ESA 3 (IBR) Form Advice

I have a question regarding the ESA3 (IBR)form please.

From June 2013 until March 2018 I have had between £0 and £8000 in savings going up and down depending on repairs/bills etc to pay out on.

However in March 2018 my brother-in-law sadly passed away and my husband was the executor of the will. My brother-in-law left £18000 to be shared equally between my husband and his sister. This got transferred into my husband’s account in March 2018 account and it sat in the account for approximately a month as my husband was on holiday when it came through.

Once he was home he transferred half of it to his sister which left £8000 in his bank account but this did still leave us for only a couple of months, over the £16000 limit as I had savings of £8000 or so myself.


I have read the information that you have put up Gordon but I can’t see any information that would cover my questions.

The main question I have is when getting assessed, might I still be owed money between June 2013 and March 2018 when I didn’t have much savings and then would I be reassessed and due some money after the savings went back down to under £16000 a couple of months later OR because the savings went up to over £16000 for that brief period of time, does that exclude me from getting any back payment at all for the whole time frame from 2013 until now?

This question is important because if having these extra savings for such a brief period of time, this then makes me exempt for the whole time from any potential back payment then I will just tick the back of the form instead of filling out the form.

Another question is for a certain period of that time in 2013 and maybe 2014 my husband received Carer’s allowance. He has not had it now for many years. Does having Carer’s allowance affect the claim for any back payment?

He now receives a State Pension. I am under pensionable age. Does that have any affect to the claim also? I can’t see anywhere on the form that asks about State pension.

Oh one last question. It states on the form that you need to send the form back within one month of receiving it otherwise you could lose money. I didn’t actually get it until 5 days after the date on the form (11th December) and I’m a bit worried as to whether I will get it back to them within a month due to all the bank holidays with Xmas and the New Year even if sending in plenty of time. I’m also waiting for the bank to send me some bank statements. If it did arrive back later than the month deadline would this mean I could lose any/all back payment I could possibly be due?

I have spent many hours reading all sorts of information on the internet but just when I think I understand it all regarding the income related side of ESA and the entitlement to disability premiums, I read something else and am left confused again.

Thanks for any help.

Hi Gordon. Thanks so much for your reply. I probably worded it badly but half the money was for my husband and half for his sister. But I understand what you are saying and that I would need to show proof as to where the rest of the money went and that it wasn’t all his. That’s fine.
What I still don’t understand though is, does it just mean that there was too much money in the account to claim for just that specific period? As in from March 2018 when he received the money until the money fell below £16000 or does it invalidate the whole claim right the way back to 2013 when we hardly had any savings? In other words would I be entitled to some back pay for the interim period from 2013 until March 2018 but probably not be entitled to anything from March until when the money went back under £16000? Or does it make the whole period of all those years null and void just because for a month or two the savings were above £16,000? Even after the payment went to his sister it was above the £16000 but only for a month or two. I’m really trying to understand how the system of it all works. Thanks again for any help.

Thanks Gordon. I understand it now. So basically I would barely be entitled to anything for the years I have had more than £6000 in my bank account? I knew there would be a deduction for having more than £6000 but I didn’t realise I wouldn’t be entitled to anything or unlikely to be if over the £6000. That would be only about 18 months out of the whole time where I had under £6000. It now has me wondering whether the amount I might be entitled to is worth the invasion of privacy and the stress, worrying and waiting it all causes. Not sure what kind of backdated money I would get for just a year and a half. Thanks again for your help and time. I have been a member off and on for a long time. I really appreciate the fantastic work you all do on this website and to keep it up and running.