Transition and welfare benefits

Transcription

1 Getting a Result Factsheet 3 Transition and welfare benefits Young people with MSI need to think ahead about the welfare benefits they may be entitled to as they move into adulthood. There are numerous possibilities depending on your age, disabilities and circumstances. Below are descriptions of some of the benefits you might be entitled to as an adult along with information on how to claim them. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a tax-free social security allowance paid to people with care, supervision or mobility needs. It is non-means tested, meaning that you can receive it even if you have savings in the bank. It is likely that your parents or carers are already claiming DLA on your behalf if you are under 16 years old. It is being gradually phased out for people aged 16 and above and being replaced by a similar benefit called Personal Independence Payments (PIP). In some parts of the country you will be advised that your DLA payments are ending when you reach the age of 16 and that you need to apply for PIP instead. In other areas this will not happen straightaway and you will continue with DLA after the age of 16 until you receive a letter telling you to apply for PIP. It has two components care and mobility and people with MSI can be awarded either or both of these. Disability Living Allowance can be awarded to people who live alone without help or supervision, as long as help or supervision is reasonably required. DLA can also be a passport to other valuable benefits such as council tax benefit. The care component The care component is for people who need help with personal care (which can include communication support). It is paid at three levels, and there are two tests for eligibility daytime and night-time. To meet the daytime tests you must require: Frequent attention throughout the day in connection with bodily functions or Continual supervision throughout the day in order to avoid substantial danger to yourself or others 1

2 To meet the night-time tests you must require: Prolonged or repeated attention with bodily functions or To avoid substantial danger to yourself or others you need another person to watch over you Sight, hearing and speaking are all bodily functions, so any attention in connection with these functions counts. If you are deafblind, you should qualify for the: Higher rate of care component if you need help both during the day AND during the night. You must satisfy at least one daytime test and one night-time test Middle rate if you need help during the day only OR during the night only. You should pass at least one day test or one night-time test Lower rate if you require attention in connection with bodily functions for a significant portion of the day, ie an hour or more, or are unable to prepare a cooked main meal for yourself if you have all the ingredients The mobility component The mobility component is designed to help people who have difficulty with getting around and is paid at two levels: Lower rate mobility component The lower rate is designed for people who are unable, without the assistance of another person, to walk to any intended or required destination while out of doors. This includes deafblind people who can walk, but need a guide when outside. Higher rate mobility component Getting the higher rate of the mobility component because of sensory impairments can be difficult. However, there are provisions within the disability living allowance regulations for severely visually impaired people or people who are both deaf and blind to receive higher rate mobility component. 2

3 Personal Independence Payments (PIP) It is important to apply for PIP when you receive a letter telling you to do so because you will usually only continue to receive DLA for 28 days after the date of the letter you receive. In some ways PIP has similarities with DLA, such as the fact that they are both made up of two components Daily Living and Mobility. PIP is however, a different benefit with different rules, and individuals will not be able to accurately tell how the transition to PIP will affect them. Some may see an increase in their benefits, others a decrease. PIP is based on a point-scoring system off assessment. The application process If you are already in receipt of DLA you do not need to do anything until the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) contact you and invite you to apply for PIP. You might want to think about what evidence you could provide to support your application, for example, a letter from your doctor. Will you have to have a face to face assessment? Possibly, dependent on the level of benefits you receive. Where it is really clear what benefit someone would receive no face to face assessment will be needed. However some people will need to have an assessment. It can be a good chance to explain how your deafblindness affects you. How does PIP work? There are two parts to PIP a daily living component and a mobility component. Each component has two rates standard rate and enhanced rate. You can get either or both component at either rate. To qualify for the: standard rate of the daily living component you will have to score 8 points in total on the daily living part of the assessment enhanced rate of the daily living component you will have to score 12 points in total on the daily living part of the assessment standard rate of the mobility component you will have to score 8 points in total on the mobility part of the assessment enhanced rate of the mobility component you will have to score 12 points in total on the mobility part of the assessment. 3

4 What do I have to do for my application? You will have to fill in a form to explain how your disability affects you. You should also include additional evidence with the form. This could include letters from doctors, social care assessment reports, hospital reports or any other letters from your specialists. Any evidence that supports your claim form should be included. Evidence that will support your claim form will relate to your conditions and the impact they have on your everyday life. You may then be asked to attend a face-to-face assessment. If you are asked to go to a face-to-face assessment, you can take someone with you. You could take a friend, family member, support worker or anybody else who you would feel comfortable with. What are the criteria? Criteria are ways of testing something. The criteria for PIP are based on how people carry out a range of activities and the equipment or support people need to do so. These activities are meant to be indicators of the level of need people have. A full list of the criteria can be found at There are ten activities in the daily living component and two in the mobility component. You will get different numbers of points for each activity depending on how you do the activity and how much support you need to do it. The daily living activities include two related to communication communicating verbally and reading and understanding signs, symbols and words. These are where deafblind people are most likely to get points but are not the only ones. For the communicating verbally activity If you use a hearing aid or other communication device, you should score 2 points If you need communication support for complex verbal information you should score 4 points If you need communication support for basic verbal information you should score 8 points. For the reading and understanding signs, symbols and words activity If you need large print, but would be able to read standard print with an aid, such as a magnifier you should score 2 points. If you can understand written information, but only if someone reads it to you or it is in braille, then you should be treated as not being able to understand it at all. This will score 8 points The mobility component includes an activity about planning and following a journey. This is where people with sensory impairments may get points. If you need a guide, an assistance dog or an orientation aid (such as a long cane) to follow and unfamiliar journey you should score 10 points. If you need a guide, a guide dog or an orientation aid (such as a long cane) to follow familiar journeys, you should score 12 points. 4

5 Unfamiliar journeys include using public transport. If you cannot use public transport, you should be considered unable to follow an unfamiliar journey. If you can follow a familiar journey, but would be unable to cope with likely changes, such as roadworks, you should be considered unable to do it. What if I can see or hear more sometimes than other times? If you are unable to do an activity at any time during a day, you should be counted as being unable to do it. So, for example, if you can follow a journey alone and without an orientation aid during daylight but would need a guide, guide dog or orientation aid (such as a long cane) after dark, you should score points for needing that. What if I can do something but not safely? If it is unsafe for you to do something, you should be counted as being unable to do it. For example, activity 11 is about planning and following journeys. You may be able to follow a route to an unfamiliar place but to do this would be unsafe for example, if you cannot see or hear oncoming traffic. Doing things differently Many MSI people are used to coping with day-to-day activities but when filling in this form you may need to think differently. When looking at a descriptor think Do I do this activity differently to people without sensory impairments? For example, do you use liquid level indicators or do you use a vibrating alarm to tell you the doorbell is ringing? The Benefits Cap You may have heard about a new limit on the amount of welfare benefits that somebody can receive. The chances are that this will not apply to you as anybody who receives Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payments is exempt. Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) ESA is paid to people who have limited capability for work and people who are looking for work. You may need to know about this benefit if you are no longer in education and are not yet in a job. There are two types of ESA: 1 Contributory ESA you can get contributory ESA if you have made a certain amount of national insurance contributions. National insurance contributions are paid by you and your employer when you have a job. Contributory ESA is not means tested and so it does not matter if you have savings. This can usually be paid for up to one year. 5

6 2 Income-related ESA you can get income-related ESA if your income and capital are low enough. Your capital must not be over 16,000. Capital generally means one off payments or lump sums that you don t get regularly. Savings and some types of property are capital, for example money held in savings accounts or property owned by you that is not the home that you normally live in. Although it is means tested, you do not need to have made any national insurance contributions. You are not usually entitled to ESA for the first three days that you claim. Sometimes you will be entitled to claim both contributory and income related ESA at the same time. If ESA is awarded, claimants will be placed in one of a number of different groups. These groups relate to what work you are considered able to do. Most claimants, other than those in the support group, will be required to take part in work-focused interviews and some can be required to undertake work related activity. Who can claim ESA? You can claim ESA if you meet the following conditions: You have limited capability for work, and You are aged 16 or over, and You are in Great Britain, and You are not entitled to income support or jobseekers allowance, and You are not entitled to statutory sick pay, and You satisfy the extra rules for contributory ESA or income-related ESA N.B. Young people aged from 16 upwards who are in education can claim ESA if in receipt of DLA or PIP How to apply for ESA You can apply for ESA by contacting Jobcentre Plus: By phone (or for the Welsh language line call ) By textphone Online at You can request a paper application form from Jobcentre Plus or by downloading it at 6

7 What happens when I have made a claim? The first 13 weeks of your claim are known as the assessment phase. During this time your claim will be reviewed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). You will usually be required to undertake an assessment with healthcare professionals known as the Work Capability Assessment. You might decide to take somebody with you to your assessment as some people have described the process as stressful. You may be asked a lot of questions about your disability that you do not normally talk about, or the assessor may assume that you can do something that you cannot (for example, see a certain size font on a board). It can be useful to have somebody with you for support. This person will know you well and can help you challenge the assessor if they are saying something wrong. After the assessment the healthcare professional will write a report to the DWP to confirm whether or not you have limited capability for work. What is the Work Capability Assessment? There are two types of assessments that the healthcare professional will carry out. They are usually done at the same time. Limited Capability for Work Assessment looks at both physical and mental health factors. The assessor will use a set of criteria, known as descriptors. You are required to score a total of 15 points from these criteria in order to be awarded ESA. These points can be from a combination of physical and mental health descriptors. Limited Capability for Work Related Activity Assessment will usually be done at the same time as the first assessment. It looks at your ability to undertake any work related activity. After this test you may be placed in what is known as the support group. If you are placed in the support group you will not be required to take part in work focused interviews or undertake work related activities. If you are not placed in the support group you will be placed with the work related activity group. This means you may have to take part in work focused interviews. These usually take place every month and should focus on what work you might be able to do as well as what support you may need. You may also be required to undertake work related activity. This may include things such as voluntary work, work trials or a training programme. However, you will not have to apply for jobs. Your initial claim is made on a form called the ESA1. If you claim by phone, Jobcentre Plus will ask you the questions on the ESA1 and will write down your answers on the form. They will then send this to you to sign and return to them. Once your ESA1 has been processed, you will then be sent a questionnaire called the Limited Capability for Work Questionnaire. This is a form called the ESA50. This form asks you detailed questions about your condition and how you cope with everyday life. Sense has produced separate detailed information called the ESA: Form filling and the Work Capability Assessment with tips on how to complete this form. 7

8 N.B. Some means-tested benefits such as ESA could affect your parents benefits entitlements, e.g. Carer s Allowance, if you intend to stay living at home once you have started claiming your own benefits. It is worth taking advice to establish whether you will be better or worse off as a family before claiming. Working tax credits (WTC) Working tax credits are a payment to top up the earnings of lower paid workers and workers with a disability. There are a number of elements which are actually payments to you. You may be able to claim a number of these payments some of which are specifically for disabled people. They can amount to several thousand pounds per year. To qualify for the disability element, you have to meet all of these conditions: you must be working for 16 hours or more a week you must have a disability that makes it difficult for you to get a job you must be receiving, or have recently received, a qualifying sickness or disability-related benefit On top of the standard disability element there is also a Severe disability element. You can claim this, on top of a basic element and the standard disability, if you receive either of: Highest Rate Care Component of Disability Living Allowance Enhanced Daily Living Component of Personal Independence Payment Making a claim for Working tax credits To make a claim for WTC you need to phone the HMRC Tax Credits Helpline on (textphone ) and request an application form. This form is called TC600. Housing benefit Housing Benefit is for people, aged 16 and above, on a low income to help them pay their rent. You may be able to get Housing Benefit if you are on other benefits, work part-time or work full-time on a low income. You cannot though get Housing Benefit to help with the costs of a mortgage or home loan. The amount you could receive will depend on how much your rent is, what savings you have and where you live. Although students generally do not receive Housing Benefit, an MSI student may well be entitled to receive it if they receive Disability Living Allowance or PIP. Applying for Housing Benefit If you are making a claim for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) you should automatically receive an application form for Housing Benefit. 8

9 If you do not receive this form or you are not claiming for ESA you should contact the Housing Benefit Department of your local authority to request some. Some local authorities now allow applications to be made electronically. Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) The Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) are grants that help to pay for extra equipment and support that you may need as a direct result of your disability, on-going health condition, sensory impairment, mental-health condition or specific learning difficulty. They are specifically for people in Higher Education The Disabled Students Allowance can help with the cost of having a non-medical helper, specialist equipment, and the cost of extra travel and other items for your course, such as extra books and photocopying. Grants are available to undergraduates and postgraduate students. They can be used for full time courses and part time courses, as long as the duration of a part time course lasts no longer than four times the length of its full time equivalent. Undergraduates and students in teacher training can apply for grants across four areas: Specialist Equipment Allowance This allowance can be used to pay for items such as computer equipment, specialist software, furniture, or other specialist equipment. It also covers insurance and support for the equipment for the duration of your course. Specialist Support Allowance This allowance can be used to pay for a support worker, personal assistant or other helper you need to benefit fully from your course. This can also include: non subject specific study skills, notetakers, library assistant, study mentors, etc. This does not include extra tuition for your course. General Allowance This allowance can be used for any additional costs not covered by the other allowances, for example, extra books, photocopying, and ink cartridges. It can possibly be used for extra accommodation costs, as well as being used to top up the specialist equipment and non-medical helper s allowances. Additional Travel Allowance This allowance can be used to claim for reasonable additional travel costs for the academic year due to your disability. This is not normally for everyday travel costs which any student would expect to have. For example, if you need a taxi whilst most other students use public transport, you will receive the difference between the two fares. 9

10 For postgraduate students there is a single allowance covering all of the four areas combined. Applying for DSA You should apply for the Disabled Students Allowance as soon as possible. You do not have to wait until you have a confirmed place at University or College, although you can apply at any stage of your course. If you have completed an online application form for Student Finance and indicated that you want to apply for DSA, Student Finance England or Wales will send you a DSA application form with your details already filled in for you to sign and return with evidence of your needs. If you have already applied for Student Finance and now wish to apply for DSA you should download the Short DSA Application Form from If you do qualify for Disabled Students Allowance you will need to have a DSA Needs Assessment to decide on the support you will need on your course. You will have to contact an Accredited DSA Needs Assessment Centre to arrange a DSA Needs Assessment. You can find your nearest centre via the website. It is an informal meeting with an experienced Needs Assessor to help to decide the kind of support that will help you with your own particular needs. Your Needs Assessor will write a Needs Assessment Report which will list and justify any recommended Assistive Technology and Specialist Support you will need, how much it will cost, where to get it from, and any Specialist Training you may need to make best use of the Assistive Technology. Your DSA Funding Provider, normally Student Finance England, will send you a letter to tell you what Assistive Technology and Specialist Support they will pay for from the Disabled Students Allowance. The Entitlement Letter will tell you who you need to contact. You will have to get in touch with them yourself to order your approved Assistive Technology and to arrange any Assistive Technology Training and Specialist Support. You will get money from the General Allowance by sending receipts to your DSA Funding Provider for anything you have paid for, such as photocopying, special paper, or taxi fares. They will then pay you back. Universal Credit Universal Credit is a single means-tested benefit intended to replace, among others: Housing benefit Income-related employment and support allowance Working tax credits At the time of writing it has been trialled in a number of areas but its roll-out to the rest of the country has been delayed. It is important to note that disability -related benefits such as PIP and DLA are not part of Universal Credit and they will continue to be paid separately. You will be contacted by the Department of Work and Pensions when it takes effect in your area. 10

11 Further reading PIP Employment and Support Allowance Working Tax Credit work_ew/benefits_and_tax_credits_for_people_in_work.htm Housing Benefit Disabled Students Allowance Created: January 2015 Review due: January