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Incapacity Benefit
Incapacity Benefit is a weekly payment, which is made to those people who are incapable of working due to ill health.
In order to qualify for Incapacity Benefit you must be incapable of work or treated as incapable of work. This can be determined by the own occupation test for the first 28 weeks of your incapacity.
The own occupation test is a test of whether you are incapable by reason of some specific disease, or bodily or mental disablement, of doing work which you could reasonably be expected to do so in the course of the occupation in which you were engaged. The own occupation test applies to you if you had a regular occupation when you became incapable of work.
After the first 26 weeks when the own occupation test applied (or from the start of your claim if the own occupation test does not apply to you), your incapacity for work is determined by the personal capability assessment.
The personal capability assessment is an assessment of the extent to which a person is capable of performing prescribed activities, or is incapable of performing such activities due to some specific disease, or bodily or mental disablement.
There are three different rates of Incapacity Benefit: the short-term lower rate, the short-term higher rate and the long-term rate, and each one will be paid depending on the length of time that you have been claiming Incapacity Benefit.
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Do I qualify?
You will qualify for Incapacity Benefit if:
- You are not entitled to Statutory Sick Pay, and;
- You have paid, or been credited with, sufficient National Insurance Contributions, and;
- You are incapable of work (e.g. you satisfy the own occupation test or the personal capability test), and;
- You are under pension age (e.g. 60 if you are a woman, 65 if you are a man) when the period of incapacity for work begins. However, you may still qualify for short-term Incapacity Benefit if you are no more than 5 years over pensions age so seek advice.
Young People may not have had a chance to build up a sufficient National Insurance Contribution record, and may not be able to qualify for Incapacity Benefit. However, you may still qualify if you were aged between 16 and 20 when you first became incapable of work, and you have remained incapable of work for at least 196 consecutive days so seek advice.
How much will I receive?
The amount of Incapacity Benefit that you are likely to receive will depend on the length of time that you have been receiving Incapacity Benefit, and whether or not you are aged under or over pension age (e.g. 60 if you are a woman, 65 if you are a man).
Under pension age:
The short-term lower rate is paid for the first 28 weeks of claiming Incapacity Benefit (provided that you remain entitled), and you can expect to receive:
£59.20
..as the claimant
£36.60
..for an adult dependant
The short-term higher rate is paid for next 24 weeks of claiming Incapacity Benefit (provided that you remain entitled), and you can expect to receive:
£70.05
..as the claimant
£36.60
..for an adult dependant
The long-term rate is paid after a year of claiming Incapacity Benefit (provided that you remain entitled), and you can expect to receive:
£78.50
..as the claimant
£46.95
..for an adult dependant
If you are entitled to the long-term rate of Incapacity Benefit and you were under the age of 35 on your first day of claiming, then you may receive an Age-related Addition of £16.50 per week.
If you are entitled to the long-term rate of Incapacity Benefit an you were under the age of 45 on your first day of claiming, then you may receive an Age-related Addition of £8.25 per week.
Over pension age:
The short-term lower rate is paid for the first 28 weeks of claiming Incapacity Benefit (provided that you remain entitled), and you can expect to receive:
£73.35
..as the claimant
£43.95
..for an adult dependant
The short-term higher rate is paid for next 24 weeks of claiming Incapacity Benefit (provided that you remain entitled), and you can expect to receive:
£76.45
..as the claimant
£43.95
..for an adult dependant
The long-term rate of Incapacity Benefit is no longer payable after you reach pension age.
How do I claim?
There are different procedures for claiming Incapacity Benefit, depending on whether or not you are employed.
If you are employed, you should normally be paid Statutory Sick Pay for the first 28 weeks of your incapacity for work. However, if your employer thinks that you are not entitled to Statutory Sick Pay, they should provide you with an SSP1 form, which will include a claim form for Incapacity Benefit.
You should complete this form and return it to your nearest Jobcentre plus Office. If your doctor has provided you with a medical certificate, you should include this with your claim form.
If you are not employed, then you will need to complete the Incapacity Benefit claim form (SC1) in order to make your claim.
You can obtain the Incapacity Benefit claim form (SC1) by contacting your nearest Jobcentre Plus Office, doctors surgery or hospital.
Alternatively, you can download the claim form from the Department for Work and Pensions website by logging on to www.dwp.gov.uk, or by clicking your mouse on the following link:
Please click here to download the Incapacity Benefit claim form (SC1).
Is there anything else I should know?
A claim for Incapacity Benefit can be backdated for a period of up to 3 months from the date you make your claim, so make sure you claim as soon as possible, or you could lose out on benefit.
Incapacity benefit is a daily benefit, so you can still claim for periods of Incapacity of less than a week. The daily amount of benefit is one-seventh of the weekly amount.
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