Extra income?

A question about : Extra income?

Hello, my Brother in law (60) has been out of work for approx 10 years, when he was dismissed on ill health grounds. He gets a small amount for the industrial injury and his ill health pension, which I think is fairly basic? He has tried to find work but, with his injuries and unsucessful operations on them, he found it very difficult, and that in turn has led him to become quite depressed (my opinion) and very short tempered (everyones opinion) He has been refused IB because he has a 2 year shortfall in stamps, which he was unaware of!
Could anyone please tell me if he would be able to claim to any other benifits?
Sorry to drone on, but trying to give you all th info I have!
Many thanks
Carmen

Best answers:

• As he is 60 he may be entitled to: Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit
  He might also qualify for Disability Living Allowance if he isn't claiming it already. He would be best calling in to a Citizens Advice Bureau who can look at his overall situation. Details of benefits are on the Citizens Advice website - Adviceguide.
• Thank you Fran, sorry I've been a long time replying. BiL does not get DLA only what I have mentioned. I will try and encourage him to look into this option!
  My sister who is going through cancer treatment at the moment is getting SSP and DLA..will this effect BiL's chances?
  Carmen x
• You say your BIL gets Industrial Injury benefits. If this is the case then I don't think he needs full NI contributions to claim Incapacity Benefit.
  I have never paid full NI contributions (married womans contribution only) but as soon as I was awarded Industrial Injuries benefit I was then able to claim IB.
  Hope this helps.
• Thank you Iris and Ted.... He has never tried to make any claims until the IB recently. He was given ill health retirement and IIB..which I think is approximately 10 years ago. As you may imagine he is lacking in get up and go these days, so methinks I need to start gently geeing him up!
  Thanks again.
  Carmen xx
• As things stand, assuming savings less than Ј6000, they should be getting pension credit (did you hear Tony Blair referring to it this week as pensioner credit?) of Ј69.33 pw (less occupational pension weekly amount), and council tax benefit and housing benefit (if renting).
  If he can get carers allowance, he gets an extra 45.70 from that but pension credit goes down to 49.43 pw, still a net gain of 25.80 pw.
  If there’s any mobility problem for either of them, what about a blue badge for the car, Ј2 from their local social services.
• Hi iris
  The married women's NI contribution that you were on did cover industrial injuries - it was the only thing it was useful for!
  I can't really understand, if the OP's B-I-L was off sick for the past 10 years, why he wasn't getting his NI contributions credited?
  My late first husband never worked from 1976 until his death in 1992 because of heart disease. He'd been claiming invalidity benefit all that time and his NI contributions were credited. After his death I was able to claim widow's benefits based on his contribution record, and I did that until about 1998 when it was more advantageous to me to claim SRP on my own contribution record.
  Aunty Margaret
• I am so grateful for all your information. I suspect (like myself) my BIL knows very little regarding his entitlements and feels a tad over his head! Armed with this information I feel confident enough to help him. I cannot thank you enough.
  Carmen x
  Pride can sometimes be a big obstacle!
• If he has been off work for 10 years then he really does need to get his benefit situation checked by a qualified experienced professionsal as there are lots of people who should have had their rights protected when the law changed who haven't and the DWP will correct these errors if you point it out to them.
  The same protection also applies to the fact that IB prior to that date wasn't taxable and the transitional protection means that those with claims which can be linked backed to that date can get income tax relief on their current I B and rebate for the tax they have paid since 12 04 95 to current date on their IB plus interest onthe tax overpaid in error. It all mounts up but it may need a professional WRA to argue the case that he should have had IB continuously since that date.
• Thanks Ted, excuse my ignorance.....what is WRA?
  Carmen x
• WRA - Welfare Rights Adviser eg. Citizens Advice & similar.