Permitted Work or not?

Hi,

Iam currently on IB under linking rules for Social anxiety disorder issues.

I've started seeing my therapist again on a private basis, but paid for by doing odd jobs for him 4.5 hours a week. No money changes hands as one hour is equal to one credit of £10 towards a £45 session.

I've been told that iam eligible to do permitted work if I want to, but do not know how the arrangement with my therapist would be deemed?

Is it permitted or Voluntary?

At the moment David it is neither..,.
It is not Voluntary because you are receiving "payment in kind" which will be considered for benefit purposes.

and it is not permitted work because it has not got the sanction of the DWP .
Have a look at the members section for permitted work.
Work section

Recommend you seek help from an advice agency , as there are many issues here , including the impact on your therapist, possible self employment , permitted work and how it could effect your claim to name a few .

Rich

Hi David,

Rich is right, the work is not voluntary because you are receiving payment for it.

It may still be possible to have it treated as higher limit permitted work - see our guide to permitted work for more on this.

But bear in mind that any income you receive - including payment in kind - may affect other benefits, such as housing benefit, if you receive them.

Any work you are doing may also be taken into account when deciding whether you remain incapable of work.

You need to declare your work to the DWP and you really do need to get advice urgently about how to deal with this situation.

Good luck,

Steve

Just a quick addition Steve and David ,

As of April 2010 any income from permitted work is disregarded as income for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit purposes.

This is to bring contribution based benefits in line with Income based/related .(any award of any amount of income based/related IS/JSA/ESA would passport automatically to full HB and CTB)

see

HB and CTB permitted work changes
But you should be tyold this when you seek advice as recommended in Steve's post.

Rich