Incapacity Benefit

What is it?

Can I get it?

Have you:

• Paid NI contributions?
• Been incapable of work because of sickness or disability for at least 4 days in a row including weekends and public holidays?

If YES to both, claim Incapacity Benefit.

Or are you:

• Incapable of work and have been for at least 28 weeks without a break?
• Aged 16 or over but under 20 (25 if you have been in education or training at least 3 months immediately before age 20)?

And did:

The period for which you were incapable of work begin before age 20 (25 if you were in education or training at least 3 months immediately before age 20)?

If YES to all, claim Incapacity Benefit.

You may be able to get Incapacity Benefit even if you have not paid enough National Insurance contributions.

Incapacity Benefit can be paid at three different rates.

Short-term Incapacity Benefit at the lower rate
Paid if you do not get SSP and have been sick for at least four days in a row including weekends and public holidays, or if you qualify under the special rules for young people.

You will only get Incapacity Benefit under the rules for young people if you have been incapable of work for 28 weeks without a break.

Short-term Incapacity Benefit at the higher rate
Paid if you have been sick for more than 28 weeks and less than 52 weeks. If you qualify under the rules for young people, you must have been getting Incapacity Benefit for 28 weeks.

Long-term Incapacity Benefit
Paid if you have been sick for over 52 weeks. If you qualify under the special rules for young people, you must have been getting Incapacity Benefit for 52 weeks.

What else should I know?

Special circumstances

If you became sick before reaching state pension age, you may be able to get Incapacity Benefit after state pension age. It can be paid at the Retirement Pension rate for up to one year of sickness.

How much will I get?

Only use the amounts shown as a guide. The rules for benefits mean that your individual circumstances may affect the amount you can get. This means you will not always be able to work out exactly how much you will get by using these amounts.

Weekly amounts:

How do I claim?

Claim straight away. If you delay you may lose benefit.

Contact your Jobcentre Plus office or social security office for a claim form. Find your local office on this site or look for Jobcentre Plus or social security in the business numbers section of the phone book.

Or you can ring the Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) on: 0800 88 22 00. The BEL is a confidential telephone service available for people with disabilities, their representatives and their carers. People with speech or hearing problems using a textphone can dial: 0800 24 33 55.

The person taking your call will not have your personal papers but will be able to give you general advice. This advice must not be taken as a decision on any matter about which you are making an enquiry You can also get leaflets and claim forms from BEL.

It is important that we can be sure of your identity when you make a claim. We may need to ask you about your background and look at any official documents you have to support the information you give.

You can download Incapacity Benefit forms

Pension Income

If you make a new non-linking claim to IB for a date on or after 6 April 2001, you will have any gross Pension Income taken into account when the payable rate of benefit is being calculated.

You can contact your social security office if you want more information about how these changes could affect you.

Working while claiming benefit

You cannot usually work while you are getting Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, National Insurance Credits or Income Support because of illness or disability. You may be able to do the following types of work but you should check with your local Jobcentre, Jobcentre Plus or Social Security office before you start.

New Permitted Work Rules From 10th April 2006

You can:

• work for earnings of up to and including £20.00 a week for an unlimited period. This is called Permitted Work Lower Limit (PWLL).
  
  or
  
  
• work for less than 16 hours a week, on average, with earnings up to and including £81.00 a week (from 1 October 2005) for a 52 week period. This is called Permitted Work Higher Limit(PWHL).
  
  do 
         
  further periods of PWHL, for 52 weeks, once a 52-week gap period has been served. This is called Permitted Work Higher Limit Subsequent (PWHLS).  There is no limit to the number of times you can do permitted work in this category while you are getting an incapacity benefit; but there must be a gap of at least 52 weeks between periods.
  
  or
  
  
• supported permitted work for earnings of up to and including £81.00 (from 1 October 2005) a week for an unlimited period. Supported permitted work is work done with the ongoing support of a body or voluntary organisation whose job it is to find work for people with disabilities. This could be work done in the community or in a sheltered workshop. It also includes work done under medical supervision as part of a hospital treatment programme.
  
  or
  
  
• work for less than 16 hours a week on average and earn up to £81.00 a week for as long as your illness or disability is considered sufficiently severe that you are treated as meeting the threshold of incapacity without undergoing a medical assessment. 
  
  

You do not have to undergo a medical test just because you are doing permitted work. However, if a medical test is due it will go ahead as planned.

Special rules if you are discharged from the Armed Forces

Certain individuals who are discharged from the Armed Forces may claim Incapacity Benefit once they have left the Forces. As the rate of Incapacity Benefit paid is dependant on the duration of the incapacity, these individuals may need to declare periods of absence from duty because of sickness or disability to the DWP if the periods of absence occurred in the 8 weeks prior to discharge.

For claims made for periods commencing on or after 5 May 2003 the DWP will count periods for which ex service personnel were deemed unfit for duty whilst in the Armed Forces towards the higher rates of Incapacity Benefit. HM Forces will complete and give Servicemen and women form FMed1017 to show all periods of absence from duty prior to discharge.

The DWP will count up to a maximum of 28 weeks of absence from duty because of sickness or disability. These periods need not be continuous but must be separated by periods back on duty lasting no longer than 8 weeks.

You can download documents marked with a using Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free of charge.

I am already getting it. What happens if:

I go into hospital?
You must tell your Jobcentre Plus office or social security office as soon as you go into or come out of hospital.

I go to live abroad or visit?
Let us know as soon as you can that you are going abroad. You can usually do this by contacting your Jobcentre Plus office or social security office.

If you are going abroad permanently, you may be able to get a benefit for incapacity if you are going to a country within the EEA or one that has a social security agreement with the UK covering incapacity for work.

If your stay abroad is temporary, you can get Incapacity Benefit paid abroad for the first 26 weeks if:

• you have gone abroad only for treatment of an illness or disability which began before you went abroad (pregnancy itself is not counted as an illness), or
• you were incapable of work for at least 6 months before you left the United Kingdom (UK) and have been continuously incapable of work since then.