Hi

I am still in the assessment stage of ESA having completed and sent off the medical questionaire. I am on contributary ESA at the moment, i suspect i will be placed in the WRAG group and will have to appeal.

I have just found out that my application for ill health retirement from the NHS has been accepted. It will take approximately 6 weeks to sort out.

I am aware that i will need to let DWP know. I have been informed that my pension will reduce my ESA payments... is this true and does it matter what group i am in...???

I ask because i wonder if i is worth me going through all the stress of appealing. My pension will not be a massive amount and i am waitning for the exact breakdown so i'm just guessing right now.

Thanks for the help.

lollo

If you are on Contribution Based ESA then I would expect your weekly payment to be reduced by £1 for every £2 above £85. For example, if your pension is £100/week then the excess is £15 and the deduction would be £7.50.

There would be no change in this whether you are in the WRAG or the Support Group although the rate for being in the latter is just over £5 more.

Legislation to be introduced in the next couple of months will limit the time you can receive ESA(CB) to one year for members of the WRAG, but not the Support Group. After this time you will be eligible for Income Related ESA, subject to a means test involving assets and income.

Hope this helps

Gordon

For some reason I had got the impression that people in the Support group would not be subjected to any kind of means testing including occupational pensions. Is this incorrect and pension income will decrease benefits regardless of which group you're in? At the moment if you have been claiming IB before 2001 pension income is disregarded so have they changed that rule? Out of interest is there a point where halving any excess pension over £85 would effectively mean you qualified for no ESA - for example if you have a £200 per week pension would the excess of £115 be cut to £57.50 or would you be disqualified for ESA because you have more than double the allowed amount of £85?
Thanks,

WW

waltwhitman

I guess it depends on how you define means tested for Income Related ESA there is no disregard, and all income, including your partners is taken into account.

The deduction is made, 1 for 2 until you have reduced your ESA income to zero.

The following website explains, the allowances.

www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/Fina...upport/esa/DG_171896

Gordon

Thank you for the replies.

It is as i had feared really.

It seems so unfair that i cannot work anymore and no i'm excluded from any support to help. I claimed on my critical illness cover so have some savings (just over the threshold) which will eventually go towards adapting the house to make it easier for me to live. I shouldn't have to use it to support me.

Whilst i realise i am lucky that i have got my pension as some people are worse off than me, it is unfair. Just because others have it worse doesn't mean that my concerns aren't valid.

I guess i'll wait and see what all the figures add up to and what my ESA outcome is.

The irony of this is that i get ESA now that i am on half pay at work which is more than i will get from the pension wnd then my ESA will be reduced considerably

lollo wrote:

Hi

I am still in the assessment stage of ESA having completed and sent off the medical questionaire. I am on contributary ESA at the moment, i suspect i will be placed in the WRAG group and will have to appeal.

I have just found out that my application for ill health retirement from the NHS has been accepted. It will take approximately 6 weeks to sort out.

I am aware that i will need to let DWP know. I have been informed that my pension will reduce my ESA payments... is this true and does it matter what group i am in...???

I ask because i wonder if i is worth me going through all the stress of appealing. My pension will not be a massive amount and i am waitning for the exact breakdown so i'm just guessing right now.

Thanks for the help.

Hi lollo,

Have you been granted ill-health retirement from the NHS because of an accident or industrial disease contracted at work ?

If so, you may be able to be paid extra money under the NHS Pension Scheme. The amount depends on your age, and sources of your income.

I had to retire as a staff nurse after contracting viral hepatitis from a patient, which turned to chronic hepatitis.

If this applies to you, just repost and I'll give you further information.

Best wishes.

Pat