I am a carer for my disabled wife. She receives high DLA for both mobility and care, she also receives ESA in support group. I receive carers allowance(for being her full time carer) and Income Support. My question is simple, would my wife be allowed to cancel her ESA claim,(thereby losing her ESA money) then me contact Income Support and claim this for both of us?(Thereby increasing Income SUpport payment by the same amount she has lost) Would there be any financial loss or gain to do this? Would it be straightforward to do, ie Make phone calls, fill in forms send them back. Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

Hi, please bear with me I am new to this forum. I hope I am posting in the correct place. I've been charged with "failure to promptly notify the DWP in the prescribed manner of a change of circumstances which you knew would affect your entitlement to Carer's Allowance, namely that you were earning in excess of theh permitte amount Contrary to section 112(1A) and (2) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (SS92042). This Charge letter came to me in early Jan 2013. I had attended an Interview Under Caution in February 2012, after I had received a letter from the DWP to attend. So, almost a year in between. Long story short, in March of 2009 my disabled daughter had surgery that required me to take unpaid Parental Leave to be in hospital with her (3 weeks) and care for her afterward (recovery, pain management, learn to walk again, loads of physio). I applied for Carer's Allowance to help out for the few months with full intention of going back to work, and informing DWP. On my application form, in the back, I explicitly state in my own handwriting that "I do not yet know how long I will need to care for {daughter's name} at home, and I will contact the DWP Carer's Allowance to discontinue when I go back to work, as I have done in the past." [the past referring to an instance in 2007 when I returned to work after receiving CA and informed the DWP by letter wiithout incident]. Also, on my letter to DWP I state that "she will be at home under my care for a period of 2-3 months...." and asking for CA to be reinstated. On April 6, 2009 I started a new job (since my old one had asked me if I could extend my Parental Leave because the company was struggling). On that very same day I popped into the post a letter to DWP saying simply that my circumstances had changed and to please discontinue my CA. No reply came from the DWP, and I hadn't expected one since I never got one when I cancelled the first time in 2007. So, I never questioned it and carried on with my life. Then in Jan/Feb 2012 I receive a letter out of the blue from the DWP about possible benefits fraud and the Interview Under Caution. Unbeknownst to me, I had been receiving CA all that time! The Interviewers stared at me in disbelief, saying how could I not realise about the payments. I explained that my husband and I both make a very good wage, when working our full time jobs, and that we don't live or rely on benefits in any way. So the small amout of £50 coming into the bank account was not noticed. Furthermore, we only do online banking. We do not receive monthly statements, nor do we receive notification if a payment is received. The online statements are full of outgoings and someone would have to scroll back many pages to come to an 'incoming' payment. Something which I just simply never did. There was never any need to. Now, when the overpayments allegedly started, I was still caring for my post-op daughter, but had also started a new full time job. It was a full-on period of time for me, constantly on the go. The last thing I was doing was checking the bank account. I didn't need to. My husband and I both receive paper payslips when we get paid, therefore I don't need to check the account. Everything else is 'outgoing' and as we live within our means, there simply wasn't any reason to keep an eye on the statements. 2009 was full of teaching my daughter how to walk again, loads of physio, and managing my 3 children and full time job. I am the 'family business manager' for our family, so I am the one applying for things like Carer's Allowance and also doing the banking, etc. in addition to caring for our children. I'm a busy lady but I like it that way! By end of 2009 it was clear my daughters situation was not improving. In early 2010 I was already researching another surgical operation and in the spring of 2010 she was accepted for spinal surgery in America (because the surgery was not offered in UK or Europe at the time). Therefore, 2010 was full of this activity.....and not checking the bank statements. So, basically, (and I really am trying to keep this short) approx. 3 years went by and we were receiving CA without realising it. The Interviewers seem to think it impossible that we would have missed this. Perhaps I confused the CA payments with the higher rate Care component of DLA (disability living allowance) that my daughter had been awarded -- we literally got the letter informing of this that DAY AFTER the same date that DWP is accusing me of beginning to receive overpayment of CA. My hindsight is definitely not 20/20, but if I ever questioned the weekly payments (and I don't know that I did) perhaps I thought it was the DLA??? I'll never know. Anyway, I want to plead Not Guilty as I don't feel I've done anything wrong. BTW, after the IUC I received an Overpayment Letter of £7,900 in May 2012. I repaid this IN FULL a week later. This information has not been acknowledged by the DWP nor was it included in the very large packet of 'evidence' (payslips, transcript of my interview, etc) against me to substatiate the Charge. I'm looking for opinions, advice, etc as I have never broken the law, not even a speeding ticket, and am Really Scared about this. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi everyone, Thank you for taking the time to read this. I am really struggling at the moment and could really do with some advice on what to do next. I was on ESA for for a couple of years due to bad depression and anxiety. As I was in the support group on contribution based ESA my money was stopped in April, I couldn't afford to live on nothing so became a carer for my nana and receive carers allowance for this (my uncle, who was her carer died in April). I have been really struggling recently with my depression and am finding it so difficult to continue to be a carer for my nana. There are so many family issues which formed part of my depression and anxiety in the first place going on and I feel myself falling back into the pit I was in not so long ago. I am thinking for my health it might be best to give up being a carer but my issue is finances. I know I won't get any money from ESA since the new rules came in, I have been looking for a job but have been struggling to find anything, would I get any money on Job Seekers? I know you only get money on JSA for six months so will my previous benefit history (ESA) be taken into account? What support would I get on JSA for my depression and help returning to work? I don't seem to be getting any support at the minute. I do live with my partner who works but aren't really in a position for him to support me Thank you Lisa

Hi.. i hope someone can help me with this question.. I receive Carers Allowance - but have several days a week when i can work as my son is away on these days. Currently i am earning just under £100 net per week for 15 hours work. I am seperating from my husband soon and will have the 3 kids living with me - one is severely, multiply disabled, one has mild cerebral palsy and the third is on the autistic spectrum and has a statement of special educational need, but is n't receiving DLA. Up until now i have benefitted from my husbands income comong into our household, but this will soon change and i will have much less to live on. I have seen a job i'd like to apply for, which is for 18 hours a week and this would take me over the 16 hours i would need to qualify for working tax credit. This would be rather helpful, but the drawback is that the job would pay me about £120 per week, which is £20 over the Carers Allowance threshold. If i lose my CA then i will end up worse off than i currently am, even though i will be doing more hours of work and still caring the same amount of time. I wondered if the £100 threshold is an absolute cut-off, or if maybe they say if you earn over £100 then the amount in excess of £100 is deducted from your CA. This would at least provide some incentive to work more as at least i wouldn't actually LOSE money by doing so! Does anyone know how the £100 rule is applied? Thanks

I would like some urgent help to my dilemma. on the 3rd of september I closed my claim for Income support due to my age 60 and having claimed pension credit prior to 14 th may thought everything would go smoothly however things have not. it's the 23rd today and so far I have not received a penny of PC. Now I am told that I will receive £132.60p I asked why I will not get the carers premium of £30.05 added as an additional amount as stated on the direct gov website. They said because your carer receives it. My carer who is actually my 21 year old son receives £53.90p Carers Allowance and income support of £28.00p. When we phoned today they told him that he gets carers premium as well, which he said surely I have never received that, as I never knew I could claim it, they said it is added as you can't get income support or carers allowance without it, then they said that they add it all up and deduct it all from what the law says he needs to live on meaning that he only gets £81.90 per week and that is his entitlement. When he said that he wishes to cease receiveing the carers premium they told him then that he wouldnt get anything at all as it was the carers premium that qualified him for the income support payment. This also means I can not get the £30.05 carers premium either is this right? As it seems the £30.05p carers premium has not been paid to him since march 2008 when he first claimed carers allowance. My son now thinks he should be given the payments he has not received as a solicitor has suggested that he was entitled to receive the £30.05p carers allowance on top of his £81.90p that the law says he is allowed to live on, he is now almost certain they have cheated him out of over £3800 pounds in carers premium. What can we do about this? Can someone offer some realistic and factual advice. So far the benefits system has been hell for me in fact my carer, estranged wife and youngest son found me trying to commit suicide last friday and obviously prevented it, My GP wanted to hospitalise me but my CMHT said that was not appropriate. Surely disabled people should be treated better than this. I still do not have a date when I will receive any money and now only have my DLA of £267 pounds per month to provide for myself and the council has stopped my council tax and housing benefit.