Welfare changes for people of working age

Most of you have probably received the booklet in the post detailing the benefit changes coming into effect for people of working age. For those of you that haven’t received this booklet or haven’t heard of the changes the following is a short summary of what to expect.
The government is stopping many of the current benefits for people of working age and are introducing a new benefits and payments system.

Benefit Cap
This was introduced on 31 May 2016 and its aim is to make sure that no household receives more in benefits than if their income from work was the same as an average wage or salary.
The benefit cap will only apply if someone in the household is in receipt of Housing Benefit. If this is the case, all the benefits that the household receive are totalled together to determine if you are above the limit. The limits are set at £500 a week for a single parent or a couple with or without children and £350 a week for a single person without the responsibility for children. The cap will initially be applied by reducing Housing Benefit to not more than the limits above depending on your circumstance.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
This is a new benefit effective from 20 June 2016 and will replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for eligible people aged between 16 and 64 years. This new benefit is to help those with a disability or long-term health condition to live full, active and independent lives. This benefit is not means tested therefore a person’s income or savings are not taken into account.
PIP introduces a new assessment process and considers the impact that a condition has on a person’s everyday life rather than the condition itself. The assessment has two components – a daily living component and a mobility component. Each component is given a numerical score and a person must score at least eight points.
A supplementary payment for one year is provided to someone who qualifies for PIP but at a reduced rate. If your weekly loss is more than £10 then a supplementary payment equal to 75% of the difference will be paid. Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Premium will no longer be available if the person they care for doesn’t qualify for PIP. However, in these circumstances a supplementary payment for one year will be available.

Universal Credit
This will be introduced for new working age claimants aged between 18 and 64 years old in 2017. It is intended to make it easier to take a job or to increase the number of hours worked by allowing people to earn money before their benefit payment starts to reduce. Universal Credit will include support for the cost of housing, children and childcare, as well as financial support for disabled people, carers and people who are too ill to work.
Universal Credit will replace six current benefits and credits and will be claimed online. It will be paid twice a month to a household.
There are a few other changes coming into effect in relation to other benefits. If you think these will affect you, it would be recommended to gain further information as this was just a short summary.

Emer McAleer