.
A person's "old" Incapacity related Benefit will stop between 2
and 4 weeks after the decision. If they want to appeal and get
the basic ESA without a break in their payments, they must get
the appeal in within the normal one month appeal time limit
applies, if the appeal goes in after the old Benefits stops, there
will be a gap before basic ESA can start.
If the person fails to return the ESA50 form or attend a medical,
without good cause, they will get a decision that they are not
entitled to transfer to ESA. They can appeal against this
decision but will not get paid any ESA pending the appeal, and
their Incapacity Benefit will stop.
A person can just ask for the decision to be looked at again - a
"reconsideration" but in this case they cannot get basic ESA
paid while waiting for a new decision, so don’t waste time doing
this unless you have very strong medical evidence to help
overturn the original refusal.
How much ESA will transfer claimants get?
Those on Incapacity Benefit (IB) or Severe Disablement
Allowance (SDA) will go onto contribution based Employment
and Support Allowance and those on Income Support will go
onto income related Employment and Support Allowance. As
some people now get IB or SDA with an Income Support top up,
some will get both forms of ESA.
Other information
Transfer claimants still getting Income Support for children will
be transferred to Child Tax Credit.
The permitted work rules will apply to transfer claimants in the
normal way. And they are more favorable for ESA than for
Income Support. The permitted work earnings limit for
Income Support is only £20 whereas it is £97.50 for
Employment and Support Allowance.
Occupational and private pensions will still be ignored in full
by Employment and Support Allowance if the claimant was
on Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance
since before April 2001 when that rule changed to £85
weekly ignored.
Previous Invalidity Benefit claimants now on Incapacity
Benefit with transitional protection giving them non taxable
Incapacity Benefit will lose out as ESA is a taxable Benefit so
this protection is lost.
WARNING:
Contribution based ESA awards are limited to one year from
30 April 2012 – only for those placed in the work related
activity group, this could result in it stopping immediately if it
has already been paid for the previous year.
Note: It is possible to go onto Income Related ESA after one
year if household income, savings, capital ect allow this?
Those in the support group will be exempt from this time limit.
It can be reinstated if they later go into the support group
(so long as they have continued to have or are treated
as having limited capability for work)
If someone moves from the support group to the work
related activity group, the one year period will start
then.
Impact:
This is a loss of over £99 a week for those who cannot get
another means tested Benefit such as income related
ESA. Because, for example, a partner working 24+
hours or who earns too much, they have a work
pension or savings over the limits.
The 'ESA in youth' provision ended on 30 April 2012.
This is where claimants aged 16 to 19 or up to 25 in some
cases, were assumed to satisfy the national insurance
rules for ESA and so could get Contribution Based ESA
rather than Income Related ESA.
Existing 'ESA in youth' claimants on Contribution based
ESA are subject to the same one year time limit rules
described above (including the exemption of being in the
ESA 'support group').
Linking Rules:
The 104 week ESA linking rule is also abolished. The last
day an ESA claim can be made - using the 104 week linking
rule is 30 April 2012.
This rule allowed a person to reclaim ESA after a gap of 104
weeks while they had tried out a job or training.
The normal 12 week linking rule for ESA is still there.
Case Study:
David is 54 and has been on £99.15 Contribution Based ESA
since July 2009, his wife works full-time. He has recently been
told his ESA has stopped from May 2012 as he has already
had one year on Contributory ESA.
His options are limited: Claim Contribution based Jobseekers
and see if he has the required national insurance, unlikely, or
Remain on ESA credits only and wait and see if his condition
deteriates and see if he can later go into the ESA support
group allowing his ESA to re-start or
Stop the ESA in full wait over 12 weeks and re-claim ESA again
if he has the required national insurance, possibly could have
he will get paid ESA once again for another year. This route
will leave a gap in his national insurance record for future
claims
Carers Allowance (Underlying & Transfer to ESA)
Many people we work with have claimed Carers Allowance
(£58.45) knowing fine well they will not get paid it due to
having a higher amount from Incapacity Benefit (IB), Severe
Disablement Allowance (SDA) or Contributory ESA (CBESA)
this is called underlying entitlement
By doing this the disabled persons Severe Disability Premium
(SDP) at £58.20 will still be paid to them in any means tested
Benefits they claim (IS, IBJSA, IRESA, HB, CTB, PCGT ect)
and the Carer will still gain the full value of the Carer
Premium (£32.60) in any means tested Benefits they have
paid or any they only now become entitled to.
What happens if they fail the medical to transfer to ESA
from their existing Incapacity or SDA or
After one year on ESA they lose their CBESA in full?
The Carers Allowance will become payable in full at £58.45
and instantly the disabled person will lose the SDP at
£58.20.
Remember by appealing the decision to stop the ESA due
to the medical the claimant will still possibly be paid the
basic £71 and the Carers Allowance will not be paid.
END
Questions and Answers?
New test for DLA from 2013
From 2013 the Government will introduce an 'objective'
medical assessment for Disability Living Allowance to replace
the existing tests.
The test will be similar to the ‘work capability assessment’ in
Employment and Support Allowance.
The proposals are:
What is continuing
The new Benefit will continue as an ‘extra costs Benefit’.
This means that people can still decide how to use it;
it will still not be means tested; it will not be
dependent on national insurance contributions and
will be available to people in and out of work. It will be
for adults who claim before they are 65, but will
continue beyond that age.
Attendance Allowance will continue as present but there
may be a possible change to the age criteria once
men and women’s pension age is equalised in 2018.
DLA will continue for children under 16.
New name: Personal Independence Benefit (PIP)
The new test will consider a person’s ability to carry out a range
of activities which are important to everyday life, including “a
broader definition of mobility”
Higher rates will reflect the higher costs for the greater
impairments
There will be 2 components: one for mobility and the other for
daily living
The qualifying conditions must have been satisfied for the past
6 months before the claim (an increase of 3 months) and for
next 6 months from the award date.
The Government are still considering how to apply the
rules to varying and fluctuating conditions
The present rules for terminally ill people may
continue, where the care component is paid
automatically and quickly.
But there may be less (or no) automatic entitlement for
other conditions that apply at the moment- such as
those on dialysis, severe behavioral problems,
without legs, some deaf and blind people…
Both components will stop after 28 (84 for children)
days in hospital or a care home.
The assessment will be less subjective and will focus on
the claimant’s ability to carry out a range of tasks and
how they may change over time.
The Government think that the assessment should
consider the claimant’s ability to get around, to plan and
make a journey, interact, understand and communicate
with others, manage personal care and treatment needs,
and access food and drink.
They are still working on these questions and how much
to take into account aids and adaptations. See below for
a bit more detail on the test
The Motability scheme will continue
Medical evidence will be gathered from a face to face
medical with a health professional and their own GP
- similar to Employment and Support Allowance
(ESA)
There will be more periodic reviews
A penalty or prosecution and recovery of overpaid
Benefit will occur for not reporting a change which
would result in less Benefit
Assessments may include guidance and signposting to
other support organisations
Passported Benefits:
They will look at how DLA is used to passport to other
help - such as Warm Front Grants and Blue Badge
Scheme but the additional amounts payable in
Benefits like Income Support and Pension Credit for
getting DLA is being looked at under Universal
Credit
Existing claimants will remain on DLA until they are
reassessed. This will happen by being sent a new
PIP claim form.
May share more information and reduce overlap with
other disability assessments. For example, with ESA,
Local Authority care assessments
When?
There will be a phased introduction for new claimants:
Spring 2013 – new claims for DLA from Merseyside, northwest England, Cumbria, Cheshire and north-east England will
be assessed under PIP.
New claims in other parts of the country will be still be taken
as DLA claims.
Summer 2013 – new claims in other parts of the country will
be assessed under PIP – once they know its working.
It is expected that existing DLA claimants will start the process
from autumn 2013 all having transferred over to PIP by 2017.
The test
The test for satisfying the PIP will be based on the inability
to do (or problems with) certain activities. These
activities fall under the two components:
Daily living component x 2 levels (DLA has 3 levels)
Making financial decisions; preparing and cooking food;
taking nutrition; managing medication and monitoring
health conditions; managing prescribed therapies other
than medication; washing, bathing and grooming;
managing toilet needs or incontinence; dressing and
undressing; communicating with others; engaging
socially or supervision from another person to enable
the claimant to carry out an activity safely.
Mobility component x 2
Planning and following a journey; moving around.
There will be points for the inability or difficulty in doing
these tasks or activities.
The number of total points will determine which level of
each component is payable.