HELP!! Claiming IS as Carer

Income Support (General) Rgs 1987 Sch 1B - Persons caring for another person - 4)a)(i) is surely satisfied by both the DLA and the PIP award and you don’t need to look at (ii) which covers when someone has claimed but it’s not been determined.

Sweet & Maxwell - ‘under para 4(a) the fact of being regularly and substantially (etc)...is enough’. )p 565).

Any good?

Thanks Andrew

DWP are saying 4(a)(i) doesn’t apply due to LRC award of LRC. They are telling me they are going by the DLA-PIP transitional regs which allow for DLA to be paid for a period before PIP kicks in (Reg 13 I think!!!), so are treating client as having LRC until the date in July, even though the PIP claim was initiated in June!!

Ah - I misread, you DID put ‘LRC’. Over-enthusiasm on my part.

Yes, this problem of transfer to PIP has been discussed elsewhere on Rightsnet and people do lose out if they are due a higher rate owing to the way the regs are written.

Curses!

I would argue that Income Support (General) Regs 1987 Sch 1B 4(a)(iii) ought to apply in this case. The wording used in the Reg is that the carer can get IS if “the person being cared for has claimed entitlement to ...personal independence payment… for the period up to the date of determination of that claim”. I can’t see a definition of ‘claimed entitlement’, but surely in the normal meaning of the words if someone legitimately registers a PIP claim they are “claiming entitlement” on that date.

So in this case the carer should be able to get IS pending the result of the PIP claim. It would be different if they were not in a PIP reassessment area and were applying for a supersession from DLA LRC to DLA HRC; in that case, the carer could not get IS while waiting for the DLA to be increased (though eventually of course they could get IS/CA backdated to the start of the HRC award). But an application for PIP is not a supersession of a DLA claim.

Thanks Tony. Tath was my thinking too, but the IS DM is just not having it. They are stating that because PIP was not paid until 14th July, and DLA was paid in the interim, then the cared for person was not receiving the correct benefit!! I think I’m going to have to let this run to appeal, unfortunately!!

Peter

Have you tried the ‘looking after a family member who is temporarily ill’ point? You don’t need to be getting CA/DLA/PIP for this. Para 3(b) Sch 1B. The wording is very broad and should cover this case.

It’s a very common problem for us. We’ve had several cases go before ICE on this and DMs are supposed to have new guidance which obviously they haven’t received or aren’t following.

See attached memo which should have been distributed to all DWP staff following our complaints.