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Incapacity Benefit taken removed, replaced with Wi

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13 years 4 months ago #37015 by Kirsteen
Hello,

A friend of mine is on contributions based Incapacity Benefit. Her husband died in September. She’s just got a letter saying she should be on Widows Parent’s Allowance rather than Incapacity Benefit [you can only receive on or the other]. The problem is WPA is worth less than IB.

This seems strange to me. She is as disabled as she was before her husband died, so how can she end up worse off?

Has anyone got any advice or experience of this?

Best wishes and thanks for your help.
Kirsteen.

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  • Survivor
13 years 4 months ago #37020 by Survivor
I haven't come across this with WPI, but I've come across quite a few accounts of women with children on ESA being told they should be claiming IS as single parents, which is wrong.

I've had a quick look for the provisions relating to overlapping benefits, but there appear to be special rules relating to the combination of IB and WPA, so unless one of my fellow moderators knows the answer, I think you need to seek face-to-face advice from a welfare adviser.

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13 years 4 months ago #37021 by Gordon
Kirsteen

Widowed Parent's Allowance is not one of the benefits we are able to provide detailed information on, so your friend should seek face to face advice from a suitable advisor such as the CAB or a Welfare Rights Officer.

From what I can find out, WPA can be affected by the NI record of the deceased husband, so this may be the cause, but without a more detailed understanding of the situation it is not possible to be more definitive.

Gordon

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

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  • Survivor
13 years 4 months ago #37026 by Survivor
If you see a welfare adviser, I believe that the answer may be on p277 of the 2008/9 edition of the CPAG guide to welfare benefits, but I don't have a copy of that, only a reference to it. I'd be interested in the answer myself once you find out.

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13 years 4 months ago #37160 by Kirsteen
Thanks for all your advice. I will get my friend to see a specialist advisor. I can't find any information on the web that refers to the specific overlapping rules but ti's clear there are some.

Best wishes and thanks again.
Kirsteen.

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  • originaldave
13 years 4 months ago #37163 by originaldave
www.hertsdirect.org/docs/pdf/b/bereave

also


If you're already getting any of the following benefits, the amount of your payments may change once you start to get Widowed Parent's Allowance:

•Income Support
•Incapacity Benefit
•Jobseeker's Allowance
•Carer's Allowance
•Employment and Support Allowance

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