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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Work capability issues and ESA  →  Thread

Pension Lump Sum due Terminal Illness and Impact on ESA

wyjhe5
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Outreach/KAMCAB/CAB

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Total Posts: 1

Joined: 21 February 2018

I have a client who received a pension lump sum due to terminal illness. She was unaware until recently this impacted her ESA. I contacted DWP who have now stopped her ESA benefits although she is still getting PIP. Client has spent a substantial amount of her lump sum modifying her house to alleviate the issues with her illness and paying off loans from her family, e.g. her brother bought her a car. DWP instructed that details are sent to ESA explaining expenditure, including pension details, bank statements and receipts, etc, so that a case manager can review to decide if it is acceptable expenditure. Possible implications are client has to reimburse ESA payments since she received pension lumps sum a few months ago.

This is my first post so hopefully this all makes sense? Basically my question is does anyone have experience or advice on how to handle this situation and specifically a format on how to present information to DWP (ESA)?

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Information and advice resources - Age UK

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Joined: 7 January 2016

Sorry can’t answer more fully but just about to leave the office for 3 days, but this from Garden Court Chambers is a good summary, in my opinion, of some of the key things that are relevant in deprivation cases.

https://www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk/socialwelfare/the-deprivation-of-capital-rule-in-welfare-benefits/

The more evidence your client can provide and on the facts as presented, I think she has a reasonably good case to say she didn’t deprive herself of capital in order to get benefit into payment or increased. That won’t bring about entitlement for any periods where the capital exceeded £16k but it should help from the point that her capital fell below that amount.