should i stop my esa and claim tax credits ?

[welshlady 38]

hello all,
im new to this so i will do my best to explain.
im 38 and have been on incapacity benefit for 15 years due to a major back injury,i recently had a medical and have been told that as from the 12 of july 2012 i will be changing over to esa cont/based.i also have dla high rate mobility and low rate care.
my husband works 38 hours a week and recieves minimum wage for his work,we have a mortgage on our house .
we have 3 children age 15, 13 and 10 ,the two youngest have global delay and need a lot of caring for and i receive dla at low rate mobility and middle rate care for the both of them,
i also have child benefit for the 3 of them,and tax credits
my question is that the esa will only last for 365 days and then it will end so will i be better of stopping the esa and would i be able to claim the tax credits instead?
thanks for any advice.

[davewhit]

hello all,
im new to this so i will do my best to explain.
im 38 and have been on incapacity benefit for 15 years due to a major back injury,i recently had a medical and have been told that as from the 12 of july 2012 i will be changing over to esa cont/based.i also have dla high rate mobility and low rate care.
my husband works 38 hours a week and recieves minimum wage for his work,we have a mortgage on our house .
we have 3 children age 15, 13 and 10 ,the two youngest have global delay and need a lot of caring for and i receive dla at low rate mobility and middle rate care for the both of them,
i also have child benefit for the 3 of them,and tax credits
my question is that the esa will only last for 365 days and then it will end so will i be better of stopping the esa and would i be able to claim the tax credits instead?
thanks for any advice.

you need expert advice but I think I see where you are coming from with the disabled premiums that you can get for children disabled with CTC by stopping getting ESA the amount of ctc would shoot up.

without expert advice there is only ONE web site that can answer your question and be spot on but it costs to join its called Quick cal

http://www.quickcalc.co.uk/index.htm but its £32 a year

you might get a free basic version here

http://www.quickcalc.co.uk/cheshireeast/

IMO based on what you have posted you could be better off not taking esa and getting higher tax credits but you need advice quick cal means you can sit there putting all sort of sums into the computer

one last question are you not getting some CTC now ?

[welshlady 38]

yes we are getting the child tax credits now,im just affraid that we wont manage if the esa stops and we cant pay the bills.
thanks for any advice

[wobble1]

I'm not so clear. Firstly, which group have you been put in? Are you saying stopping ESA after the 365 days or stopping now?
Also if your partner is earning, shouldn't you be on WTC not CTC. Sorry I'm asking questions rather than answering.

[davewhit]

I'm not so clear. Firstly, which group have you been put in? Are you saying stopping ESA after the 365 days or stopping now?
Also if your partner is earning, shouldn't you be on WTC not CTC. Sorry I'm asking questions rather than answering.

you can get both WTC & CTC at the same time

[wobble1]

you can get both WTC & CTC at the same time

Well I didn't know that.

[davewhit]

Well I didn't know that.

oh yes some people do get one or the other but many get both a couple with one person working on minimum wage and a child on higher rate DLA could get thousands

[welshlady 38]

im about to start esa w r a g from tomorrow,that runs for 365 days and i will have to go on work relaited meetings that im not really well enough to do.my husband earns £12,004 a year before tax etc.at the moment we only have child tax credits and no working tax credits.

[davewhit]

im about to start esa w r a g from tomorrow,that runs for 365 days and i will have to go on work relaited meetings that im not really well enough to do.my husband earns £12,004 a year before tax etc.at the moment we only have child tax credits and no working tax credits.

call tax credits or use on line calculator to see what tax credits would be if you did not get ESA

[welshlady 38]

i did phone them today but i was told that they couldnt tell me staight away,they only enter the info and i would have to put in a new claim,