Thank you so much Margaret .God bless you. I think I will need a week to compose this letter ! Getting hold of a welfare officer is difficult.You would not believe . One last favour please Margaret. What is the date of this publication you have quoted me please ? Thank you .xo

This is from the focusondisabilty site and tells it exactly how we were told.That pension is ignored if on DLA which I have highlited.I need to find this on the WOrks and Pensions site if possible.Can someone please help.Thanks. If you have a personal pension For new claims, half of your occupational or personal pension(s) above £85 is to be deducted from your incapacity benefit. For example, if you have a weekly occupational pension of £95 then your incapacity benefit will be reduced by £5 a week. It is intended that permanent health insurance payments arranged through your employer will also be taken into account after your employment has ended. The government has said you will be exempt if: You already get incapacity benefit at the time the rules change - see below; Your claim links back to an earlier incapacity benefit award that ended before the rules changed (contact the Benefits Agency to learn about the special linking rules for work and training; You get disability living allowance higher rate care component; The pension payments are in connection with the death of a member of the scheme. It is expected that the rules will treat you as having an income from an occupational pension that would be available to you if you applied for it. So you can avoid the reduction by deferring part of your pension. But this won’t apply to personal pensions unless you are aged 60 or over

Thank you Margaret. Thanks for responding so quickly.really appreciated. I looked through all of this but I can't find anything about IB and DLA high care conponent and how it ignores the pension yet I have found on various welfare rights pages .I need to find it their official documents so if anybody can help me I would be grateful. I have found it on welfare rights sites where it says that which pertains fully what I am seeking and have been told by these same bods in the past: Pension income rules If you have a gross pension income of more than £85 a week, the amount of benefit will be reduced by half of the excess. The excess is the difference between £85 and the actual pension income. For example, for a pension income of £100, the excess is £15. The amount of Incapacity Benefit payable is reduced by half of that, which is £7.50. Exceptions This rule does not apply if: you were in receipt of Incapacity Benefit before 6 April 2001 your claim is made under the linking rules for Incapacity Benefit and links back to before 6 April 2001 you receive the highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance

From the child action poverty group:- Those on IB and SDA who claimed before 6 April 2001 or are entitled to the highest rate care component of disability living allowance will continue to have any occupational pension fully disregarded on transfer to contributory ESA, unlike other ESA claimants who have 50 per cent of any occupational pension over £85 a week deducted from their entitlement. So saying the same thing as Mikey but if you call them then its they have no clue.

This is from Focus on disability:-In relation to IB and ESA. If you have a personal pension For new claims, half of your occupational or personal pension(s) above £85 is to be deducted from your incapacity benefit. For example, if you have a weekly occupational pension of £95 then your incapacity benefit will be reduced by £5 a week. It is intended that permanent health insurance payments arranged through your employer will also be taken into account after your employment has ended. The government has said you will be exempt if: You already get incapacity benefit at the time the rules change - see below; Your claim links back to an earlier incapacity benefit award that ended before the rules changed (contact the Benefits Agency to learn about the special linking rules for work and training; You get disability living allowance higher rate care component; The pension payments are in connection with the death of a member of the scheme.

Hi Mikey.Can you repost that number and site when you got that information.Thanks. I was on IB since Sept 2001 and DLA from Aug 2004.High care rate.Low mobility rate plus I was pensioned off from work.And because of the high rate of care DLA I was told that pension is ignored by both IB and DLA.Pension and IB were taxable. From 2005 I was told not to call to inform of pension as it was ignored by DLA and IB due to high care conponent . Now have been told that IB is ESA support group and contribution based. Next thing they write and say.....your pension is due to go up soon and please tell us what it is and the rate they quoted me is the time they told me not to call in about it anymore which was 2005 ! So thats one problem.They seem to half half the information but not the bit where they told me not to call with updates! Then I ring them up asking about the DLA and its effect on ESA and pensions.Some say yes that rule applies and some have never heard of it .Its scary because they said that i don't need to give updates from 2005 as DLA ignores it for IB yet ESA are going on dated information from IB but saying were are ESA and all new. Somebody please help . I checked Child Poverty site Lawcentres Welfarerights Disability rights etc and they all say the same: That if you are on the high rate of DLA and IB then your op is ignored.And if you move onto ESA contribution based then you are still protected. But if you speak to them.....they have no clue so how do you convince them that it still applies and also that I submitted op while they asked and before being on DLA high care rate and then they told me not to send sick notes or pension updates as it did not apply ! I am sick with worry and I need desperate help. Thank you