Hi, me and my partner have recently made a joint ESA claim. I also get carers allowance for her, but only entitled to the carers premium as when we made a joint claim they made my income related into contribution based. We have already lost quite a lot of money due to the joint claim and this is fine. However, as soon as the joint claim was made I received the dreaded health questionnaire through the post. This has me worried. I claim ESA myself due to mental health but I am also a full time carer to my partner who is disabled. We are worried as to why they are wanting me in possibly for an assessment now. Does it matter if I claim to be a full time carer even though i have my own issues? We were debating whether to cancel my claim and to try and just get carers. Would she get more money this way? Would she lose money if I get full carers? Will I lose my free dental and prescriptions? It’s just confusing. We don’t know what’s the best situation to go for and the one where we would be better off. Esa have left me alone for years but now they’re asking me in for an assessment. Surely it’s fine to claim esa yourself and be a carer? If I just got carers would she get full esa again for herself? (Please note we also live together) . Sorry for the questions everyone, the experience we have had with the benefits office isn’t great. Misleading and false information to say the least. Please can somebody help and advise what to do. Thanks
Hi Stuart.
Firstly , mental health issues … NOT a barrier to claiming carers allowance provided that the criteria is met.
An online benefits calculator … time to crunch some numbers … ensuring all out there are currently being claimed
… and a good indication of the BEST combination to secure the highest level :
ESA + carers premium or … purely carers allowance … as you have gathered , the former comes with conditions
that need to be met ?
Time to crunch those numbers …