ESA Advice

Leofwen wrote: Hi Mods

I would appreciate some advice. I am in the process of applying for my pension due to ill health. The process is taking a long time as NHS Pensions via Atos are awaiting a report from my specialist. They have been waiting for 7 weeks and I spoke to ATOS on Tuesday who advise they will not make and decisions without the report and there are no time limits for the specialists. I was advised that it could take up to 6 months for a report to be received.

In the meantime I am now without an income and would limit know if I should apply for ESA. I am Receipt of DLA HRmM and HRC which was awarded for two years in August 2013. I am really worried about applying for ESA a I have read so many adverse stories about ho it can affect DLA.

Can ESA claim affect DLA and would I be n titled to apply for ESA. If my pension is awarded it would be backdated to 20 July. How would this affect ESA?

Thanks for any words of wisdom

It is not clear whether you are still employed or not, but as long as you are not receiving any income from any employment including Statutory Sick Pay, you should be able to make a claim, this of course assumes that you are unable to work due to your illness or disability.

Sadly, a failed ESA claim can affect a DLA award, most likely a Mobility award as this is the area where there is the most crossover between the two benefits, but a Care award can also be affected.

If you have been working prior to making a claim for ESA then you will most likely be paid ESA(CB). For ESA(CB) the first £85/week is disregarded and then there is a 50p/week deduction for every £1/week of pension in excess of the £85.

If you are placed in the WRAG then ESA(CB) is only payable for 365 days.

If you are not eligible for ESA(CB) or it is time limited then you may be eligible for ESA(IR) which is dependant on your household income, assets and savings, and any hours that a partner works. Your pension will be treated as income and deducted £ for £.

A backdated pension, if it affects your ESA, will likely cause an overpayment, you need to keep the DWP informed as to what is happening with pension in writing.

Gordon