Hi,

Im looking for some advice - we've had a number of clients who have been taken off incap after their pca and as usual we have advised them to claim reduced rate income support or JSA. Many of them have come back with ESA claims stating they have been told they cannot claim reduced rate income support /JSA and ESA is what they've to claim until their appeal is heard.

I spoke to the call centre for new claims today and was told that they have to put a ESA claim through for people as you cant claim IS for being incapable for work anymore. I then spoke to the local ESA section and was told that the call centre is right as when the ESA claims are sent to them if they cannot be paid through them they get passed to IB/IS section to be processed as RRIS claims??

has anyone else come across this yet or can anyone confirm if the above information is correct? any help appreciated!

Saima

No, they are totally wrong. They are right in that you can no longer make a claim for IS on grounds of incapacity unless you are covered by the transitional regs. However the claim for IS is not made on grounds of incapacity but because the claimant is pursuing an ICB appeal (paragraphs 24 and 25 of the IS Gen regs).

It is therefore unlawful to force the claimant to claim ESA and not accept and process a separate IS claim while an appeal is pending.

I'm getting sick and tired of hearing of these kinds of shenanigans.

Thats paragraphs 24 and 25 of schedule 1, by the way.

nevip
does that include if they where on IS as a result of being on IB credits, they failed to attend a PCA and the grounds for failure where refused.

No. Paras 25 and 25 of schedule 1B of the IS Regs are freestanding grounds for IS entitlement for a person appealing a decision which includes a determination that he is not incapable of work.

Failure to show good cause for not attending a medical does not include such a determination as no such determination has in fact been made. The person is only treated as not incapable of work.

Thanks for that..