Community Care Solicitors

Anyone who was claiming Incapacity Benefit, because of disability or illness, prior to 31st January 2011 will continue to receive it, but no new claims have been accepted since then. Anyone wishing to make a claim of this type will now have to claim for Employment and Support Allowance instead.

The Employment and Support Allowance is in place to provide people who cannot work through disability or illness with financial support and also personalised support. The personalised support element is there to help people to take on an appropriate type of work, should they be able to. A specially trained personal adviser is appointed and access provided to a very wide range of services that includes condition management support, training and employment support. These are all designed to assist the individual to cope with and manage their disability or illness in the workplace.

In order to qualify for the Employment and Support Allowance, the applicant will need to satisfy some minimal conditions. There will be a medical check, known as the Work Capability Assessment, which assesses what you are realistically capable of doing, rather than concentrating on what you cannot do. The outcome of this assessment will decide the level of health-related support you are likely to require.

In the majority of cases where Employment and Support Allowance has been granted, those receiving it will be expected to take concrete and demonstrable steps towards getting back into work. The appointed personal advisor will, for example, organise work-focused interview sessions with you.

Increased levels of support are also available under this scheme for people who are deemed to have severe disabilities or illnesses that prevent them from working. These individuals will not be expected to take steps for a return to the jobs market, although they can volunteer to do so, should they so wish.

You can claim this allowance if your Statutory Sick Pay has finished or you cannot obtain it; if you are unemployed or self-employed or if you are under the State Pension age. You are also entitled to it if you have been claiming Statutory Maternity Pay but cannot return to work because of a disability.

You must have had some form of illness or disability, which has caused you to be unable to work for a period of four consecutive days, for longer than two days out of seven days or if you are receiving specialist medical treatment.

If you are between the ages of 16 and 20, you must have been too ill to work for at least four months. However, you might still be entitled to income-based Employment and Support Allowance even if this makes you ineligible for the contribution-based version. Alternatively, you could make a successful claim if you have been too ill to work before the age of 20.

For further information on Incapacity Benefit, as used to be known as or its replacement, Employment and Support Allowance, contact welfare benefits solicitors, such as Duncan Lewis.