icapacity benefit

been getting incapacity for over 7 years and i also get occupational health pension just over 100 per week had letter this morning asking for my an update and information on my pension and it had on it that if i had over 85 pounds a week from a pension i wouldn have my incapacity lowered if that is the case why hasnt it been lowered before and i though it wasnt means tested

Yes, pensions do affect IB. You should have been asked for details of any pension when you first claimed IB.

I think I am correct in saying that a reduction in IB due to occupational pension was brought in for any claims after April 2001, and so if your claim was before that date it didn't count, but if after that date then the IB would be reduced.

This explains it.

www.direct.gov.uk/en/disabledpeople/fina...lsupport/dg_10016082

Is an occupational pension classed as the same as workplace health insurance? I currently recieve health insurance which is paid as a % of the salary I received when I last worked. This insurance is directly linked to my IB in that the amount I receive in benefits is deducted from my insurance so that taken together they make up the % of salary my insurance is supposed to cover. My insurance is also taxable and my tax code is adjusted such that the money I receive in benefits is deducted from my personal allowance so that I pay an increased amount of tax to cover the IB.

I have just checked the guidance on the DirectGov website to see if the are any exceptions to the £85 pension disregard. One of the exceptions is:

your claim is made under the linking rules for Incapacity Benefit and links back to before 6 April 2001

I am assuming that these 'linking rules' are being applied here as the IB is factored into my insurance payment. However as my claim was made after 6 April 2001 I am unsure where I stand.

Does anyone know when this ruling was introduced? Have things recently changed, as like the original poster I have been in receipt of IB for a number of years and this is the first I have heard of it.

I don't know about insurance - hopefully someone else can help you on that point.

The linking rules relate to where you claim IB, go back to work, then claim IB within a set period of time and go back onto your previous rate of benefit without starting all over again. In other words, if you started claiming IB before 6 April 2001, went back to work, then restarted your claim after that date, you'd be treated as if you had had a continuous claim. You'd know if your claim was covered by the linking rules as it would have affected your rate of benefits when you reclaimed.

These provisions in relation to pensions are not new.