Esa contribution based for couples

[hunterandthehunted]

hi everyone,

 

hoping somebody is able to assist me as my partner and i are getting increasingly confused as to what we are entitled to. i have been on several benefit sites but seem to get lots of conflicting information.

 

i was medically retired in 2015 and receive a small pension of £375 a month along with £107 contribution based esa (support group) per week. i know the esa i receive is a little less because of my pension earnings.

 

my partner is also medically retired (with no pension) and she also claims contribution based esa (support group) and she receives £109 per week along with an enhancement rate of £15. she also receives pip standard living rate of £55 per week and as we have a teenage child has also been claiming child tax credit at the rate of £62 per week.

 

this has now been stopped and she has been informed that she has to pay back over £3000 of overpayments as this was claimed at the single rate as oppose to being claimed as a couple although we are allowed to claim esa separately.

 

we also have a mortgage and as far as i am aware cannot get any help as we are in receipt of contribution based benefits as oppose to income related.

Edited November 29, 2017 by hunterandthehunted
spelling

[Cpt Scarlet]

Is the £15 your wife receives the Disability Income Guarantee?

 

If it is then this is the problem, this is only paid as part of Income Related ESA (for you both as a couple) and based on your other incomes this should not have been payable.

 

To be paid ESA(IR) your wife would have had to have either completed the income section on the ESA1 when she initially applied for ESA or an ESA3 at some later.

 

Both of these deal with household income and assets,

so either she left you off of the form in which case the monies are recoverable or she didn't and this is the DWP's error.

 

You need to see if you have copies of these forms.

[hunterandthehunted]

hi and thanks for your reply,

 

we are both claiming CB ESA and as far as i am aware we didn't have to claim as a couple.

[Cpt Scarlet]

You said she is receiving an "enhancement rate of £15" what is this labelled as on her last entitlement letter?

[hunterandthehunted]

yes that is correct. it is labelled as disability income gaurentee which she has always received. does this cancel out the contribution part and turn the claim

into income related as her latest award notice does not actually state that she is getting contribution based on the workings out page.

however it is stated that she will receive the £10 xmas bonus and that her NI contribution will still be paid.

[Cpt Scarlet]

the Disability Income Guarantee is only paid as part of Income Related ESA, so your wife must be receiving ESA(CB) with an ESA(IR) top-up.

 

However, ESA(IR) is paid to a couple and based on your original post your other income would not allow any ESA(IR) to be paid, so the only way that it is, is if your wife is being paid as a single person so that you pensions, etc. are not considered, this is confirmed by the fact that she is receiving the single person rates for ESA(IR) and not the couple rates.

 

ESA(IR) is only paid after the claimant has declared their household income and savings (there are other considerations but they are not relevant). So either she failed to declare you, which is bad, or she did declare you and the DWP have not processed the information.

 

She will have either made the declaration on an ESA1 when she made her claim for ESA or on an ESA3 if the claim for ESA(IR) was made after the claim started. You need to find this information to see what was recorded on the form.

[hunterandthehunted]

not really following... are you saying we cannot claim ESA (CB) as individuals and receive £109 each.

[Cpt Scarlet]

Yes you can both claim ESA(CB) as individuals, but the point is that in addition to her ESA(CB) your wife is claiming ESA(IR) as a s single person and she cannot do that as she is part of a couple.

[hunterandthehunted]

well jobcentre plus are aware of our situation so they must of made a mistake... so how much should we actually be getting?

 

we are both in the support group and claim contribution based.

[Cpt Scarlet]

If the DWP are claiming back £3000 then they obviously don't know about your situation!

 

So as I have said before, if your wife notified them that she is part of a couple then you need to prove that this happened.

 

You should both receive £109.65/week for you ESA, your wife's will almost certainly be reduced to recover the over payment unless you can overturn the Decision.