what is it all about? - ark housing association | ark ... disability living allowance (dla) personal...
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What is it all about?
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Contents Page
What is Welfare Reform all about? 4
Employment and Support Allowance 5 Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 7
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) 8 Universal Credit 9
The Scottish Welfare Fund 12
What will I need to do? 14
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There are basic benefits: these
benefits make sure that everyone in the United
Kingdom gets the money they need to live on
These benefits are for those who
Are looking for work.
Have health problems /
disabilities.
Are working but do not have
a lot of money.
Some will change to become
Universal Credit.
What is Welfare Reform all about?
Disability Living Allowance
This money helps you to manage the extra cost of
having a disability.
Changes to Personal Independence Payment
Severe Disablement Allowance
Incapacity Benefit
Income Support (on the basis of incapacity)
Some big changes to benefits
These are known as Incapacity Benefits and they will
be replaced by Employment and Support
Allowance (ESA)
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The DWP looks at all the
information that came from
your assessment meeting.
As-
A lot of people will never have had to go to a medical—this will
be a big change.
Employment and Support Allowance
You will have to fill in a new questionnaire (a pink
form) about how well you can do some things..
You can send in your own letters written by any
agencies that support you.
You may have to go to a medical assessment. You
can take someone with you, and be sure to tell
them how things really are for you.
You will be reassessed for Employment and
Support Allowance (ESA). This is what the new
benefit is called.
If you are asked to go to the as-
sessment and don't go, your
benefits might stop.
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Remember if your are worried you can
get help from your support worker.
You will be awarded either the ...
Work related
Activity
Group
Support Group—
nothing else will
happen; you will be left
alone and get your
money as normal. You
will not go to the Job
Centre Plus
or
You will have reviews more often in both
groups and you may need to fill in the pink form
again.
Employment and Support Allowance
You will receive payments of Employment and
Support Allowance. You may need to go to the Jobcentre to meet
with an Adviser.
You may be asked to try something new like
Voluntary work, but you will not be forced to
look for work.
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Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
Personal Independence
Payment (PIP)
You will speak to them on the
phone first.
Medical Assessment In Scotland ATOS staff will assess you and you
will be awarded points depending on how
much help you need to be independent...
On a daily basis (Daily Living).
And your ability to get around (Mobility)
Decision
A decision will be made on whether you are entitled to PIP. The number of
points you are given determines if you will get the Standard or Enhanced
Rates (similar to the High and Middle levels of DLA )
If so you will get:
Daily Living Component - Standard or Enhanced
And/or
Mobility Component - Standard or Enhanced
“Now they have sent me a
form to fill in”.
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Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
If you get the new PIP you will need to have your
claim reviewed a lot more. Some people will get the
Payment without having a Review, but not many.
If your support worker cant help they will find out who
can and help you to get more information.
Some people
will get less
money.
If you are told that you are
not getting any money, you
can Appeal the decision.
If you receive the Enhanced
Mobility Element of PIP, you are
eligible for the Motability Scheme.
You will still get a blue badge if you receive the mobility
component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and
-scored 8 points in relation to the ‘moving around’ activity
-Or scored 12 points in the mobility activity for planning and
following a journey
If you get any rate of the Daily Living Component,
someone can claim Carers Allowance for you.
Get advice before doing this as you could lose
money.
Carers Allowance
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You will get your money every month (12
payments every year). It will be sent to your
bank account. This means that
you will have to work out your
budget for a longer time.
Universal Credit The new single payment for people in receipt of the following benefits:
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance Income-related Employment and Support Allowance Income Support Working Tax Credit Child Tax Credit Housing Benefit It is meant to make it easier for people to move into work:
By being easier to understand By being a singe monthly payment.
People who are in work and on a low income, will get Universal Credit as well as those who do not work.
Most people will apply online but there will be other arrangements for those who cannot do this.
Your rent gets paid as part of this payment (Housing Benefit comes straight to you). You must pay this rent to your Landlord.
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If you are successfully transferred to your new
benefit you will get Transitional Protection
-a little bit more in your monthly payment, to
make sure you are not worse off (top up).
BUT you will not get Transitional
Protection if your circumstances
change for example going from a
being a Single Person to being in
a Couple (joint claim).
Paying your Rent
Housing Benefit Can help you to pay
towards your rent. This will be paid to you
along with all your other benefits in one
payment. You must pay this to your landlord.
BUT...You might have to pay towards
your rent if you have a spare bedroom
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If you have a spare
bedroom that you don't
need—you will get less
Housing Benefit.
Your Housing Benefit may be affected by the number of
bedrooms you have in your house.
There should be 1 bedroom each for each
adult/couple except if you are a
couple.
Exemptions:
You will not have to pay this (are exempt) if
You need a carer (not a relative) to stay
overnight (a sleep over)
You are State pension age
You are in “exempt” supported accommodation
This means that I
may have to pay
something towards
my rent.
If you have an extra bedroom you
can choose to stay in your home
but you will have to pay extra from your
benefits. Or you can move to a smaller house.
Your Housing Association who looks after your
home—including your rent, will be in touch with you
to help you. They will give you information and
support to decide what you need to do.
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The Scottish Welfare Fund (used to be the Social Fund)
Grants or vouchers
The help you will get will be:
Crisis Grants – to make sure you have a
safety net in an emergency. Just in case
you need help to be safe or to make sure
you get help if you are ill.
Community Care Grants – This will
help to make sure you stay in your home
and to be independent. For example you
may get a new cooker if your old one
breaks down.
This might be harder to
get. It’s difficult and I
need to fill in a form with
a lot of questions again!
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You might need more help with working
out your money—to make sure you can
buy your food and pay your bills
We need to make sure that your
support worker knows how to
support you well during the time
of changes to benefits.
You might need more support to go to the
meetings—there will be more forms to fill in. You
might feel a bit anxious with having to meet new
people and speak about your life.
You might have to
spend more time
meeting with the
people who
assess and
review you and your money.
How might
these changes
affect me?
Remember you can get help
from your support worker.
All these changes will not happen at once. They
will take time—over the next few years until 2017
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Open your mail on the day it arrives.
Ask someone to help make sure you understand
everything.
If you have a form to fill in, get help from someone you
can trust.
Get a folder to keep all your important letters.
Forms and Letters
Medical Assessments
For ESA and PIP you may be asked to go for a medical
assessment.
This is to help DWP understand your support needs.
You must go to the appointment. Or phone to rearrange.
Find out where the appointment is, maybe you could have
a practice journey if you are not sure where you’re going
Ask someone like a relative or Support Worker to go with
you.
What will I need to do?
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Don’t be shy about explaining your needs.
If you don’t explain your needs during the interview, your
benefit might be refused and you will have to Appeal or
claim Jobseekers Allowance
How can I prepare?
Safe Access to a Computer
With Welfare Reform, most people will be expected to
claim benefits Online
It’s important to have private access to a computer
You will need an email address to claim benefit Online
Go to the library and find out about getting an email
address (you only need one)
Practice using it by emailing a few friends
Keep your password safe (it’s as important as your PIN)
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You must have a bank account to receive Universal Credit.
You can ask for one that has no overdraft facility.
Ask about charges. Some banks charge more than others.
Bank Accounts
You will need to have Identification (ID) if you
want to open a bank account or apply for a new
benefit.
To be prepared start collecting your ID now.
Identification
Savings Challenge
The new system might lead to
delays in payments
Aim to save up enough to cover you
if you didn’t get your money for two
weeks
Set it up in a different place to
where you bank, that way it’s less
tempting to spend it
Pay bills most
important first:
1. Rent (keep a roof over your
head)
2. Gas/Electric (keep you warm)
3. Food (we all need to eat)
4. Council tax (it’s the law)
5. TV, Phones etc