Extended Payments
Starting work is an exciting opportunity for
anyone, but when you have rent or council tax to pay, it can also
be a worry about how to manage the bills until your first pay
day.
If you were receiving Income Support, Job
Seekers Allowance, IIncapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement
Allowance before you started work, you may be entitled to up to
four weeks Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit at the same rate
you were receiving before. This is known as an Extended
Payment.
I’m starting work after being in receipt of Income
Based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA(IB)) or Income Support (IS), can I
get an Extended Payment?
There are special rules governing who is entitled to an Extended
Payment, however, if you or your partner fulfil all the following
criteria, you may be entitled to the payment.
If
- You or your partner have started work, or
- increased your hours of work to at least 16 hours per week (24
hours in the case of your partner), or
- increased your earnings sufficiently to take you off
IS or JSA(IB);
and
- For at least 26 weeks immediately before the date your
entitlement to IS or
JSA(IB) ended, you
were continuously registering as available and actively seeking
work,
- or registering as available, actively seeking work and getting
JSA(IB) because of
low earnings,
- or you were you were receiving IS or JSA(IB) as a lone
parent, or a carer, or on a Government Training course.
(Periods of time where you were entitled to
Contribution based Jobseeker’s Allowance will count towards the 26
weeks, however, you must be in receipt of either Income Support or
Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based) at the point you or your
partner start work or increase your hours/earnings.)
and
- Your new job or increase in hours/earnings
must be expected to last for at least five weeks.
and
- You must be liable for rent and/or Council Tax, immediately
before IS or
JSA(IB) ended, and
for the whole of the Extended Payment period (even if you move home
during the EP
period).
I’m starting work after being in receipt of Incapacity
Benefit (IB) or Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA), can I get
an Extended Payment?
The rules are broadly the same as outlined
above; that is:
If
- You or your partner are receiving IB or SDA which
ceases due to
- you starting work as an employed or self employed earner,
or
- increasing your hours of work, or
- increasing your earnings from your current employment;
and
- You have been continuously in receipt of IB or SDA for at least 26 weeks
immediately before
IB
or
SDA ceases
(note:
IS
must not have
been in payment during this period);
and
- Your new employment, or increase in hours or earnings is
expected to last for at least 5 weeks;
and
- You must be liable for rent and/or Council Tax immediately
before your claim for IB or SDA ceases.
How do I claim an Extended Payment?
You must inform the council within four weeks
of you or your partner starting work, increasing the hours that you
work, or getting a higher rate of pay. We will then check to
make sure that you meet the qualifying conditions.
We will amend your benefit claim to continue
to pay for up to 4 weeks from the Monday your JSA, IS, IB or SDA stopped. You
will be paid at the same rate you already receive. We will
write to you confirming this.
Your housing and/or council tax benefit claim
will be cancelled after the Extended Payment period. If you
want to claim further help with your rent and/or council tax, based
on your new circumstances, then you will need to fill in a new
benefit claim form when you start work; if you don’t do this
straight away, then you may lose benefit.
You must also remember to tell the Department
of Work and Pensions or Job Centre Plus that you have started
work.
This webpage was updated on
1/28/2008