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6 years 9 months ago #216908 by smilencuddles
ESA contribution based support group was created by smilencuddles
Firstly I must apologise if my query has been raised before. My foggy medication brain cannot seem to find how to search topics in the forums. A little help with this would be appreciated please.

I receive ESA CB and am in the support group (all thanks to your guidance!). I receive £221 every two weeks and also the higher rate components of Care and Mobility DLA.
I have been looking into renting out some of my bedrooms to increase my income and wanted to check that I am able to do this whilst receiving my ESA. There is so much conflicting information around this that ii thought I’d check with you?
Whilst looking into this I came across the ruling that ESA must be reduced by 50p for every £1 over £85 of pension income. I receive £787 net per month as an ill health early retirement final salary scheme. I had this pension when I applied for Incapacity Benefit and definitely declared it and subsequently assume I did when I changed to ESA. Is there a reason why my ESA was not reduced? And where do I stand if it should have been?
To complicate things further I always thought income didn’t affect my ESA so I neglected to tell the DWP of my yearly RPI pension increases. I now see that this assumption was wrong for pension income. Again, where do I stand and what should I do?

Ona note aside, my daughter has been my Carer and has been receiving Carers allowance however she is starting University in September and I believe that although she will no longer qualify for the Carers Allowance she will still receive Carers Credit. Does she have to apply for this separately or does she just inform the DWP at the same time as cancelling her CA? And finally last question; will this cancellation affect any of my benefits?

Thanking you in advance!
Smilencuddles

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6 years 9 months ago #216923 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA contribution based support group
smilencuddles

Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

In case you are not aware, your real name appears to be showing in the forum, if you want to change this then follow the instructions in the following FAQ

My full name is showing, how can I stop it?



I'm afraid I can't comment on your renting out a bedroom, it will depend on the terms on which this is done and the type of ESA you are receiving, I would recommend that you get face to face advice from a trained advisor. Do an internet search or "welfare advice" advice with your postcode, town or county.

Re your pension, was this declared to the DWP when you were receiving Incapacity Benefit?

Some IB claimants qualified to have their pension disregarded in regard to their IB, if yours was as opposed to not being deducted, then the disregard should continue under ESA providing your claim has been continuous.

If it was not eligible for disregard, you need to have been in receipt of IB 6 April 2001 or in receipt of the Higher Rate of DLA Care, then your pension should have been deducted from your ESA, there is a £85/week disregard followed by a £1 deduction for every £2 of pension in excess of the £85.

Re your daughter, providing she is still able to provide a minimum of 20 hours of care a week then she should be able to receive the Carers Credit, there does not seem to be any restriction as there is for CA over her being a full-time student. She will need to close her CA claim and make a new claim for CC.

Based on what you have posted I would not expect her changing benefit to have a negative impact on your ESA.


Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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6 years 9 months ago #216956 by smilencuddles
Replied by smilencuddles on topic ESA contribution based support group
Thank you for your prompt and detailed reply Gordon;

I have just a few questions;

Re;
‘If it was not eligible for disregard, you need to have been in receipt of IB 6 April 2001 or in receipt of the Higher Rate of DLA Care, then your pension should have been deducted from your ESA, there is a £85/week disregard followed by a £1 deduction for every £2 of pension in excess of the £85’
am I right in thinking that if my IB was post 2001 but I am in receipt of higher rate DLA that the pension was eligible for disregard?

I receive contribution based/support group ESA. Renting a room aside (I will seek further advice as you suggested) is there a limit to ‘other income’ in general?

Kindest Regards
Smilencuddles

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6 years 9 months ago #216997 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA contribution based support group
smilencuddles

Receiving the HIgher rate of DLA Care should disregard your pension but this is not the key question, the pension being disregarded under ESA is entirely dependant on it having been disregarded under IB. So was it?


Gordon

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6 years 9 months ago #217373 by smilencuddles
Replied by smilencuddles on topic ESA contribution based support group
Unfortunately I did not keep a copy of my IB application form however I am almost 100% confident that did declare it when applying. I am a very honest person. I was just confused with the the paragraph I pasted. Perhaps it merely comes down to the use of commas and me misreading it’s meaning. With this new information could I ask you to word this paragraph differently please.

Does my name still appear? I contacted technical who could not make the change for me

Kindest regards

Smilencuddles

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6 years 9 months ago #217377 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA contribution based support group
smilencuddles

There is nothing wrong with what you posted but these criteria apply to Incapacity Benefit, they do not apply to ESA.

The only requirement ESA has is that the pension was disregarded under IB immediately before the transfer to ESA.

So this may be a two-stage process for you if you do not have documentation that shows the pension was disregarded while you were receiving IB. First, you will need to show that it should have been disregarded if it was not and having done this, then it should be automatic that it is under ESA.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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