× Members

Impact of back-dated claim for Severe Disability Premium

More
1 year 9 months ago #271708 by woody34
My daughter is on IR ESA (Support Group) and PIP (enhanced daily living and enhanced mobility). For various reasons I needed to look at what would happen if my daughter, was forced to make a claim for Universal Credit.

The last review for her ESA was in August 2018 (awarded in October 2018), so it's been a while since the last review.

I am appointee for her benefits. In March 2018 she moved from home into her own flat (pays rent but received housing benefit / allowance), and DWP were informed of this. I guess this means she should then have started receiving severe disability premium? She was (and is) already getting "extra money because of the Disability Income Guarantee" - i think this is the enhanced disability premium? In total she gets £135 including about £40 extra because of being in the support group.

When I found out that to get transitional protection when she is migrated to UC, she needs to be receiving (or is it really eligible for?) severe disability premium, I checked she was definitely getting it, but there is nothing about this in her award letter - the only additional amounts are the those I've mentioned above, and they didn't change after moving into her flat.

Am I correct she should be getting an extra £69.40 severe disability premium because of being on ESA, and receiving enhanced daily living component of PIP, and living alone in her own flat? Am I correct this should be backdated to March 2018 when she moved in? Where can I find the historical rates of SDP that applied since she March 2018?

The reason she might have failed to be awarded SDP following the review in October 2018 is because, being appointee, my address is on the ESA review claim form - though I did put in the notes on the form that she was living at least 5 days a week in her own flat, and I gave the address of her flat.

So it seems I could make a back-dated claim, but to do so raises the following questions:

1. If I ask for SDP to be paid / back-dated, could this cause the ESA claim to be reviewed - so I have to fill all the forms in again? Would this mean she would then be forced to claim Universal Credit immediately?

2. If she received £16,000 or more, would they automatically assume she had £16,000 savings and stop her claim? This could be disastrous.

3. If her claim was stopped, am I correct that would mean she'd then have to claim UC when her savings went down, and as a result of no longer receiving ESA she would lose her entitlement to transitional protection for the severe disability premium? That's £285 a month I think - which means she could lose more money that she gains by claiming the back-dates severe disability premium.

4. How long are claims taking for SDP these days? I'm worried that if they take more than, say, 8 weeks to award back-dated SDP, that could means she'd receive a lump sum of more than £16,000. If it took longer than 15 weeks, then the lumpsum added to her £500 overdraft would means she'd then have over £16000 in savings.

5. Can I say how long I want to back-date the claim, or would it be automatically back-dated to the date she moved into her flat?

6. If I don't claim the SDP, I'm worried that when migrated onto UC, they will realise she was entitled to SDP, and automatically award arrears of SDP exceeding £16000, and therefore immediately stop her claim to UC (meaning she loses transitional protection). Is this a valid concern?

7. Because her flat is in a different council area, could she now be forced to claim UC, even though she moved to her flat back in March 2018 (when I believe neither council area was part of Universal Credit).

Strange, but true, the implications of the possibility my daughter is owed back-dated SDP is causing real anxiety for me!

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
1 year 9 months ago #271761 by Gary
Hi woody34

I have already answered this question on your previous post see the following link.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/forum/10-dla-e...ility-premium#271707

Gary

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

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: GordonGaryBISCatherineWendyKellygreekqueenpeterKatherineSuper UserjimmckChris
We use cookies

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.