After ESA Up-rating for 2013 I'm getting less ESA?

I have been reading posts on here from people mentioning ESA uprating letters and top-up amount decreasing in line with the ESA increases. I was migrated to ESA last October and awarded both Contributory and Income related ESA with the usual top-up to cover the difference from my old IS & ICB award.

They put me in the Support group without a medical thanks to your guides and my GP's support.

However I recently received the 2013 up-rating letter which details the increases in my ESA from April. However after all of the increases I am now £1.30 a week worse off.

This seems to be due to the increase in Carers Allowance that my wife gets for looking after me. I think what’s happening is that my wife's Carers Allowance (classed as income) increase is being taken of my ESA(C) amount. This decrease (in the past when I was getting IB / IS) was subsumed by the overall increase in Income Support and Incapacity Benefit. But the increase in ESA(I) is now simply removed from my top-up amount, and as far I know ESA(C) is a working age benefit and will only see the 1% increase.

So the overall effect for me after the uprating (when all of the components making up my benefit have gone up !) is not an increase, but an overall decrease in my weekly payments.

Does this make sense to anyone?
Is this actually what's happening and has anyone else had the same thing happen to them?

If so what happened to the promise of no-one getting less on ESA than Income Support ?

ColinH wrote: I have been reading posts on here from people mentioning ESA uprating letters and top-up amount decreasing in line with the ESA increases. I was migrated to ESA last October and awarded both Contributory and Income related ESA with the usual top-up to cover the difference from my old IS & ICB award.

They put me in the Support group without a medical thanks to your guides and my GP's support.

However I recently received the 2013 up-rating letter which details the increases in my ESA from April. However after all of the increases I am now £1.30 a week worse off.

This seems to be due to the increase in Carers Allowance that my wife gets for looking after me. I think what’s happening is that my wife's Carers Allowance (classed as income) increase is being taken of my ESA(C) amount. This decrease (in the past when I was getting IB / IS) was subsumed by the overall increase in Income Support and Incapacity Benefit. But the increase in ESA(I) is now simply removed from my top-up amount, and as far I know ESA(C) is a working age benefit and will only see the 1% increase.

So the overall effect for me after the uprating (when all of the components making up my benefit have gone up !) is not an increase, but an overall decrease in my weekly payments.

Does this make sense to anyone?
Is this actually what's happening and has anyone else had the same thing happen to them?

If so what happened to the promise of no-one getting less on ESA than Income Support ?

Hi CH,

We could not really give a definitive answer here, without having access to all your personal details, which is obviously not an option on a open forum.

You should query this with The DWP, and/or seek face to face advice, see : Where to get advice?

This : Benefits Calculator

May be of some assistance.

bro58