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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Disability benefits  →  Thread

claiming income related ESA HB pending PIP decision

Simon Dally
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Welfare benefits team - Manchester District Citizens Advice Bureau

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Joined: 12 July 2011

Wonder if anyone can assist with this.

My client, who is a lone parent and in receipt of tax credits and child benefit only, has claimed PIP,  and is very likely to be awarded the daily living component. She has decided not to apply for U/C but to wait instead for the PIP decision, following which she’ll be able to claim ESA including the SDP and housing benefit.

My question is: can she apply for income related ESA and HB now pending the future PIP decision? She will inevitably get decisions that she is not entitled to ESA/HB, but she can request MR of those decisions and ask for a supercession once PIP has been awarded. Is that right? If she waits for PIP to be awarded, she will only be able to request a backdate of HB by a maximum of one month (with good cause) and of ESA by a maximum of three months.

Elliot Kent
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The SDP gateway doesn’t work like this - your client won’t be able to claim ESA and HB whether or not PIP is awarded because the gateway only operates in a case where the claimant is (or recently has been) in receipt of a benefit which includes the SDP. For example, if someone is on HB which includes the SDP, then they can claim irESA.

Simon Dally
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Welfare benefits team - Manchester District Citizens Advice Bureau

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Total Posts: 13

Joined: 12 July 2011

Ah, ok - thanks for this.

My initial advice had been either to claim U/C now, or to wait until PIP was awarded then apply for income related ESA and HB. As the client will be better off in the long run claiming ESA, she has decided to wait for the PIP decision.

Elliot Kent
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Simon Dally - 09 December 2019 12:21 PM

My initial advice had been either to claim U/C now, or to wait until PIP was awarded then apply for income related ESA and HB. As the client will be better off in the long run claiming ESA, she has decided to wait for the PIP decision.

Yes - the problem is that this is impossible. Her choice is between either claiming UC or staying on tax credits only.