The right to claim ESA instead of carers alloance

[richardscanlon]

Hi, I am a married man aged 61 (62 in August) and at the moment I am receiving ESA on the support group and I get full DLA for both care and mobility. My wife is my full time carer but she also is receiving ESA. The reason that I am posting this query is that at her last Atos screening she was awarded 0 points this was only 6 months after being put straight on the ESA support group at the previous Atos exam. She has put in an appeal against the decision but we are of the belief that the reason that they have refused her ESA is in order to force her to claim carers allowance instead; which is of course a substantially less amount than the ESA that she has been claiming. This is not about the amount of income we will receive but about her right to claim this benefit in her own right and not be pushed onto another benefit because it suits the DWP and reduces the number of people who are on ESA, the final part of their statement to the appeal panel is that if they find in my wife favour that she be put in the WRAG group which would suit them just as much because they could then stop her benefit because she would not be available to do work related placements or attend other meeting as they are required in the WRAG group.

 

I would be very grateful if anyone can offer any advice on this matter, as I have said this is not about the finances as she has been only receiving the assessment rate since May last year but due to the drop in income, the rate of other benefits like housing and council tax made it hardly noticeable

[antone]

No, this is not a DWP conspiracy. They simply don't operate that way - it's of no consequence for Atos or DWP employees and they don't get paid enough to bother with personal vendettas against claimants.

 

That said, it's possible your wife could claim both CA and Income Support (instead of ESA) on the basis that she is your carer. That's the first avenue I would explore. Is her ESA contribution or income related? And is yours contribution or income related?

[richardscanlon]

Hi Antone and thank you for your reply, I do find your comment rather strange as you will have to admit that both the DWP and ATOS have a long record of using dirty tricks and both have been proved to have lied over medical reports and individuals condition. The DWP control the Job centre plus and it is common knowledge that they do have targets and enough whistle-blowers from all 3 departments have backed up the claims of people who have been badly let down by the people who are supposed to be helping them. Getting back to my original question though; it’s not about finance it’s about the right to claim a particular benefit and not be pushed onto another to suit departmental figures.

[abc123def]

Tbf though richardscanlon, you are 'of the belief' that the reason she was given 0 points by ATOS was because the DWP want to push her on to carers allowance instead, where is your evidence for this belief? I suspect it is far more likely and probable that the assessor rightly or wrongly awarded your partner 0 points because that is what they felt they should be awarded.

 

There is a sticky at the top of the forum on the appeal process, do ask any additional questions after that on appeal advice.

[estellyn]

As Antone said, there is no conspiracy. Especially given that a person can claim income based ESA and carer's allowance at the same time (and be better off), or can claim contribution based ESA and carer's allowance and get an underlying entitlement which can mean they then qualify for income based ESA where they didn't before.

 

 

So why wasn't your wife claiming carer's allowance with the ESA, anyway?

[defaulter3076]

If your wife is older you could claim Pension Guarantee Credit as a couple. Otherwise as you are 62 in August you'll be at the state pension age for women on 6th November 2014 or 6th January 2015, when a claim for Pension Guarantee Credit could then be made. Unless Universal Credit is introduced first, when you'll both have to have reached the state pension age for women.

[antone]

Hi Antone and thank you for your reply, I do find your comment rather strange as you will have to admit that both the DWP and ATOS have a long record of using dirty tricks and both have been proved to have lied over medical reports and individuals condition. The DWP control the Job centre plus and it is common knowledge that they do have targets and enough whistle-blowers from all 3 departments have backed up the claims of people who have been badly let down by the people who are supposed to be helping them. Getting back to my original question though; it’s not about finance it’s about the right to claim a particular benefit and not be pushed onto another to suit departmental figures.

 

So, basically you are suggesting that the DWP is engaged in a nefarious plot to give your wife the same amount of money as she currently receives or possibly more?

 

As Estellyn said, she can claim ESA and CA at the same time, although if she does claim CA as your carer, she might be better off looking at IS or perhaps Pension Credit (again, as mentioned). Different benefits are paid to different people for different reasons - this is not part of any conspiracy.