People on legacy benefits with a disability or health condition may be due one-off back payment

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been conducting a corrections exercise after it identified that since January 31, 2011, some people have made new claims for Income Support when they should have made a new claim for income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). As a result, some of these claimants may have been under or overpaid due to the difference in the amount of money paid for these two benefits.

This means that if you made a claim for Income Support on or after January 31, 2011 due to a disability or health condition, you may be entitled to a special payment. This is because you should have been told to claim income-related ESA instead and you may have received more money.

If you are still on Income Support, and think you may have been affected, you will need to be assessed by the DWP to find out if you should move to income-related ESA.

If you are still getting Income Support

You may be entitled to a special payment if both of the following apply:

• you made a claim for Income Support on or after January 31, 2011 because of a disability or health condition
• you were not getting Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance when you made that Income Support claim

However, it’s important to be aware that if you meet these eligibility criteria, you will need to have a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to find out how your disability or health condition affects how much you can work.

DWP guidance on the dedicated page on GOV.UK explains: “You will only be eligible for a special payment if you are assessed as having ‘limited capability for work’ or ‘limited capability for work and work-related activity’.”

If you have moved from Income Support to income-related ESA or Universal Credit

You may be entitled to a special payment if all of the following apply:

• you made a claim for Income Support on or after January 31, 2011 because of a disability or health condition
• you were not getting Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance when you made that Income Support claim
• you had a Work Capability Assessment when you moved from Income Support to income-related ESA or Universal Credit and you were found to have ‘limited capability for work’ or ‘limited capability for work and work related activity’

How to apply

DWP guidance explains that you should contact Jobcentre Plus on 0800 169 0310 and say you are “enquiring about the ‘Income Support Claims Review exercise’”. Phone lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8am to 5pm.

What happens after you make a claim

You will be told if you need to provide any information to support your application. DWP will compare what you were paid on Income Support with what you should have been paid on income-related ESA.

Underpayments

If you would have been paid more on income-related ESA, you will be paid the money you should have received.

Overpayments

DWP also made it clear that if you got more on Income Support than you would have got on income-related ESA, you will not have to pay the extra money back.

Full details on how to apply for a special payment if you claimed Income Support because of a disability or health condition can be found on GOV.UK here.

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