Moving from the shambles that is ESA to the disaster that is personal independence payment (PIP), the DWP have updated their guidance to Atos and Capita health professionals carrying out PIP assessments.
Changes include telling assessors:
•to ignore problems with carrying things in the kitchen but take account of possible self-harm issues when preparing a meal;
•to ignore commode use in some circumstances;
•that in rare circumstances ‘violent behaviour’ and ‘high suicide risk’ may be relevant to scoring points for needing prompting to undertake journeys;
•that typically claimants ‘will not have left their home for several years’ if they are to qualify as being unable to undertake any journey – ignoring the fact that the legal requirement is that you have had the same level of need for just three months and are likely to have it for at least nine more.
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I've just had a letter to say that my ESA is about to stop so I don't really know what I'm going to do I still work 7hrs a week what is about all I can manage but if I get the ESA stopped I won't be able to live in my flat I get low care rate of dla but cause when you look at me you would think that I had nothing wrong I'm in constant pain a case of if ppl can't see what's wrong ie got you limbs hanging off they don't think anything wrong with you I'm diabetic too I haven't had an assessment yet but do know that if your in pain & it effects you for more than 4days in a row you can get the second rate but I dunno how if you got someone who just looks at you & sees you thinks you look well how do they know what your like when you struggle to get up in the mornings & when you can't get up out the chair it's all wrong this pip dla they need proper drs or medical people to assess you xxx
From what I understand of ESA you cannot work while on ESA but you can work in DWP approved places but have a limit to the amount earned before the ESA is stopped?
a bit long but here are the facts at the moment.
Permitted work for those on ESA, incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance
You have a choice of permitted work options depending on your circumstances:
Permitted Work Lower Limit - under this option you can earn up to £20 a week for an unlimited period.
Permitted Work Higher Limit - under this option you can earn up to £104.00 after tax and national insurance deductions if the work is for less than 16 hours a week. The Permitted Work Higher Limit is based on the current adult national minimum wage for a job of 16 hours a week, rounded up to the nearest 50p above. The national minimum wage normally goes up every year on 1 October and the Permitted Work Higher Limit goes up in line with it. You can work:
for a 52 week period. Once a period starts even weeks when you do no work count towards the 52 week limit. After you have done 52 weeks work there must be a gap of at least 52 weeks before you can earn the Higher Limit again, whereupon another 52 weeks work is permitted.
for an unlimited period if you are on ESA and you have limited capability for work-related activity (that is, you are in the support group).
for an unlimited period if you are exempt from the IB/IS personal capability assessment. (If you receive income support, your earnings over £20 a week will count as income).
Some permitted work has no restriction on the hours you work and can also be for an unlimited period. However you cannot earn more than £104.00 a week after tax and national insurance deductions. These are:
supported permitted work - This is defined as work where you are supervised by someone who is employed by a public or local authority, a community interest organisation or voluntary organisation which provides or finds work for people with disabilities.
work which is part of a treatment programme under medical supervision whilst you are an in-patient or regularly attending as an out-patient of a hospital or similar institution.
For information on how self-employed earnings are calculated for ESA purposes see the Appendix at the end of this factsheet.
Supported permitted work
Guidance suggests that supported permitted work is work done by people who have a long term disability that has had "a significant impact on their ability to learn or sustain a traditional job which will always, or for a number of years, prevent them from working more than a few hours each week".
It should also be work that a person can do only with the support and supervision of someone other than their employer and be supervised by someone employed by a public or local authority or voluntary organisation which provides or finds work for people with disabilities.
The support worker must direct and oversee the performance of the worker regularly and the supervision must be more than the normal support provided in the workplace by employers.
Note: If you are on employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance and are on housing benefit or council tax benefit you are allowed to keep all your permitted work earnings. These earnings will not affect your benefit.
Other allowed work
The following kinds of work are also allowed:
care of a relative or domestic tasks carried out in your own home
work done as a councillor. If you receive a councillor’s allowance that pays more than £104.00 a week (excluding expenses), an amount equal to the extra money will be deducted from your contributory employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance.
any activity in an emergency, to protect another person, or to prevent serious damage to property or livestock
duties undertaken as an appeal tribunal disability member – one day a week is allowed (or two half days)
an approved work trial arranged in writing with the employer by the DWP (or an organisation providing services to the DWP) for which you will receive no wages
self-employed work done whilst you are 'test trading' for up to 26 weeks with help from a self-employment provider arranged by Jobcentre Plus.
work which is so minimal that it can be regarded as trivial or negligible
What about the minimum wage?
Generally if you do permitted work you should be paid at least the minimum wage for any work you are allowed to do.
The Permitted Work Higher Limit is based on the current adult national minimum wage for a job of 16 hours a week, rounded up to the nearest 50p above. The national minimum wage normally goes up every year on 1 October and the Permitted Work Higher Limit goes up in line with it.
Disability living allowance and the personal independence payment
If you are on Disability living allowance (DLA) or personal independence payment (PIP) and are not claiming one of the other benefits mentioned in this factsheet there are no restrictions placed on the work you do providing you satisfy the rules for those benefits. You should always tell the Department for Work and Pensions if you start work.
Voluntary Work
If you get incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance you are allowed to do voluntary work for anyone other than a close relative (parent (or in-law or step-parent), son/daughter (in-law/step), brother, sister or the partner of any of these).
If you get employment and support allowance or income support, you are allowed to do voluntary work for anyone other than a relative.
You must not be paid for your work, other than expenses 'reasonably incurred by [you] in connection with that work'. Permitted expenses could include travel, meals, childminding, the costs of caring for a dependant, equipment needed for work and use of a telephone. There is no limit on the number of hours you can volunteer.
If you get income support you can do voluntary work without your income support being affected. If you get income support on the basis of being incapable of work, the work must be for someone other than a family member, otherwise you will be regarded as capable of work. Care you provide for a relative will not count as voluntary work.
If you are working as a volunteer under universal credit – and under jobseeker’s allowance when you are subject to the ‘claimant commitment’ – the time you spend doing voluntary work can reduce by 50% the number of hours that Jobcentre Plus will require you to look and prepare for work. This doesn’t mean there’s a limit on how much voluntary work you can do. For example if you are volunteering for 35 hours a week and you are required to look and prepare for work for 35 hours a week, this requirement can be reduced by 50% to 17.5 hours, not the voluntary work.For more information on universal credit see Factsheet F55 - universal credit.
Where can I get more help or information?
This factsheet is a basic basic introduction to work for people who are sick or disabled. You can find out more detailed information in our Disability Rights Handbook. This and all our other publications are available from our shop at crm.disabilityrightsuk.org/. You can also place orders by contacting Disability Rights UK.
Atos is an Ass! I'm deemed fit for work & this morn I got breathless, just sitting up in bed. My income support is being stopped & my charges at building soc are wracking up 4 unpaid direct debits, whilst I'm too ill to get to the nearest one & pay anything in. I'm in a right mess & getting deeper in trouble by the min
Is my first place to see and also call them Mon to Fri 8am-9pm Sat 9am-3pm
0800 280 2816
Mobile calls maybe cheaper on
0207 760 8980
They will go though all your situation and advise on the best action to take. They used to give a referance number so that the people that you owe money to could see that you have taken advice and a plan has been devised.
The New Banking agreements state that they have to do as much as they can to help you in financial trouble as they can. But if you do not tell them they will go though there normal process's
I'm still unsure if certain messages are for me or not? As only recently joined & still trying to find my way around this site. If indeed it was for me, how do I know if this site that you sent & I just clicked on ..is safe? A pink box appeared with message written on it, but too afraid to click on it. I'm self taught & still learning on the net.
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ATOS has won the contract to do the PIP assessments!
Pip
😣😣😣😣Pip Review changed !👺
PIP assessments ... fell at the first hurdle.
Paper decision pip
