IB - appealing and now on reduced IS - Help needed

Hi
Withiout going into too much detail, I have been sent a form telling me that I my incapacity benefit has been stopped.I have many mental health issues and the doctor was so concerned about my wellbeing that she wrote to my doctor and faxed her the same day as I had my medical. iam back under the pshycatrist and on heavy doses of Diazapan. I am fortunate to have good friends who are helping me over this but I was wondering if there was a certain amount of money that a person should have to live on. I will be getting Income Support reduced by 20% and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit but I am going to struggle o approx £42.00 a week for groceries and all utilities. Can someone tell me if there is anything else I can apply for ? I have tried for DLA but failed,
I am asking this as the system is such a mess and I and my friends who are helping me do not know where to turn.
Thanks

Cooky

COOKY44 wrote:

Hi
Withiout going into too much detail, I have been sent a form telling me that I my incapacity benefit has been stopped.I have many mental health issues and the doctor was so concerned about my wellbeing that she wrote to my doctor and faxed her the same day as I had my medical. iam back under the pshycatrist and on heavy doses of Diazapan. I am fortunate to have good friends who are helping me over this but I was wondering if there was a certain amount of money that a person should have to live on. I will be getting Income Support reduced by 20% and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit but I am going to struggle o approx £42.00 a week for groceries and all utilities. Can someone tell me if there is anything else I can apply for ? I have tried for DLA but failed,
I am asking this as the system is such a mess and I and my friends who are helping me do not know where to turn.
Thanks

Cooky

Hi,

It very much depends on your own circumstances how much the government says you need to live on. Things such as being in receipt of other benefits, living with a partner, having children, having over £6k in capital etc can all affect this figure.

Therefore it is really essential to obtain face to face advice from a welfare rights adviser/CAB etc who can go through your own individual circumstances and ensure you are claiming what you are entitled to.

Incidentally for what reason is your IS being reduced by 20%?

Pete

Just a thought - did you fail to attend an interview or medical, and are these hardship payments? The reason I ask is because it may be possible to get them topped up with a crisis loan and you would need full advice about it, so please do like Pete says and get face-to-face advice.

Also there may be charities or community groups that can help. Where I live, people can get food from churches, mosques, gurduwaras and temples, and some of these will also provide other things like toiletries.

I'm afraid my knowledge is out-of-date on this matter. However, when I failed a PCA and had my Income Support (due to sickness) stopped, I had the option of claiming JSA or Reduced IS, that is, IS reduced by 20% pending appeal.

I thought (perhaps wrongly) Reduced IS was no longer an option but I would imagine this is what the OP is referring to.

If this is the case, I don't think hardship payments would be available as Reduced IS is still greater than the value of hardship payments.

I'm not sure if it's still the same but 2 year's ago it used to be that the government said a single person living on their own needed £145 a week to live on.

The only reason I know this is that I was leaving my marrital home to live on my own. Something made me call the Benefits Helpline no (on the DWP website) to check if I was receiving everything I was entitled to which at the time was IB & DLA with HB & CT when I moved into my home. The benefits advisor told me that I was entitled to top up IS because of how much the government said I needed to live on.

I guess every persons circumstances are different but I hope this helps a little. I personally would call the Benefits Helpline &/or one of the charities.

All the best,

Lyndsay x

Hi Lyndsay

I think the £145 would have been due to your own personal circumstances. At the moment a single person over 25 without disability excluding housing costs needs £65.45 a week to live on.

Disallowed IB claimants who are given the choice of JSA or reduced IS (20% less than JSA), if they are too ill to cope with signing on, will have no realistic option but to claim reduced IS. I think because they were given the choice, the DWP can get away with paying them less than what is legally required to live on.

Derek