Does anyone's teen claim ESA and DLA

[QueenOnAPlate]

I have just been informed that my daughter will be eligible for ESA when she turns 16 in a couple of months. I am her appointee. If she is awarded it ( I Am told it's very likely ) how would I manage this money? Would it need to be kept on a separate bank account and be accounted for, or do I manage it as I see fit? It seems like a lot of money for a child who is at school - if she is awarded support rate, in total she will have over £200 a week ESA and DLA, which would be a struggle if she lived independently, but she lives with us, her family!
I'd be interested to know what other parents do.

[QueenOnAPlate]

**i can't let her have the money directly as she would buy numerous comics and Disney dresses that are far too small!

[heavenlypink]

I'm interested in this too Queen.

Have you not been 'converted to PIP yet? My son is 19 gets PIP but I still currently get Child Tax Credits and Child Benefit. Come September he will be returning to college but I assume I will no longer get these owing to a) his age and b) the course he will be doing is not in the 'approved list'.

I do know that attending full time education does make you eligible for ESA but having just gone through the PIP process I'm having a breather before entering the 'benefits maze" again I am hoping to go and speak with the student finance department shortly and will be glad to post what I learn from them.

[heavenlypink]

Also .... you can be classed as her appointee and be allowed to manage her money. (AI least you can with DLA/PIP) This is a simple process: someone visits you at home, verifies your ID, they'll check with your daughter that she is okay with this decision and sign the forms.

[QueenOnAPlate]

Hi - no we had a letter extending her DLA for another year! I assume they are very behind, and she is probably a straightforward PIP case ( as in she is obviously entitled) so there is no rush to assess her and get her off it! I have looked through the PIP stuff and it seems easier than DLA to qualify for autism/ LD though we shall see!

[DigestiveBiscuit]

You would have to have it paid into an account in your name only. Yes, she could get £200 per week. My Dd get £125 per week ESA with the severe disability premium, and the top rate for care DLA, plus she has a Motability car.

We use the DLA for all the extra expenses, like laundry, heating, taking her out to activities every day, petrol for said activities, connected to her disability. The ESA goes on what she wants like clothes, DVDs, CDs, haircuts; and the college has £30 per week for their trips out.

[HairyBigSpider]

I found that PIP has been harder to get than DLA. My ds has just been turned down for PIP and I thought he would be very likely to qualify as his DLA was agreed straight away. They are making it much harder now for anyone to qualify for any benefits at the first attempt

[heavenlypink]

The PIP form is easier but the criteria harder

[ratchetclank]

DS is on ESA and PIP, he transferred from HRC/LRM DLA to enhanced living/standard mobility PIP without any issues. We had a ton of evidence from all his previous applications. His ESA is £125 pw, we take half of that towards payment for the household and half is for his personal spending. We actually save quite a lot of that money, but we want to take it out of his immediate access to prepare him for living independently (he is on the list for his own council flat) and he'll have to learn that the money needs to be spent on household things and not just games and sweets.

The PIP of £104pw goes towards specific extra expenses like laundry and activities, but his needs don't cost that much now (as we do so much of the caring ourselves rather than paying for someone) so we put a lot into savings for his future (but in our own accounts, so that it won't affect his benefits).

I'm his appointee and I've arranged for the money to be paid into an account in my name that I only use for DS's benefits and expenses. We've never been asked to account for our spending in any way.

[QueenOnAPlate]

Thanks so much - this is all really helpful x

[vjg13]

Does anyone have any information on how claiming ESA affects direct payments, does it push the young person into the range to contribute? My daughter is 18 and currently gets MRC/LRM and we get child benefit.

[DigestiveBiscuit]

www.disabilityrightsuk.org/charging-community-care

See this fact sheet. So long as your daughter has below £14,250 in savings and no other assets or income, she won't have to contribute towards the cost of social care.

You have to give up child benefit for your daughter to get ESA. However, my daughter gets £125 a week in ESA, and child benefit is what - around £20 per week?

[ratchetclank]

You also lose CTC if you stop claiming child benefit though - we got £150pw CTC for DS (due to disability premiums) on top of the £20pw CB, so for us it was better to hang on to child benefit & CTC until he had to come off it after leaving college. If you only get a small amount of CTC or earn above the threshold then ESA would probably work out better.

We keep an eye on DS's savings to keep it below the level for benefits (it's only £6k before their ESA/HB gets affected) but we do put away money for longer term savings in a trust so it gets disregarded.

[vjg13]

Thanks for the replies, I think it would work out better to hold onto the CTC and child benefit until it comes to an end. What age is that for a disabled young person who will hopefully go to specialist college at 19?

[jigster01]

DS gets dla (17 yrs and student ) I enquired about claiming esa for him as I read he fitted the criteria ..I phoned up to claim and she wanted me to send in a sick note .I said he's not sick he has a disability (Sli and severe auditory memory ) so I couldn't ask the Dr. for a note.:( Lady also said that when he is 18 (6 mths time )that he would have to go to job centre and have interviews to get him into work !I said he is in resi special school how would he do that ! And he wouldn't be going to work as he has another 18 mths at college ! It was crazy and in the end she completely agreed with me but said they could not move forward without one ..so I phoned up school Dr. and she said she would write a "note" and it would cost me £15 and what would I like her to write !!!! I gave up at that point ..You should certainly never pay for a sick note and I felt I was going round in circles .I phoned a charity and they said unfortunately it is true bu I felt wrong getting a sick note and it wouldn't be right that he went to interviews alone while at resi school crazy crazy.
It says it is automatic he would get esa as he has middle care dla ..so he is losing out ...
Sorry for long story !