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DLA. Reporting change of circs
I have a client who receives Income related ESA, HB and also DLA
He inherited some money several years ago that affected his income support claim (between 6-16K), and he was prosecuted for fraud, as he didnt know the rules.
Unfortunately his mum passed away recently and he will inherit over the 16K threshold.
I have advised that he informs ESA and the local authority to close his HB claim and get his ESA claim into nil payment to avoid any further problems.
He has , however, been advised to inform DLA of this change of circs by a benefit adviser at the hospital. No idea why this advice was given as its not a change of circs that can affect entitlement.
Unfortunately if you sneeze in the general direction of the DWP if you live in Newcastle then it triggers a PIP claim, and I dont want to go down the DLA/PIP conversion route for this person if he tries to unnecessarily report a change of circs.
He is petrified that failure to disclose his capital to DLA will trigger a fraud case, so i have been tearing my hair out trying to find the “Changes you must tell us about” booklet that comes with a DLA form, but no luck.
Can anyone point me in the right direction as Mr Google has so far let me down. The list on the Direct gov website appears to not be exhaustive. Or can you point me to any caselaw supporting this?
Thanks, in advance
[ Edited: 6 Nov 2015 at 10:28 am by benefitsadviser ]
Not sure what getting ESA into nil payment means. Anyway, I think most people are now informed of the changes they must tell DWP about via the annual uprating letter, ie the one that tells them how little their DLA is going up by each year. A sample of the 2014 version is provided by DWP here
Thanks Tom
He will have over £16K in capital, thus disallowing him to receive any actual cash with ESA claim.
Will need to get the amount paid to be revised due to this
He is in the support group, so he will still be classed as having LCFWRA , even though no money in payment.
Once it drops to 16K his ESA will restart at £292 a fortnight (SDP, EDP etc etc - tarriff income)
[ Edited: 6 Nov 2015 at 11:09 am by benefitsadviser ]Reporting a change of circumstances relates to anything that may potentially affect the criteria for DLA. Capital will have not affect his entitlement so it’s not something I feel that needs reporting.
I told him this but he wants to see it in writing.
Never thought of the award letter until Tom kindly pointed it out
Cmon guys and gals! Its friday!! Ive had another week of it…....
He will have over £16K in capital, thus disallowing him to receive any actual cash with ESA claim.
He is in the support group, so he will still be classed as having LCFWRA , even though no money in payment.
Once it drops to 16K his ESA will restart at £292 a fortnight (SDP, EDP etc etc - tarriff income)
Don’t want to make your week any more difficult Paul but I suspected that’s what you meant. The ESA isn’t dormant like an underlying CA award is for instance. Whilst the DWP appear to award LCW credits in those cases where CESA is time-limited, I very much doubt they continue to do so where ESA ends for any other non-WCA reason, eg too much capital. I just don’t think they have the resources. I’d advise any client in these circs to check after a tax year has ended that they have in fact been credited with earnings for that year.
The LCWRA issue is separate. Unless he re-claims ESA (and because his ESA has ended due to capital he would definitely have to re-claim in future) within 12 weeks of his old ESA ending, he wouldn’t been re-awarded the SC immediately and would have to undergo a new assessment phase and new WCA. Reg 7(1B)(a) ESA Regs 2008 would be the provision which got the SC back from day 1 of a new ESA claim provided the new claim was made within 12 weeks of the old one ending.
[ Edited: 6 Nov 2015 at 11:42 am by Tom H ]DLA95 01/14: ‘Notes for people getting Disability Living Allowance’. Under ‘The changes you must tell us about’ on pages 2,3,4 and 5 there is no mention of anything to do with savings or capital.
I asked this a while ago…...
http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/8837/
Thoughts??
Remember reading that thread and was going to comment but was busy.
I cannot remember a case where someone’s ESA has ended due to capital or because partner has started a job for instance and his/her wages disentitle them and the former claimant has subsequently been invited to attend a medical. The legal basis for such an invite would be dubious anyway. I’m not saying your client doesn’t have a legal basis for being awarded credits mind in the present circs. That basis is, in fact, Reg 8B(2)(iv) of the Credits Regs 1975. No harm getting the client to check they’ve been awarded credits I would have thought.
[ Edited: 6 Nov 2015 at 12:29 pm by Tom H ]I just hope he doesnt have to make a new claim and start again with assessment rates, WCAs etc etc
He was put straight into SG of ESA following IS -> ESA conversion with no medical.
He got lucky!
He has chronic MH issues and also OCD, and the thought of going for medicals etc terrifies him
Im trying to make this as painless as possible
Any problems Tom, ill refer him to you as he is a friend of mine who lives in Byker haha!
Thanks everyone, and have a good weekend
He will have over £16K in capital, thus disallowing him to receive any actual cash with ESA claim.
He is in the support group, so he will still be classed as having LCFWRA , even though no money in payment.
Once it drops to 16K his ESA will restart at £292 a fortnight (SDP, EDP etc etc - tarriff income)
Don’t want to make your week any more difficult Paul but I suspected that’s what you meant. The ESA isn’t dormant like an underlying CA award is for instance. Whilst the DWP appear to award LCW credits in those cases where CESA is time-limited, I very much doubt they continue to do so where ESA ends for any other non-WCA reason, eg too much capital. I just don’t think they have the resources. I’d advise any client in these circs to check after a tax year has ended that they have in fact been credited with earnings for that year.
I recently saw an award that had been terminated after income exceeded the ap am. It took the credits with it too. A phone call fixed it and claimants can ring JCP and check a credits claim is still in place.
edit… benefitsadviser, has your client got t’interwebs? Maybe you could just show him this thread with about 200 years of welfare rights adviser experience saying he doesn’t need to disclose the capital to DLA.
DLA95 01/14: ‘Notes for people getting Disability Living Allowance’. Under ‘The changes you must tell us about’ on pages 2,3,4 and 5 there is no mention of anything to do with savings or capital.
and why would there be, since it is not (yet…..) a means tested benefit…....
and it is sad that people are feeling so put upon that they end up in a panic in relation to a non means tested benefit .....
not assisted, I guess, by the dwp’s fraud team which has thought for years that getting a job means you are not disabled enough for any DLA…..
Regardless of the credits situation (the law for what it’s worth nowadays definitely requires credits to be applied for each year), I think it’s worth re-iterating that the SC will definitely not be re-awarded from day1 of any new claim unless it’s made within 12 weeks of the old one ending. There’s no legal basis for such an award otherwise and the SC would at very earliest start again at wk 14 of the new claim, ie after a new assessment phase has ended.