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Incapacity Benefit
Incapacity Benefit (IB) is for people unable to work because of illness or disability. Incapacity Benefit can be paid from your 16th birthday. Entitlement depends on passing an incapacity for work test called the 'personal capability assessment' or having a condition that exempts you from the test (e.g. you are exempt if you have severe learning disabilities, are registered blind or get disability living allowance (DLA) highest rate care component). The amount of benefit goes up in stages over the first year of the claim. For the first 28 weeks IB is paid at a short-term lower rate of £63.75 a week, for the next 24 weeks at a short-term higher rate of £75.40 a week, then from 52 weeks at a long-term rate of £84.50 a week. Once you qualify for long term rate of IB you may qualify for an age addition dependent upon your age at the start of your period of incapacity for work. Please contact DIAL Doncaster for more information. But if you get DLA highest rate care component or are terminally ill, the long-term rate is paid early, after the first 28 weeks. If you are aged under 20 (or under 25 in some cases if you have been in education or training) you can claim 'no-contribution' IB under special rules without having paid any National Insurance (NI) contributions. Your ability to claim after that age depends on passing NI contribution conditions. ENTITLEMENT For incapacity benefit (IB) you must actually have paid in the relevant tax year (see below):
Each Class 2 contribution counts as a contribution on earnings of the weekly amount of the lower earnings limit for that tax year - i.e. £87 for 2007/08. Unless one of the exceptions below applies to you, you must satisfy the first condition in one of the last 3 complete tax years before the start of the benefit year in which you make your claim or in which your period of incapacity for work began. The more restrictive 'last 3 years' condition was introduced on 6 April 2001. Before then, the first contribution condition for IB was satisfied by contributions paid in any tax year. There are exceptions for some people whose circumstances may have prevented them from working or paying enough contributions in the last 3 years. EXCEPTIONS You can satisfy the first condition with contributions paid in any complete tax year if you are in any of the following groups. Carers You were entitled to carer's allowance (previously invalid care allowance - ICA) (or would have been getting it were it not overlapped by another benefit) for at least a week in the last complete tax year before the benefit year in which your period of incapacity for work begins. For example, for an IB claim made in the 2005 benefit year, if you were getting ICA at any time between 6/4/05 and 5/4/06, you can pass the first condition based on contributions paid in any tax year. Low-paid disabled workers You were working, qualified for the disability element within the working tax credit (WTC) calculation, and were getting some tax credits (over and above the basic family element within child tax credit), or were getting the previous disabled person's tax credit. You have to have been getting these for more than 2 years immediately before the first day of incapacity for which you are claiming. This helps you claim IB when your earnings were below the limit for NI contributions. Note that if you were working for less than 2 years, the WTC disability element 2-year linking rule may allow you to go straight back on to your pre-work IB at the same rate without needing to pass any contribution conditions. Previous IB claimants You were getting IB for at least one day in the last complete tax year before the benefit year in which you again become entitled to IB. For example, if you claim IB in the benefit year 2005, the first condition is satisfied by contributions paid in any year if you were getting IB at any time between 6/4/05 and 5/4/06; or In prison or detention but conviction or offence quashed You are entitled to a credit for a period in prison or detention or would be if you applied, for at least one week in any tax year before the benefit year in which you claim. Lower earnings limits
The second condition - paid or credited contributions In each of the 2 tax years before the start of your benefit year you must have paid or been credited with contributions. For incapacity benefit (IB) and contribution-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA) you must have paid, or been credited with, Class 1 contributions (Class 1 or Class 2 for IB) on earnings of 50 times the lower earnings limit for that tax year in each of the 2 tax years. If your benefit year is 2007, you meet this condition if you paid contributions on earnings of £3,950 in the 2004/05 tax year and of £4,100 in the 2005/06 tax year. A credited contribution counts as having earnings of the amount of the lower earnings limit for that tax year (see above). You can combine credits and paid contributions. For decisions before 6/4/01, your incapacity or unemployment credits only counted for IB in certain circumstances. Please Note: |
