Can anyone point to a reasonably detailed explantion of how transitional IVB works, including the amounts and who is eligible for them? Having never before met anyone with a transitional award, I have now met 3 people in the last month, and my head is spinning a little ...

On 13th April 1995, Incapacity Benefit replaced Sickness benefit and, for those incapable of work for a year or more, Invalidity Pension.

Some claimants of Invalidity Pension were entitled to receive additional amounts called Invalidity Allowance, which were based on SERPS and the age of the claimant when they first became entitled to Invalidity pension. The amounts were:

For claimants aged under 40 £12.15
For claimants aged 40-49 £7.60
For men aged 50-59 and women aged 50-54 £3.80.

Upon the introduction of incapacity benefit, Invalidity Pension claimants were transferred to Long-term Incapacity Benefit. Those in receipt of invalidity allowance were allowed to keep it so long as they remained continously incapable of work, and it now forms the transitional amount of long-term incapacity benefit. The transitional amount is disregarded as income for tax credits.

The transitional allowance has never been, and never will be, uprated and eventually it will probably phased out. Of course, with the passage of time, the number of client's we see with transitional IB will reduce, but they do still turn up from time to time - as you know! The transitional amount is ignored as income for tax credits (it's not taxable)

The biggest problem with transitional long-term IB is that it pushes the benefit beyond the IS applicable amount for a single person (PA + DP). Last years change to the rules regarding free prescriptions (the addition to the personal allowance of 50% of the prescription charge) has helped some of these claimants, but the effect still remains.

The usual incapacity for work linking rules, inlcuding welfare to work beneficiaries and the two year linking rule for those who received an in-work disability benefit (DPTC and WTC- disability element), continue to apply. So entitlement to the transitional amount will continue when a new IB claim is linked to a previous one.

If you want more info, see if you can get hold of copies of CPAG's Rights Guide to Non-means Tested Benefits - 17th (1994-95) and 18th (1995-96) editions - from which I produced most of this summary.

And quite serperate from the Invalidy allowance refered to above, the SERPS (State Earnings Related Pension Scheme) addition could be much in excess of the figures relating to age. It is not uncommon to have additions greater than £50 a week and often much more than this. The SERPS addition was exactly as it indicates, an addition assessed on the amount of contibutions made from previous earnings; which in turn were greater the more that a person earned, and conversly less the ifd a person's earnings were less. Similalry, transitional incapacity benefit remains tax free as opposed to incapacity benefit which, of course, counts as income to be set against a person's annual tax allowance. An ex colleague delighted in telling me that it was possible to calculate SERPS addition and that he had done this successfully in one of his cases - though he never said what he did and how he did it. I have my suspicions that he was taking the, err sorry, being a tad economical with the truth. Thank you.

Hi,

I never saw any reference to additions of this type with invalidity benefit when i was going through the old Rights Guide handbooks. Can you provide some references please?

Do the contents of your post affect my comments to the original question? You seem to be suggesting that some people with transitional long term IB could be receiving well over £130 a week... and that such high additions are 'not uncommon' Is this right?

:-/

I take the following from the 1987 "Bonner" which seemed to be a good place to start as I am aware that the issue was relevent in those years. Page 7 contains the 1st reference that being Section 15(3) to the 1975 Social Security Act. This states: ...an invalidity pension shall be payable at the rate specified in section 14 of the Pensions Act.

Page 138 of the same volume provides Section 14 of the Pensions Act. This states: ...the weekly rate of an invalidity pension under that section shall be determined...in a manner specified in section 6 above for a catagory A retirement pension...

Page 135 of the same volume provides the calculations and relevent amounts to be included. I am afriad that it is far too early in the morning to attempt to go any further.

With regard to your reference to your comments, the amount payable via age additions as you mention will still be payable should the SERPS addition not reach that level. Essentially, a person would get only one and that would be which ever was greatest. I have to add though that the overlapping provision just mentioned is from a memory which is not as good as it was. So please forgive me if it's not correct but if I had a few bob I might be tempted to put on this opinion, but would be happy to lose if wrong.

Quite seperate from the above of course are the issues surrounding dependant additions and the transitional treatment for those... My head hurts.
Thank you.
P.S. I couldnn't locate any spell check so please forgive any poor spelling which I am sure there is much.