Incapacity benefit vs. Income support.......... why?????

Question

I worked for years and paid National Insurance contributions so when i was taken ill and no longer able to work i claimed incapacity benefit and still have to pay my own prescription and dental charges. I have now found out that if i had never worked i would of been signed onto income support with sickness benefit entitling me to free prescriptions and dental work...... why am i penalized for having worked?!? Do you think this is right?????

Answer 1

My dear friend:

No this is not right: and I know exactly how you feel as I have just faced the same situation!!

I worked many hours, for minimum pay, for many years: to be laid off work due to a serious injury, and had to start claiming benefits. I was told to claim Incapacity Benefit & income support> My Incapacity was aloud: but my income support claim was not, due to my rate of incapacity being £1.05p over the limit to claim!!

This I found out to my horror meant that I was not entitled to: Free Prescriptions: Dental Care: Eye examination/ Glasses: all for the sake of £1.05p!! I did not Know I was not entitled to these things until I went to my Dentist to have a full set of dentures made, due to having total extractions a month latter. I went in for the appointment, had my first treatment: and was then handed a bill for £15.00, and told it would be £189 pounds to complete the treatment as I was not exempt from the charges due to being on Incapacity Benefit, not Income Support!!

‘PANIC’!!!

I wrote to my local DWP office explaining my financial situation: enclosing a full ‘Financial Statement’ of ‘ALL’ my income and outgoings, which clearly showed I had far more going out than I had coming in. Within less than a week from sending that letter, I received a ‘HC2 Certificate’, for full help with health costs: which meant my treatment could continue!!

It may be worth you writing and explaining you own situation: you never know, you might be entitled to the same.

Good luck!!!

Answer 2

I am on incapacity benefit and have been for over 5 years and i have never paid for my prescriptions. You aslo get the same benifits as if your was claiming Income Support. What you need to do is fill in a form HC1 you can get one from a Job Centre Plus Office, NHS hospital or by phoning customer services on 0845 850 1166, some dentists, opticians or doctors surgeries have them also. Hope this is of help to you.

Answer 3

If you are on incapacity benefit you should also be able to apply for free prescriptions. You just need to request the right paperwork and get lucky with the right person. I had problems with benefits once - I was made redundant, it took them ages to organise my unemployment benefit, and then they were really rude to me telling me that posh people should work (as if I wanted to not work! I hated being out of work) After a while they then cut my benefit to 20p a fortnight!!! Their grounds were that I was getting help with my mortgage. I had my insurance which was paying my mortgage but there was nowhere near enough on top of that to pay my bills and buy me food. I am just lucky that I had decent parents who paid for my food by doing food shops on line for me. The benefit system stinks, and what really winds me up is that the people who least deserve it seem to get the most out of it, and that fraudulent recipients don't get the punishment for that they deserve.

Answer 4

I have also had to seek financial support on becoming disabled in mid-life after working for many years. I am not entitled to income support and my husband's income is considered if I was to apply for any benefit of this sort.
My GP told me to apply for Disability Living Allowance. This is not based on you having worked but based purely on your illness/prognosis and need of care and help to get around. The forms are not for the faint hearted! It may be worth your while to look into this.
The system tries to avoid abuse and fraud and I think is full of red tape. Laws and rules about benefit were set up decades ago and are driven by the demands of society and politicians of the day . Sadly, it will never be perfect.

Answer 5

Of course it isn't right but then nothing about our medical program/prescription program is right in this country. My mother worked all her life, sometimes 2 jobs at a time, and now that she's retired and needs medication, she cannot afford them. She's told it is illegal to buy them from other countries where it's less expensive and yet, she cannot afford to take all of the medication she needs because the pharmaceutical companies wouldn't be able to get their greedy little mitts on her measly social security money. It's disgusting. But...let's not worry about that, rather let's get into an incredibly unnecessary war that is costing us billions of dollars everyday! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE!!!!!!!

Answer 6

Are you sure you have to pay for that stuff? My dad is on incapacity benefit and he doesnt pay for his prescriptions etc.

Answer 7

earnings help will nevertheless be ability examined there replacing disability income with employment and help allowance to objective to get people back to artwork. steadily they are going to wean everybody off disability income. of direction those who're incapapable of operating because of there disabilities will proceed to exist earnings help or some thing else in the experience that they arrive to a call to regulate the call of that too. Employment and help Allowance From 27 October 2008, the Employment and help Allowance will replace disability income and earnings help claimed on the grounds of disability for brand spanking new shoppers. the hot equipment will evaluate what someone is able to, and what help and help they prefer to attend to their difficulty and go back to artwork. between 2010 and 2013 it really is meant that modern-day claimants will be delivered into the hot equipment. modern-day reward will proceed responsible up till that element. artwork means evaluation a sparkling try, the artwork means evaluation, will be presented in October 2008 for Employment and help Allowance claims and could be utilized to all those people claiming the hot allowance. that's going to verify what someone can do – particularly than what they can’t do. The evaluation will verify out people’s actual and psychological means, such as situations jointly with studying disabilities and different similar situations. Following this evaluation maximum persons would accept help and employment suggestion to enable them to go back to artwork the position achieveable. people whose difficulty causes very extreme predicament of their means, who're not in a position to artwork jointly in any artwork-proper interest, receives a higher fee of income. they are going to nevertheless be in a position to volunteer to get help and employment suggestion in the experience that they prefer to. From 2010, this new, extra precise artwork means evaluation will start up to be utilized to modern-day disability reward shoppers. This degree is area of The Welfare Reform Act 2007.

Answer 8

no ur rite its not fair, as u cant work 4 obvious reasons and people on income support have the option of working. theres no reasoning behind it at all

Answer 9

you are spot on the benefit system is a disgrace to the british race.

Answer 10

Don't let the system get you down - it will only make you ill.
So much better to go and get a job!