IR/ESA HELP WITH FINANCES

Hi there I am finishing my year of CB ESA and am getting a call to see if I can go onto IR ESA.I have my notice for the WRAG group that actually is not due to be re referred till January 2016,It states in my notice that any work related activity must not require you to seek ,apply or undertake work .
With the above in mind I know that I am not fit to work till after my 2nd total knee replacement but need to change to either the support or IR group .My wife has now had to lower her working hours to care for me so she will now fit the criteria of 24 hours ,but we are so worried about money and wondered how we apply for the support for mortgage interest as we have no savings and without my ESA at all we just wont be able to manage.
I would appreciate any help!

jmach wrote: Hi there I am finishing my year of CB ESA and am getting a call to see if I can go onto IR ESA.I have my notice for the WRAG group that actually is not due to be re referred till January 2016,It states in my notice that any work related activity must not require you to seek ,apply or undertake work .
With the above in mind I know that I am not fit to work till after my 2nd total knee replacement but need to change to either the support or IR group .My wife has now had to lower her working hours to care for me so she will now fit the criteria of 24 hours ,but we are so worried about money and wondered how we apply for the support for mortgage interest as we have no savings and without my ESA at all we just wont be able to manage.
I would appreciate any help!

Hi jm,

Don't get confused between being assessed to see whether you can pass the Income Related (IR) ESA means test for payment of IR ESA, and being reassessed to see whether you should be in The SG rather than The WRAG.

The IR ESA means test will involve you undergoing a Financial assessment with respect to your capital, assets, savings, household income and any hours worked by your partner.

Asset rule for ESA(IR)

24 hour work rule for ESA(IR)

This will be done by you filling in an ESA 3 Form : Sample ESA 3 Form

If after you are financially assessed, you are entitled to payment of IR ESA, your ESA payments will continue for as long as you remain in The WRAG.

If you wished to be reassessed to see whether you should be in The SG, you would have to request a review/supersession of your WRAG award.

This would involve you providing documented evidence of how and why you now qualify for The SG, and most probably you having to fill in a fresh ESA50, and the possibility of a fresh face to face assessment.

If you were placed into The SG as a result of a review, payment of Contribution Based (CB) ESA in The SG would be reinstated.

Receipt of IR ESA, even a penny does passport you to other "benefits" such as free prescriptions and dental care, Housing Benefit for any rent that you have to pay to a Social Landlord, help with your Council Tax and/or help with your Mortgage Interest payments : SMI.

Energy Suppliers currently operate : The Warm Home Discount Scheme , where recipients of IR ESA may be entitled to a "Credit" to their Electricity Account in March of the qualifying year for falling under "The Broader Group".

Being in receipt of CB ESA does not automatically "passport" you to any of the above, including SMI.

Regarding SMI, as you will see from the blue link above IR ESA is one of the "qualifying benefits" for receipt of SMI.

As you will see in : This Post, changes to SMI from April 2018 were announced in The Budget.

If you are entitled to IR ESA payments, you have to make a separate claim for SMI which is explained on the Gov.UK site from the link above.

bro58

Thank you for your quick response I appreciate it .I just wondered about my wife's work she is a nurse and earns 11pds an hour I read another members story that said even though his wife had cut her hours to 24 he still couldn't claim IRESA as she earns too much do you know the limit please and if they allow any extra overtime if it has to be done ? .We have no assets or savings .I am just really worried that they wont let us claim ,
Thanks

jmach wrote: Thank you for your quick response I appreciate it .I just wondered about my wife's work she is a nurse and earns 11pds an hour I read another members story that said even though his wife had cut her hours to 24 he still couldn't claim IRESA as she earns too much do you know the limit please and if they allow any extra overtime if it has to be done ? .We have no assets or savings .I am just really worried that they wont let us claim ,
Thanks

Hi jm,

From what you have now written, if you are in The WRAG of ESA only, (no other benefits) it looks very much like you would have no entitlement to any IR ESA payments.

The 24 hour working rule for a partner is stringent, in that if they work more than the 24 hours/week, even at minimum wage, you cannot receive IR ESA.

However, even if a partner works less than 24 hours/week, their wages will be classed as household income and they will be deducted £ for £ from your maximum IR ESA entitlement as a couple.

(e.g. Otherwise, you could have a scenario where a partner was only working 5 hours/week but being paid £1000/hour, and you still had entitlement to payment of IR ESA)

If their wages equal or exceed the maximum amount that the government state that you need to live on as a couple taking into account your personal circumstances. ( i.e.Your maximum IR ESA entitlement as a couple) you will have no entitlement to IR ESA.

Your maximum IR ESA entitlement as a couple with you in the WRAG would be :

ESA Personal Allowance for a couple - both 18 or over = £114.85/Week

WRA Component Addition for you being in The WRAG = £29.05/Week

Total = £143.90/Week

From : Benefit Rates 2015/16

N.B. The above amount is only applicable to IR ESA, all IR ESA is worked out as a couple if you have a partner.

As your current WRAG CB ESA claim is for you as an individual you should only receive £73.10/Week Personal Allowance + WRA Component Addition CB ESA.

Your Household Income including your partner's wage would have to fall below £143.90/Week for IR ESA entitlement, it would be deducted from that total £ for £, if their wage equalled or exceeded that amount, it would cancel it out.

End result, no entitlement to payment of IR ESA.

I would still advise that you fill in The ESA 3, to ensure that you are properly assessed for entitlement to payment of IR ESA.

If you don't have entitlement to IR ESA, your CB ESA payments would be reinstated if you are placed into The SG at some future reassessment , or as the result of you requesting a review/supersession of your WRAG Award.

bro58

Thank you Bro for that , To be honest I am not sure what's going to happen as my CB ESA finishes this month yet it looks like we are not entitled to IR ESA can you tell me what we can do next ,Am I supposed to go onto another benefit as we cant live without help till I can get back to work next year. I am awaiting my next total knee replacement which the doctor has put off till I can walk on the 1 I have had done.
I don't think I can go on JSA I have the assessment to say I am not fit for work
please can you advice me?
thanks

jmach wrote: Thank you Bro for that , To be honest I am not sure what's going to happen as my CB ESA finishes this month yet it looks like we are not entitled to IR ESA can you tell me what we can do next ,Am I supposed to go onto another benefit as we cant live without help till I can get back to work next year. I am awaiting my next total knee replacement which the doctor has put off till I can walk on the 1 I have had done.
I don't think I can go on JSA I have the assessment to say I am not fit for work
please can you advice me?
thanks

Hi jm,

I am afraid that your options are limited !

You should fill in an ESA 3 Financial Assessment Form, so that you are properly assessed for entitlement to payment of IR ESA, you will be certain then.

You could look into claiming JSA, if you are fit enough to abide by The Job Seekers Agreement, although it is not a definite that you would be entitled to any JSA either.

You could request a review/supersession of your WRAG Award to see whether you can gain entry to The SG.

You could try claiming PIP which is not means tested nor reliant on your NI Contribution record history :

PIP Self Test

PIP Claims Guide. (2nd Link on page)

Failing any of the above, I am afraid that you will not receive any other form of "benefit", once you have used up your 365 days of entitlement to payment of CB ESA in The WRAG.

12 Month Limit for ESA(CB)

You would remain in The WRAG, classed as "a person who is only entitled to ESA(Cont) payable at nil rate", i.e. you would receive no monies, but would continue to receive NI Credits which would go towards your State Pension only.

As such, you would not have to comply with any form of Work Related Activity (WRA) including WFI's as clarified below @ :

DMG Chapter 53 53014. 4.

53014 The conditions1 referred to in DMG 53013 are that the claimant is :

1. entitled to ESA or an advance award of ESA2 has been made (DMG 53200 et seq)

and

2. not a member of the support group

and

3. under the age at which a woman of the same age as the claimant attains pensionable age (see DMG Chapter 75)

and

#4. not a person who is only entitled to ESA(Cont) payable at nil rate#

5. not a lone parent who is responsible for and a member of the same household
as a child aged under one.

From : DM Guide CH 53.

See also ESA Regulation 54 (2) (d)

As you don’t have to comply with WFI’s you don’t have to comply with WRA either.

You would still have to comply with any periodic reassessments of which "group" you are in.

Not much help monetary wise I'm afraid, you should seek professional face to face advice to ensure that you are receiving any benefits that you are entitled to.

I notice that you have made the same/similar queries in the past : Here, unfortunately, our responses can only remain the same !!

With respect to you closing your current ESA Claim, waiting 12 weeks, then making a fresh claim to see whether you can re-satisfy CB ESA entitlement conditions with respect to your NI Contributions, see Gordon's advice below :

"Finally and you need to be cautious about this, if you can re-meet the ESA Contribution Conditions you can make a new claim for ESA(CB) based on the Tax Years 2012-13 and 2013-14. You need to be certain that you can meet the Conditions as you may be required to close your current ESA claim and will lose any rights associated with it as a result. If you are placed in the WRAG then you will have a further 365 days of payment, if you are placed in the SG then you will receive ESA(CB) and will have a further 365 days if placed in the WRAG."

From his post of today : HERE.

As you can see, you are not alone in suffering due to the 365 days entitlement to CB ESA Rule whilst not in The SG which was brought in by The Tory led coalition as part of The 2012 Welfare Reform Bill !!

bro58