Do advisers generally advise IB claimants making a DLA claim to also put in a IS claim at the sametime incase they are awarded mid/high rate care and become entitled to the Severe Disability Premium? or do you wait until DLA has been awarded?

Are you having any difficulties making IS claims under these circumstances as most claimants will be turned down and then have to reapply if they are awarded DLA mid/high care?. Do the phone claim advisers refuse to make the claim, etc

Under ESA, would those on Contribution based ESA have to apply for Income Based to get the SDP after a DLA award and would they have the same problem as those currently on IB eg have to put in a claim when you first apply for DLA, get turned down and then put in another when awarded the benefit.

I do advise clients to do this, having been caught out by the silly backdating rules with another client some years ago - as you know the rules only allow full backdating to the date of a DLA award if the client claimed IS at the same time as the DLA claim but was refused - given that you never know how long a DLA claim will take or if it will go to appeal you can easily exceed the normal 3 months for backdating and then have to apply under this silly rule - I don't know why it hasn't been changed along the lines of the change to the rule allowing full backdating for carer's allowance under similar circumstances.

As far as I am aware the rules are the same for ESA and the need to claim IB based ESA.

But here's a conundrum - I have a client now who was getting IB but now gets reduced rate IS pending an appeal against failing PCA - we have applied for DLA - will the rule apply to her? There is no point making a claim to IS as she is already getting it, but she is only getting it due to failing the PCA.

If DLA is subsequently awarded and covers any part of the period that IS is in payment she may still be entitled to the SDP - her IB appeal does not affect this as she still satisfies the conditions of entitlement to IS

See regulations 6(2)(e) and 7(7) of the SS Decisions and Appeals Regulations.