Incapacity Benefit

Hi there, I have recently been retired from work because of ill health. Had to go to medicals at Occupational Health and they eventually determined that I am "permanently incapable of work and that there is no reasonable prospect of gainful employment before I reach the age of 65 years". I have asked direct.gov what benefits I may be entitled to and they have said that I should apply for ESA (formerly Incapacity Benefit). I am NOT entitled to DLA? They informed me that I would have to complete forms for ATOS and would have to attend meeting to consider what employment I can do! I have explained that I have been signed off as totally incapable of working so why on earth have I got to go for an interview to see if I can work? I feel that I have struggled and umped through enough hoops already so why will they not accept that a government body has already deemed me incapable,have issued me with a PIC form, and why can I not claim for DLA? Has anyone else had this problem?

OK, let's disentangle this for you.

ESA is paid where they are considered by the DWP to be unfit for work. If your OH doctor says you are unfit for work, there is a good chance that you will get it, but it is not based on an overall picture of whether you are fit but whether you can do certain things.

DLA is paid where you have extra needs with care and/or mobility. If you are physically ill, examples of this may be needing someone to help you to wash or go to the toilet (you have to have needs for quite a bit of the day and/or night not just a quick wash in the morning) and for mobility, it relates to how far you can walk without difficulty. You can find detailed explanations in our guides to DLA in the Help for claimants area.