Fight with Department of Works and Pensions

[Gregman292]

I was incapacitated from work in April 2006 my employer paid me SSP till the 31/10/06. I was given a form to apply for Incapacity Benefit but this was turned down as I did not have enough NI contributions for 2 tax years. I'm 34 and was put onto income support. My problem has been an endless fight to try and get money and have had various letters ranging from an entitlement of �57.40 down to �12.37 because I told them I was getting tax credits. I have heard that I should never have been refused Incapacity benefit as I had been sick for longer than 28 weeks is this correct and where do I stand I have tried to appeal but keep getting fobbed off. No one seems to know the answer. So clever people of answer bank do what you can and help.

[zebra]

If you do not have sufficient contributions for the past two tax years then it is correct that you will not qualify for Incapacity Benefit, the fact that you have been sick for 28 weeks or more is irrelevant, so that aspect of your circumstances seems correct.

The amount of Income Support you are being told you are entitled to is slightly trickier without knowing your full circumstances.

The basic single persons allowance at the moment is �59.15 per week and any other income that you receive is taken off this amount and the balance paid in Income Support.

Depending on whether you are receiving child tax credits if you have dependents or working tax credits makes a difference. If you are receiving working tax credits still, then this would be taken into account on your Income Support claim.

Hope this helps???

[wolf63]

DWP are saying that you have paid insufficient contributions to qualify for Incapacity Benefit. Were you in work and paying full NI contributions during this period? It is possible that they have not been credited to your NI account. If you feel that you have paid these contributions query this.

As Zebra says Income Support is complicated. The government states amounts of benefits payable to the person/couple and additional benefits for children and premiums payable dependant on your circumstances.

From this it takes away any income that you/your partner already have. It also takes into account any savings that you have. It is complicated and if you feel that you have not been paid correctly query it - they will explain it to you.

[bednobs]

the first part is right, as other posters have said, incapacity benefit does depend on ni contributions.
As for the second bit, do you have a welfare rights near where you live? look in the phonebook

[Gregman292]

Hi Guys sorry to be a pain thank you to those who attempted to answer I am confused because if what I have been told is correct the DWP owe me a lot of money. I'm a single person that was on a low income hence I was entitled to working tax credit. My problem is on the direct gov website it states "after 28 weeks of sickness you qualify for incapacity benefit" irregardless of your contributions. The DWP I'm sure are trying to wriggle out of there error because they put me on income support I should have been getting as as Zebra pointed out �59.15 plus the sickness benefit of �25.50. They forgot to add the sickness benefit from the start and only started crediting that when I first complained.

This has been a real nightmare folkes so all advice is appreciated at first I had HMSO saying they had over paid me I've had money deducted from my income support because of tax credits It now appears that if it is correct about the entitlement to incapacity the benefits should not have been tampered with as i would still be entitled to tax credits.

No one at the benefit agency is willing to sit down and work it out I have been to citizens advice and the nice old lady there was sure I should be entitle to incapacity benefit and she advised I speak to a solicitor but I'm not sure if a solicitor would deal with this it all seems to be a right mess. and has been detrimental to my health.

So come on folkes you invest a lot of time giving good respectful answers and I'm sure one of you is clude up in these matters

Cheers

[THECORBYLOON]

I work for DWP and used to work on a section processing claims for Incapacity Benefit. On the Direct Gov site it says

"If you haven't paid enough National Insurance contributions
You may be able to claim Incapacity Benefit even if you haven't paid enough National Insurance contributions if:

you're aged under 20 (or 25 if you were in education or training at least three months immediately before turning 20), and

you've been sick for 28 weeks, and

you're present and resident in Great Britain for 26 weeks in the year before you claim "

Can you post a link or copy and paste the section you saw?

[Gregman292]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefit s/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjur ed/DG_10018913

If you haven't paid enough National Insurance contributions
You may be able to claim Incapacity Benefit even if you haven't paid enough National Insurance contributions if the following apply:
� you're aged under 20 (or 25 if you were in education or training at least three months immediately before turning 20)
� you've been sick for 28 weeks
� you're present and resident in Great Britain for 26 weeks in the year before you claim
If you're in the Armed Forces or you live and work within the European Economic Area (EEA), you may still be treated as being resident in the UK
(NB)

This note lists 3 Separate section i.e those under 20, those who have been sick for 28 weeks, those resident for 26 weeks.

The above I have been informed are not exclusively linked to the under 20yo. This is further explained in the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992.

It has further been noted that I should have been offered to make up the difference in my national insurance contributions (this has never been offered to me).

[wolf63]

As "THECORBYLOON" SAYS:-

"If you haven't paid enough National Insurance contributions
You may be able to claim Incapacity Benefit even if you haven't paid enough National Insurance contributions if:

you're aged under 20 (or 25 if you were in education or training at least three months immediately before turning 20),

and

you've been sick for 28 weeks,

and</b

you're present and resident in Great Britain for 26 weeks in the year before you claim "

You have to meet all THREE of the criteria.

Income Support - You will be entitled to �59.15 single person rate + disability premium (if you qualify) less your tax credit payments.

If you live with a partner or have another income or savings your Income Support rate of payment will change.

Incapacity Benefit is a contributory benefit. You qualify for it if you are sick, this means that you are over the first hurdle. But you also have to have been sufficient contributions so I would say that the decision NOT to pay this to you is correct.

[THECORBYLOON]

The 1992 Act has bee amended several times but at the moment, I cannot find the part that spells it out in black and white. However if I have time at work , I will see what I can find.

Regarding the payment of contributions, that applies only if you were liable to pay self-employed contributions in the particular years that relate to you.

[wolf63]

The problem with the legislation is that it can be taken out of context if not read fully and properly.

My concern would be WHY you did not pay sufficient contributions in the relevant years. Is this perhaps an error on your employers part.

If you are not entitled to Incapacity Benefit then Income Support is your only other option - and it is means tested.

It has been about 4 years since I worked with the DWP so there may have been some changes to the legislation.

[zebra]

Gregman292 this doesn't really help but might clarify things a bit, the sickness benefit you mention that they add on to your income support of 25.50 after 26 weeks sounds like the disability premium that is added on to your income support personal allowance. But the rules changed some time ago and the qualifying period of being incapacitated changed to 52 weeks (sorry exact date not known, so not gonna guess).

�59.15 personal allowance minimum Income Support, week 1 - 52.

�59.15 + �25.25 personal allowance plus disability premium from week 53 onwards.

Any other income received from any source is deducted with some exceptions. i.e disability living allowance.

It is complicated but so much info gets passed about that is right but does not apply to everyone. Again, hope this helps!!!!

[Gregman292]

Thanks so much to everyone for the advice. You really are all worth your weight in Gold. The DWP has decided to launch an investigation into my case including why my NI cont are short. It appears that I have been given lots of bad and incorrect advise by some advisors within the DWP but it seems to be understandable as the rules are very difficult to navigate.