Benefits V pension ?

leabrook wrote: Advise Please: This week I have had a letter from my ex works pension offering me a lump sum which will take me very close to the £16k limit for claiming benefits
I am 56 years old & will never work again.
I am getting DLA,(lower rate) ESA(support group) and Housing benefit

I understand it will be classed as income.
It might Sound like a nice problem to have But how long will it last ? Then what ?

Could someone please give me some advise

Leabrook

OK, the first thing is to understand whether your ESA is Income Related or Contribution Based.

If it is ESA(IR) then there will be two aspects to how this pension will affect you;

- the lump sum will be treated as capital, have a look at Asset rule for ESA(IR) for information on how you will be affected.

I assume that you will also receive a regular income from your pension, this needs to be declared and will be deducted £ for £ from your ESA(IR).

If it is ESA(CB), then the lump sum will not affect your payments but you will still need to declare any pension income, there is an £85/week disregard and any excess will be deducted from your ESA(CB) at the rate of £1/w for every £2/week in excess of the £85.

Your Housing Benefit is Income Related and will be treated in similar manner to the ESA(IR) above, you will need to notify your Local Authority in addition to the DWP.

Gordon

leabrook wrote: Thanks Gordon
My ESA is IR I will not be getting any further payments from them.
So I understand any capital over £6k they will take £1 for every £250
I am not due to get the lump sum till Febuary 2014
But then will they say my income for that week is said lump sum
Then I suppose as lump sum decreases (I will have to tell them on what I have spent it)
Not sure which is worse having money or by having to be reassed for ESA
Both letters came in same post
Have Sorted ESA50 1013 Form I kept copies of everything from last year
So not so stressed about that But been told I am getting a lump sum.
Thats going to cause more problems
I just need to win the lottery Then I could forget about Benefits.

Leabrook

You need to be aware that the ESA Descriptors and Regulations were updated in January so make sure that refer to latest ESA guides before completing the ESA50, also if it will help, there is a version of the form that can be on your computer

Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

Gordon