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ESA and CA
The clients are a couple who have a joint ESA claim due to the wife’s health problems. I think it’s CB-ESA, as she was transferred from IB, with a top-up of IR-ESA due to her husband being included and because of her receiving the EDP (she’s in the support group).
She also gets low rate care DLA. They asked about claiming PIP so that the husband could claim CA and not have to look for work, and after going through the PIP descriptors we decided to go ahead with the PIP claim.
A few questions which I’m unsure about:
- The PIP claim was started at the end of 2015, when should the husband put in the CA claim to maximise backdating? If he claims CA within 3 months of receiving the PIP decision will the CA be backdated to start date of the PIP claim?
- As part of the ESA is contributory, will it overlap with the CA? If so, does it mean that he won’t actually receive any money for CA and the only increase in their joint income will be the carers premium in the ESA?
It is only worth claiming CA when the PIP is awarded - as you say, if he claims CA at that point, the claim will be “backdated” to the start of the PIP award
The ESA is the wife’s entitlement, so CA payable to the husband will not overlap with it. Overall, their total income will only increase by the equivalent of the carer premium, as that is the only addition to the ESA(IR) applicable amount - the CA will be taken into account in full in the ESA(IR) assessment
It is only worth claiming CA when the PIP is awarded - as you say, if he claims CA at that point, the claim will be “backdated” to the start of the PIP award
The ESA is the wife’s entitlement, so CA payable to the husband will not overlap with it. Overall, their total income will only increase by the equivalent of the carer premium, as that is the only addition to the ESA(IR) applicable amount - the CA will be taken into account in full in the ESA(IR) assessment
Thanks for that, Brian. A couple of follow-up questions if you’ve got time to answer!
If it’s a joint ESA claim, why won’t the husband’s CA overlap with it? I know he’s not the one who is eligible for ESA, but they receive more money on account of him being included in the claim.
Even if the CA doesn’t overlap, if the CA is taken into account in full in the IR-ESA calculation, isn’t the end result the same as if it did overlap?
Leaping in I know… but in answer to your questions:
The husband’s CA won’t overlap with his wife’s ESA because it would only be the contributory part of the ESA that would potentially overlap (and then only if SHE had an entitlement to CA rather than him)- not the IR ESA topping it up (if that makes sense?)
The CA will be treated as income only in relation to the IR ESA top-up (so it isn’t the same end result as it would be if there was an overlapping benefit scenario). In summary, their joint applicable amount will increase (to include a Carers Premium) but the CA will count in full as income against the IR ESA entitlement (the CB ESA entitlement is not affected).
Leaping in I know… but in answer to your questions:
The husband’s CA won’t overlap with his wife’s ESA because it would only be the contributory part of the ESA that would potentially overlap (and then only if SHE had an entitlement to CA rather than him)- not the IR ESA topping it up (if that makes sense?)
The CA will be treated as income only in relation to the IR ESA top-up (so it isn’t the same end result as it would be if there was an overlapping benefit scenario). In summary, their joint applicable amount will increase (to include a Carers Premium) but the CA will count in full as income against the IR ESA entitlement (the CB ESA entitlement is not affected).
Thanks! So, as she is entitled to CB-ESA, but they are claiming as a couple, is her CB-ESA topped up with IR-ESA to reach the couple’s personal allowance for IR-ESA (i.e. £114.85 - £73.10 = an IR top-up of £41.75)?
The IR part of their claim and the CB part of their claim are both higher than the CA amount, so I still don’t understand why the end result isn’t the same if the CA overlaps with the CB-ESA or if it counts as income in full for the IR-ESA? A breakdown of their applicable amount is below (before any CA is deducted), but the IR-ESA top-up that I have included for the husband/couple might be wrong:
£73.10 PA for the wife (CB)
£36.20 SG for the wife (CB)
£15.75 EDP for the wife (IR)
£41.75 top up to the couple’s rate PA (IR)
£34.60 Carer’s Premium (IR)
Well, by my reckoning, the current situation should be as follows:
Joint applicable amount (including EDP)- £173.65 pw
Income- CB ESA (including SGC)- £109.30 pw
IR ESA top up- £64.45 pw
On the presumption that the PIP claim goes through OK and DLC is awarded and Mr claims CA the situation should be:
Joint applicable amount (including CP as well as EDP)- £208.25 pw
Income- CB ESA £109.30 pw
CA £62.10 pw
(total income- £171.40 pw)
IR ESA top up- £36.85 pw
Thanks!
I couldn’t figure out where you got the £173.65 from, and then I realised that I’d included the single instead of couple rate EDP 😊
Very welcome Geep. Hope it was of help. Have a good weekend.