Ib/is rapid reclaim now esa

[JO1010]

Made a repid reclaim to income support /incapcity on 28th march send clerical forms and i posted them back, phoned today for update to be told that i need to claim esa as since jan 2011 incapcity has stopped.

 

On my ib i had been signed off by there gp for a year and now i got to go through it all again (so they say, providing sick notes and all that)

 

Made esa claim today and they said can take 14 days from when they recieve med cert so going to get one tomorrow,

 

Crisis loan wont pay me as i have to much debt so have been left since 28th march with no money and now they sayig will take another 2 weeks why did they issue forms if they stopped rapid reclaims???

 

 

Help please

[Nystagmite]

Why did IB stop?

[JO1010]

i started back work, just seemed the right thing to do at the time after pressure from work focused interview and i lasted 3 days before i had a major breakdown

[flumps1976]

When you get you fit note from the GP call your Benefit Centre Processing number and request an appointment at your local JCP office to have the details of your fit note emailed across to the ESA New Claims team with a seperate email request asking if the claim can be dealt wit urgently.

Can't promise that the claim will be processed any faster but it's worth a try.

[notappy]

Hi JO10,

 

Had this same problem a couple of months ago im on severe disablement Allowance, but apperantly the same rules apply so here goes..

I received SDA & income support, had a change in circumstance and cancelled income support (wrongly as i later found out). 8 months later another change in circumstance that ment i should reapply for income support, so far so good..

 

Tried to reappply and was told and this is the important bit NO NEW CLAIMS for income support with SDA/IB & income support and was prompty sent the ESA claims forms which would have ment surrendering my SDA claim and getting on to the ESA merry~go~round which quiet honestly fills me with dread mainly due to my condition.

 

I made one last phone call because during one of my many previous phone calls i had spoken to a really nice adviser that had assured me i could return to previous benefits because i had claimed them for the same condition previous to the new benefit being implemented but i cant remember word for word how she put it.

 

When you ring the benefits claims line the advicers go through a computer script and as soon as they enter that you cant work due to illness or disability the computer spits out the ESA form and that sounds like where your at.

 

The best advice i can give you is there is a benefits advice line where they guide you to which benefit you can or should claim. I would ring them tomorrow first thing and explain that you are reclaiming for the same condition and was claiming when the rules changed and fingers crossed you will be able to go back onto IB/IS until they reassess all IB SDA claimants sometime before 2014. IB has not yet been abolished and i found that most of the staff on the new claims line was not aware of this rule. I hope im right and if not i hope one of the experiences CAGGERS come and put me right. But i will stress do this asap so you can cancel the ESA claim before the cogs start.

 

GOOD LUCK !

[MIKEY DABODEE]

If the OP was on IB credits and IS and he started work then unfortunately he cant go back on IB and IS and will have to claim ESA

Its different rules for SDA..

[notappy]

Thanks for that mickey,

 

Just out of curiosity, could the OP not use the "link rules" of the 52 week transitional period or does this not apply even though they only worked for 3 days ?

 

Thanks for information.

[notappy]

This is what I found and what I'm clumsily trying to relay !

 

There are linking rules which theoretically help people to restart benefits without losing out after a trial period at work.

 

This means that if you are off work because of illness or disability within 8 weeks of the end of your last incapacity benefit payment, the two periods of incapacity for work can sometimes be linked together to form a single period, and you will go back onto the benefit at the same rate and same terms as before. Ask for advice about this before starting work to find out how you can protect your rights; in practice these rules have been found to be problematic.

 

8 week linking rule

If you are off work because of illness or disability within 8 weeks of the end of your last incapacity benefit award, you'll go back on to benefit at the same rate on the same terms as before. This is because you are still in the same 'period of incapacity for work'.

52 week linking rule

This linking rule means that, if you have received benefit due to your incapacity for work, you can try out work or training for up to a year but later return to your previous level of benefit. This linking rule applies to claimants who reclaim the benefit within 52 weeks of leaving it for work or training. To quality for the 52 week protection you must:

have been incapable of work for more than 196 days (gaps of up to 8 weeks are ignored)

and

start work or training within one week of entitlement to the incapacity for work benefit ending

and

notify the Benefits Agency within one month of benefit stopping that you have started work or training (even if you have already informed them) and that you want to apply for the 52 week rule.

 

Thanks.

[MIKEY DABODEE]

Unfortunately now

Key aspects of migration

 

• The linking rules for IB/IS were abolished from 31January 2011
  
• all claims to incapacity benefits on or after 31 January 2011 will be treated as new ESA claims - there will be no link to earlier claims for incapacity benefits;
  

Edited April 23, 2011 by MIKEY DABODEE