When does my illness benefit entitlement end?

jj880 · 04-11-2019 1:54pm #1

Hi,

I made a claim for illness benefit in June 2018.

It took 9 months to get my claim application finalized and approved and I started to receive illness benefit in March 2019. During those 9 months I received Supplementary Welfare Allowance.

My question is when does my 2 years entitlement to illness benefit run out?

June 2020 or March 2021?

I'm reading some nightmare stories on here about how long it takes to get a claim finalized for Invalidity Pension so want to be sure about my finish date for illness benefit.

Thanks.

wifey28 · 04-11-2019 1:56pm

it should finish 2 yearsfrom the date you applied as generally these things are back dated to that date

jj880 · 04-11-2019 2:52pm

wifey28 wrote: »

it should finish 2 years from the date you applied as generally these things are back dated to that date

Thank you - I was worried as I have not been called for the assessment for invalidity pension after 468 days as stated here:

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/disability_and_illness/invalidity_pension.html

but I have figured out this should actually happen after 18 months since they count this total up in 6 day pay periods per week (468 / 6 = 78 weeks). This means I should get called for the assessment next month.

So if I dont get called for assessment next month I will contact welfare.

hawthorne · 04-11-2019 3:04pm

To be called for an assessment for Invalidity Pension you have to apply first for that pension.
You will not be called for an IP assessment just for being a certain time on IB.

jj880 · 04-11-2019 3:09pm

hawthorne wrote: »

To be called for an assessment for Invalidity Pension you have to apply first for that pension.
You will not be called for an IP assessment just for being a certain time on IB.

Taken from the link I posted above on citizensinformation.ie:

"
If you have been getting Illness Benefit for a period of 468 days, you will be medically assessed for continued entitlement to Illness Benefit and possible entitlement to Invalidity Pension. If, as a result of this assessment, it is considered that you may be entitled to Invalidity Pension, an application form (INV2) will be sent to you. When they get the completed form a Deciding Officer will examine the claim and determine eligibility for Invalidity Pension.
"

So is this out of date?

hawthorne · 04-11-2019 3:23pm

jj880 wrote: »

Taken from the link I posted above on citizensinformation.ie:
"
If you have been getting Illness Benefit for a period of 468 days, you will be medically assessed for continued entitlement to Illness Benefit and possible entitlement to Invalidity Pension. If, as a result of this assessment, it is considered that you may be entitled to Invalidity Pension, an application form (INV2) will be sent to you. When they get the completed form a Deciding Officer will examine the claim and determine eligibility for Invalidity Pension.
"

So is this out of date?

Not really.
They may might call you for an assessment- and they might not. There are not enough doctors doing those assessments for the DoSP.
What usually happens is that you will get a warning that your IB is running out on such and such date some weeks before it is supposed to end.
They will give you a list of all possible options for you- DA or IP.
You get IB for more than 468 days:

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/disability_and_illness/disability_benefit.html

What you can do is applying for an IP already now. That way you get the ball rolling yourself much earlier and you can cut down on waiting time.

jj880 · 04-11-2019 4:26pm

hawthorne wrote: »

Not really.
They may might call you for an assessment- and they might not. There are not enough doctors doing those assessments for the DoSP.
What usually happens is that you will get a warning that your IB is running out on such and such date some weeks before it is supposed to end.
They will give you a list of all possible options for you- DA or IP.
You get IB for more than 468 days:

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/disability_and_illness/disability_benefit.html

What you can do is applying for an IP already now. That way you get the ball rolling yourself much earlier and you can cut down on waiting time.

some interesting numbers here:

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2019-07-23/2671/

so looking at these numbers at the moment they are assessing around 2000 people per year and as you say it is open for anyone on illness benefit to apply for invalidity pension at any time before illness benefit runs out.

So i will give it until the end of this month as that is when I should be called for assessment (or not called). If at that point i have heard nothing I will apply myself with an INV1 form as I will still have 6 months of illness benefit payment remaining.

biddy21 · 04-11-2019 4:36pm

What is the benefit of Invalidity pension over Illness Benefit. My other half has been on Illness Benefit for about 7 years...Does anyone know?

splinter65 · 04-11-2019 4:44pm

Just want to concur that I wouldn’t wait to get called for an IP assessment. You need to apply for IP after 18 months of IB if you don’t think you will be fit to go back to work.
IP is quite difficult to get. You will need a lot of supporting medical evidence showing that you will not be fit for any kind of work, and a diary style letter from yourself describing how your illness/disability/injury prevents you from going to work.
At pain of repeating myself, a diagnosis is sufficient for IB but not for IP.

splinter65 · 04-11-2019 4:46pm

biddy21 wrote: »

What is the benefit of Invalidity pension over Illness Benefit. My other half has been on Illness Benefit for about 7 years...Does anyone know?

Your OH has slipped through the cracks and should have been taken off IB 5 years ago. Is he sending in certs every month or week?

jj880 · 04-11-2019 4:49pm

biddy21 wrote: »

What is the benefit of Invalidity pension over Illness Benefit. My other half has been on Illness Benefit for about 7 years...Does anyone know?

I thought the maximum period you could get Illness Benefit is 2 years unless you applied for it before 2009.

So I guess the main advantage is you can claim it for longer than 2 years. Plus I think you can get some extra things like fuel allowance, free tv license, travel pass and a contribution towards your electricity bill.

biddy21 · 04-11-2019 5:10pm

Maybe it was 2009 he went on it, he sends in a cert every 6 months

jj880 · 04-11-2019 6:00pm

splinter65 wrote: »

Just want to concur that I wouldn’t wait to get called for an IP assessment. You need to apply for IP after 18 months of IB if you don’t think you will be fit to go back to work.
IP is quite difficult to get. You will need a lot of supporting medical evidence showing that you will not be fit for any kind of work, and a diary style letter from yourself describing how your illness/disability/injury prevents you from going to work.
At pain of repeating myself, a diagnosis is sufficient for IB but not for IP.

Would I be better applying for Disability Allowance? The rules for it look a bit less strict.

I have a severe allergy to house dust mite. This might not sound serious to most people but it destroys my sleep every night which causes a lot of problems for me. Consultants are trying to get me a 3 year course of daily immune system suppression treatment but its not available in Ireland yet. Other EU countries have it so they are hopeful it wont be long before I can get it. They say it should cure me 100% as there is similar treatment for outdoor allergies.

wifey28 · 04-11-2019 6:59pm

Most people dont get called for IP review on illness ben, most jsut get a letterabout 3 months before the benifit is due to end telling them that its about to end and that they can apply for invalidity or disability. They dont send you these forms either, your expected to print them on your own and fill them out and decide which one suits youbetter

wifey28 · 04-11-2019 7:01pm

jj880 wrote: »

Would I be better applying for Disability Allowance? The rules for it look a bit less strict.

I have a severe allergy to house dust mite. This might not sound serious to most people but it destroys my sleep every night which causes a lot of problems for me. Consultants are trying to get me a 3 year course of daily immune system suppression treatment but its not available in Ireland yet. Other EU countries have it so they are hopeful it wont be long before I can get it. They say it should cure me 100% as there is similar treatment for outdoor allergies.

Both are quite hard to get, and you will need to prove that you are not capable of doing any work to get either, Disability is means tested so if you have a partner with a good income youll prob get nothing, IP is based off prsi paid to qualify , isnt means tested, but is a taxable source of income, so if you have a partner that has your tax credits they will lose approx 880euro of them per year to coveryour IP

splinter65 · 04-11-2019 7:17pm

jj880 wrote: »

Would I be better applying for Disability Allowance? The rules for it look a bit less strict.

I have a severe allergy to house dust mite. This might not sound serious to most people but it destroys my sleep every night which causes a lot of problems for me. Consultants are trying to get me a 3 year course of daily immune system suppression treatment but its not available in Ireland yet. Other EU countries have it so they are hopeful it wont be long before I can get it. They say it should cure me 100% as there is similar treatment for outdoor allergies.

DA is means tested against your partners income and your savings etc and any change in your financial circumstances or that of your partner going forward has to be reported and may result in you losing your benefit.

Whiplashy · 11-11-2019 12:07am

Just jumping in to advise you apply for invalidity, disability or both straight away. (You can have an application for both in at the same time but obviously you can only actually receive one) My illness benefit ran out in May this year. I though I applied for invalidity in plenty of time by applying last November. I only got it granted in September this year. Don’t be waiting for them to contact you.

jj880 · 11-11-2019 10:58am

Whiplashy wrote: »

Just jumping in to advise you apply for invalidity, disability or both straight away. (You can have an application for both in at the same time but obviously you can only actually receive one) My illness benefit ran out in May this year. I though I applied for invalidity in plenty of time by applying last November. I only got it granted in September this year. Don’t be waiting for them to contact you.

Thanks for that.

Did you get Supp Welfare Allowance between May and September?

If so were you able to claim the back pay for the difference between the SWA payment and Invalidity Pension payment?

Whiplashy · 11-11-2019 2:32pm

jj880 wrote: »

Thanks for that.

Did you get Supp Welfare Allowance between May and September?

If so were you able to claim the back pay for the difference between the SWA payment and Invalidity Pension payment?

Yes I got supplementary welfare. It is means tested so if you have a partner who is working there income is taken into account.

I didn’t have to claim back the arrears. When my award letter came it stated they would be paid in due course. I’m due the difference between IB and IP from last November to May and the difference between SWA and IP from then until my first payment. It hasn’t come through yet though.

jj880 · 11-11-2019 2:51pm

Whiplashy wrote: »

Yes I got supplementary welfare. It is means tested so if you have a partner who is working there income is taken into account.

I didn’t have to claim back the arrears. When my award letter came it stated they would be paid in due course. I’m due the difference between IB and IP from last November to May and the difference between SWA and IP from then until my first payment. It hasn’t come through yet though.

Sorry to pester you but I have 1 more query. When you applied for illness benefit did you claim SWA while you waited for your IB claim to be processed? And the arrears of the difference between those payments then also?

Whiplashy · 11-11-2019 5:35pm

jj880 wrote: »

Sorry to pester you but I have 1 more query. When you applied for illness benefit did you claim SWA while you waited for your IB claim to be processed? And the arrears of the difference between those payments then also?

I didn’t but you definitely could. They’d automatically sort out the arrears too in that situation.

When does my illness benefit entitlement end?

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