IB to ESA migration for those exempt from the PCA

I understand that people like me, who receive IB, will be moved to ESA (or possibly JSA) from the Spring of next year. What I don't understand is that if you are exempt from the PCA, you will be moved over to another benefit when your IB is up for review. But I have no idea when my IB is up for review as I am exempt from the PCA. How can I know when that will be?

Thanks if you are able to answer.

Hi Kate,

I think the simple answer is that we don't know how you can know.

In theory, even if you are PCA exempt, your eligibility should be checked every three years at most. This might simply involve a letter to your GP to check if there has been any change in your condition.

So you may well have been reviewed without knowing it and, in that case, your next review would be in three years time.

In practice, a lot of PCA exempt claimants appear to have virtually been forgotten about.

So, you could contact the DWP and ask when your eligibility was last reviewed, but there's no guarantee you would be ay the wiser once you got an answer.

Good luck,

Steve

Steve Donnison wrote:

Hi Kate,

In theory, even if you are PCA exempt, your eligibility should be checked every three years at most. This might simply involve a letter to your GP to check if there has been any change in your condition.

If you receive the higher rate care component of DLA, the exemption status for the PCA would never be checked for as long as a claimant continued to receive the HRCC.

What the OP is perhaps saying is that if you continue to receive the HRCC of DLA (as she may very well be in this category), at what point would these claimants be migrated to ESA given the fact that in the circumstances as described, there may never be a review date.

The DWP have stated that the reassessment process will begin when a claimant's IB falls for review, so in theory in the afore-mentioned situation, a HRCC recipient of DLA will not have a review date, although I am sure that this will not happen in practice.

In view of the uncertainty of PCA exempt claimants being transferred to ESA, I think the OP has asked a salient and very important question for which there doesn't appear to be an answer?

I can state with certainty that both myself and my daughter with a genetic neuromuscular disorder on the rare diseases database on HRC/HRM and SDA have never been reviewed, everything awarded was 'for life'.

She has been receiving the benefits from the age of 16 now in her 30's. Fear that as she has now been moved into residential care and welfare rights officer has applied for Income Support for her though this may trigger something though...

Well ATOS are welcome to assess her in the home for ESA.

Perhaps they will review people when the DLA is up for renewal, and for those who have DLA for life perhaps they will be done last.