Taking yourself off incapacity benefit

[Chacha]

Hi there I hope someone can help. My partner has been on long term incapacity benefit for several years. We ha a baby this yer and I am currently on mat leave. He really wants to come off incapacity as he believes it makes him more depressed being on it and he wants to do some of the childcare when I go back to work and try to take on some self employed work. I guess I have two questions. Does he have to come off it to mind our child? Is this considered ability to work? Secondly, I don't think he will be able to child mind and work as his back problems are no better and I suspect ( I hope I'm wrong) he will be unable to do it. Will he be able to go back on any benefits should it not work out?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Stepheninleeds]

I am far from an expert on this. I can see he can come off it if he gets medical evidence to back up his fitness, which from what you say is far from certain. Caring for someone is not a barrier to claiming, but it could also depend on the reasons for claiming. If he can get his doctor to give him a fitness to work note then going back on it could be very hard as his situation would not have changed, just the fact he cannot do what he wants to try to do. I think this is complicated & I would advise caution on it, to be on the safe side. If he can look after a child they [Benefits] could decide he is fit to work.

Simple test, let him start now. Try it out. You do nothing, as if you were ar work, see what he can do. If he can do it then it shows he is able to do that & work. If he cannot he may have to accept his limits.

[Duncan]

Hi there I hope someone can help. My partner has been on long term incapacity benefit for several years. We ha a baby this yer and I am currently on mat leave. He really wants to come off incapacity as he believes it makes him more depressed being on it and he wants to do some of the childcare when I go back to work and try to take on some self employed work. I guess I have two questions. Does he have to come off it to mind our child? Is this considered ability to work? Secondly, I don't think he will be able to child mind and work as his back problems are no better and I suspect ( I hope I'm wrong) he will be unable to do it. Will he be able to go back on any benefits should it not work out?
Thanks in advance for any help.

He might want to try Permitted Work. This where he can work part time and earn money ontop of his ICB. This allows him to see if he is ready to get back to work without risking the complete loss of his ICB. Details here;

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTax...ed/DG_10020667

[Chacha]

Thank You both for replying. I agree his desire to come off is risky but I don't think I can persuade him to reconsider. I don't think he is fit to work and worry about his ability to child mind, which I consider a full time job in itself. Would a doctor need to certify him fit to work then?

He did try the permitted work angle which if it worked would be ideal but it doesn't work for someone working in a self employed way. They wanted details of every company he works with and he would be doing really small little jobs for various people. Dwp couldn't help with this as they said it only really worked for people gaining part time employment.

It's so wrong that the fact he is on ib is making him more depressed than not being on it (in his mind).

[Stepheninleeds]

You know him best, use your feminine wiles, lol.

Yes, he would need a fitness to work note after being off for so long & on IB. I think you both need to speak to his GP. Do you have a good GP where you can speak openly & they will listen? There are alternatives to IB.

Try what I said, get it to look after the child on his own, without any help from you at all. This is also risky as if he fails at that he could become more depressed & feel a failure. I suspect this is about him being a man. I could be wrong, but perhaps he feels useless to you & his child. He wants to contribute, take back some of the control he has lost, take back some of the manhood he feels he has lost. If this is the case & he cannot see his limits then I would suggest therapy too. Last thing he needs is to feel less of a man or a provider. It does not matter what you think about his abilities or his reasons for feeling the way he does, if this is how he feels then that is how he feels. That is what needs dealing with. Forget about equality or sexism, reality is reality.

Why is he on IC? If his condition is permanent or limits is abilities, what about claiming Disability Living Allowance & related benefits?