DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE V ESA

[chas2008]

i believe disability living allowance isnt subject to savings,from my understanding DLA is to replaced by ESA over the next 2 years or by 2014
If someone has been claiming DLA for over 20-25 years and obviously hasnt paid a full stamp during this time then in theory ends up on ESA (or jobseekers) would this then be subject to savings ?
The person in question is about to end up with over £120,000 from the sale of a house...
I have looked on the various DWP sites but it gets a bit confusing (and its friday)...

[cathfromsaron]

dla is not means tested.

[chas2008]

i am aware DLA isnt means tested, its what happens when DLA is replaced with ESA

[EDDIE51]

DLA and ESA are 2 seperate benefits . DLA is not means tested , you can be a millionaire and still get it.
Some ESA is means tested , you can get ESA but not qualify for DLA, the level of disability needed to get DLA is a lot greater than the level for ESA .
The person with £120,000 you mention would not get 'income based' ESA but if they get DLA it will not be effected.
To confuse things further there are 2 types of ESA , contribution based and income based . Anyone who has paid full NI can get contribution based ESA for a year if they meet the medical reqrements , that one is not means tested.
But after a year you can only get income based ESA which is means tested.
But DLA is a seperate benefit it does not change to ESA and as I said is not means tested.
Where you are getting confused is that if you no longer qualify for ESA you go back to JSA ( Jobseekers allowance) which is less and requires you to 'sign on' every 2 weeks.

[EDDIE51]

I should have been a bit clearer
If you are on DLA and your health improves you can be taken off it and have to claim ESA or JSA alone. Then as I said the rules about contribution based and income based apply .

[chas2008]

http://www.dwp.gov.uk...b-reassessing-claims/

http://www.direct.gov...orinjured/DG_10018913

If anything the confusion is between incapacity benefit / dsa....but whenever i have mentioned incapacity benefit on here im always being corrected by saying it no longer exists and is replaced by DSA, although both appear on the Direct Gov website...confusing or what
As far as i am concerned the person in question isnt entitled to any incapacity/disabled benefit, and having sat in on a couple of ESA assesments theres no way he would get through the tests.I was rather hoping one day he may actually have to get a job !!!

[furrypusscat]

DLA is being replaced by PIP - Personal Independence Payment for 'working age people' aged 16 - 64 from 2013, irrespective whether the person is 65 by the time they are called in for medical, ie if you become 65 after 2013 and are already in receipt of DLA then you will still be called.

[EDDIE51]

Incapacity benefit IS being replaced by DLA but there still are some people on the old Incapacity benefit , they will be changed over in the next year or so.
The person you are talking about will be reassessed if they are still on the old incapacity benefit when the time comes to change them over. It is not just an automatic transfer the claimants will be assesed under the DLA conditions so he person in question may lose their benefit and be transferd to ESA or JSA .

[chas2008]

PIP ? just googled that, new one on me...i would like to think he wouldnt qualify as he lives a perfectly normal life...

'There's no automatic entitlement to Personal Independence Payment. Entitlement is based on your personal circumstances and the impact that your condition or disability has on your ability to live independently. Entitlement will not depend on what health condition or disability you have.'

not in a million years if the above is correct,

[mrsweasley]

I've just been put on JSA from ESA and am not happy, but its Camoron and his cronies, so am reluctantly going through the motions of seeking part time work. I know someone on DLA who has mental health problems-what will happen at his medical? harder to proove?

[chas2008]

i am more than familiar with ESA, my wife applied twice both thrown out..from what i saw as long as you have one eye,one leg,one arm you can work!!

[furrypusscat]

Just to confirm that Disability Living Allowance has nothing whatsoever to do with work related benefits, ie JSA or ESA. Completely unrelated. As said previously PIP is the award that will replace DLA from 2013 for all new and existing awards for 'working age people' but is nothing to do with work benefits.

[EDDIE51]

This is all true but getting away from chas2008 's actual concern
chas , Yes there is a strong chance that the person you mention will lose his Incapacity benefit (as will many more)
As he has been claiming for 20 / 25 years he is probably one of the people still on the old 'Incapacity benefit' even though this was replaced by DLA for new claims back in 1995 . Now as I have just found the system is being changed yet again to PIP.
furrypussycat, I have checked and at the moment PIP is still in the 'consultation stage' it may never be implimented or it may be changed to a diffrent form , there are a lot of objections to it.

[furrypusscat]

I appreciate that it is in consultation process EDDIE51 but it has been passed by Parliament and will be implemented from 2013. They are still deciding how the medicals will be carried out, the scoring system and the payment rates but DLA did not replace Incapacity Benefit. It is completely different and has been paid whether in work or not and along with Incapacity Benefit if the claimant was off work sick. I was paid Incapacity benefit for being unfit for work plus I was paid DLA for my disabilities for personal care. At pension age, obviously I lost Incapacity benefit but then was able to claim State Pension. I cannot be more clearer.

[THECORBYLOON]

To clear up some points, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) did not replace Incapacity Benefit (IB) in 1995 or any other year for that matter. Incapacity Benefit replaced Sickness Benefit and Invalidity Benefit (IVB) back in 1995.

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was introduced in October 2010 and replaced new claims for IB, SDA or IS because of disability. At some point in the next two years, most folk currently in receipt of IB, SDA or IS because of a disability will be assessed to see if they can be transferred to ESA.

DLA can be paid alone or in addition to the four benefits and from 2013 it is being phased out to be replaced by the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) From April 2013 folk in some areas will be allowed to claim PIP and nationally a few months later, those already in receipt of DLA will be invited to claim PIP and will be contacted about a re-assessment by March 2016.