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Tuesday, 3 April 2018

Benefits affected by hospital admission

Benefits affected by hospital admission

Going into hospital, a hospice or a similar institution may affect some of the benefits you receive, including Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Jobseekers Allowance. If someone receives Carer's Allowance because they are caring for you, this may also be affected.
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Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance and Disability Living Allowance

If you get Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance or Carer’s Allowance, your benefit may be affected if you are admitted to hospital, a hospice or a similar institution. 

Adult getting Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance

After four weeks

Attendance Allowance is not payable from the payday following your 28th day in a hospital, hospice or a similar institution. .
If you're over 16 and getting Disability Living Allowance, payments are suspended from the payday following your 28th day in a hospital, hospice or a similar institution.

Your partner is admitted to hospital

If you are getting Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance, these are not affected if your partner is admitted to hospital.

Child getting Disability Living Allowance

If the patient is under 16 and getting Disability Living Allowance, payments will not be affected by going into hospital.
If the child has gone into hospital before their 16th birthday, they cannot claim Personal Independence Payment until they are discharged. Their Disability Living Allowance will be paid until they are discharged. 

Other Information

If someone is receiving Carer's Allowance because they are caring for you, they must also tell the Disability and Carers Service that you have gone into hospital.

Carer’s Allowance

Payment of Carer's Allowance can continue for a period of up to 12 weeks if the Carer's Allowance customer or the person being looked after is admitted to hospital. 
If the person being looked after is admitted to hospital for a short period, Carer's Allowance will be paid for the same period that Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance care component is paid, as long as hospitalisation of either the carer or the person being looked after has not exceeded 12 weeks in the last 26 weeks. Holidays or respite care of up to four weeks will affect the 12 week rule.
If the person being looked after is a child under 18 and admitted to hospital, Carer's Allowance will continue to be paid as Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance will be paid throughout the child's stay in hospital. 
If the admission to hospital is permanent at the outset, payment of Carer's Allowance will be suspended from the next payday.
If either the Carer's Allowance customer or the person being looked after are admitted to hospital, you must contact Disability and Carer's Serviceimmediately.
An increase for an adult dependent or child dependant(s) may be affected by a hospital admission. The carer should tell Disability and Carers Service of the change.
Carer's Allowance can only be paid when caring for someone who continues to receive Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance or Constant Attendance Allowance.

Personal Independence Payment

If you're aged under 18

If you're under 18 years old you can be paid from the date of the claim if you are not entitled to Disability Living Allowance, make a claim for Personal Independence Payment and are awarded Personal Independence Payment whilst in hospital or a similar institution.
If you are getting Personal Independence Payment and are admitted to hospital or a similar institution before your 18th birthday, you will continue to be paid Personal Independence Payment while you are in hospital, regardless of your age.
You must still contact the PIP Enquiry Line to report hospital admission dates and discharge dates.

If you're aged 18 or over

If you're in hospital or a similar institution at the date of entitlement (having been admitted before that date), Personal Independence Payment is not payable until the date of discharge.
If your first day in hospital or a similar institution is the date of entitlement, you will receive Personal Independence Payment for the first 28 days.
If you are getting Personal Independence Payment and then admitted to hospital, Personal Independence Payment is not payable after 28 days in hospital or a similar institution.
You must contact the PIP Enquiry Line if you go into hospital or a similar institution.

Constant Attendance Allowance

If you're getting Constant Attendance Allowance, your benefit may be affected if you are admitted to hospital.  

After four weeks

Constant Attendance Allowance is not normally payable from the payday following the 28th day you are in hospital.
If you are a War Pensioner the decision whether Constant Attendance Allowance should continue after four weeks rests with the Veterans Agency.
If you qualify for Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance as well as Constant Attendance Allowance, the weekly rate of Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance is not affected by a period of hospital in-patient treatment.
You should always tell the Industrial Injuries Branch or the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency if your circumstances change. For example, if:

Other Information

If another person is receiving Carer's Allowance because they are caring for the person with disabilities they must also tell Disability and Carer's Service that the person with disabilities has gone into hospital because payment of Carer's Allowance will also be affected.
If the person with disabilities is admitted to hospital for a short period, Carer's Allowance will stay in payment for the same period that Constant Attendance Allowance is in payment.
Payment of Carer's Allowance is suspended from and including the first pay day following admission to hospital of the person with disabilities if the admission is permanent at the outset.

Your partner is admitted to hospital

Constant Attendance Allowance is not affected by your partner's admission to hospital.

Housing Benefit - rent

How hospital admission affects you or your family.

Customer

Single

After 52 weeks

Housing Benefit ceases after 52 weeks or earlier if it becomes known that the customer will not be returning home, or his absence will be considerably more than 52 weeks.

Partnered

After 52 weeks

(or earlier if it is clear that the customer is not going to return home, or is going to be absent for considerably more than 52 weeks) Housing Benefit will stop and the partner has to make a separate claim.

Other Information:

If both the customer and partner are in hospital Housing Benefit will stop when the second person has been in hospital for 52 weeks.
If there are dependent children in the house, the person looking after them may be able to claim Housing Benefit and in the same way if there is a non-dependant remaining in the house, this person may be able to claim Housing Benefit. Customer should contact the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in such circumstances.

Lone Parent

After 52 weeks

(or earlier if it is clear that the customer is not going to return home, or is going to be absent for considerably more than 52 weeks)
Housing Benefit would normally stop but if there are dependent children in the house, the person looking after them may be able to claim Housing Benefit and in the same way if there is a non-dependent remaining in the house this person may be able to claim Housing Benefit. Customers should contact the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in such circumstances.

Partner

After 52 weeks

(or earlier if it is clear that the customer is not going to return home, or is going to be absent for considerably more than 52 weeks)
The partner is excluded from the assessment.
If both the customer and partner have been in hospital for over 52 weeks Housing Benefit would normally stop but if there are dependent children in the house, the person looking after them may be able to claim Housing Benefit and in the same way if there is a non-dependent remaining in the house this person may be able to claim Housing Benefit. Customers should contact the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in such circumstances.

Dependent Child

After 52 weeks


(or earlier if it is clear that the child is not going to return home, or is going to be absent for considerably more than 52 weeks)
The child is excluded from the Housing Benefit assessment.

Housing Benefit - rates

How hospital admission affects you or your family if you are claiming Housing Benefit or Rates rebate.

Customers and their families

Customers can, in certain circumstances, get Housing Benefit while temporarily absent from their home because of a stay in hospital, or because they are receiving medically approved (in writing, by a GP, nurse or similar) care.
Housing Benefit may continue for a period of up to 52 weeks as long as the claimant intends to return to their normal home within 52 weeks.
There are additional conditions:

Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance (Income based), Employment and Support Allowance

How hospital admission affects you or your family.

Jobseeker's Allowance (Income based)


Single

Immediately:
As the customer is sick and is not available for work they cannot claim Jobseeker's Allowance and need to claim Employment and Support Allowance.
This will not apply if the customer is able to take advantage of the terms which apply to short periods of sickness whilst on Jobseeker's Allowance.
A person may continue to receive Jobseeker's Allowance for two periods of sickness of not more than two weeks long in a jobseeking period, or in a 12 month period where the jobseeking period exceeds 12 months.  As well as this, claimants can also have one extended period of sickness of up to 13 weeks.
In these cases payment could continue for not more than two weeks or 13 weeks whilst the customer is in hospital.

After four weeks

Severe Disability Premium is withdrawn as there is no longer any title to Attendance Allowance / Disability Living Allowance care component.

52 weeks

Entitlement to other premiums ceases.

Partnered

After four weeks if:
your partner receives Disability Living Allowance/Attendance Allowance
you receive Carer’s Allowance for caring for your partner
After 52 weeks in all other cases.

Lone Parent

Immediately:
As the customer is sick and is not available for work they cannot claim Jobseeker's Allowance and need to claim Employment and Support Allowance.

After 52 weeks

Benefits for dependent children and the Family Premium may continue for as long as the patient is treated as a lone parent. Housing costs are met if the dependent children still live at home.

Income Support

Single customer/lone parent

After 4 weeks Severe Disability Premium is withdrawn as there is no longer any entitlement to Attendance Allowance / Disability Living Allowance care component.
After 52 weeks housing costs and other premiums are withdrawn

Couples

After four week Severe Disability Premium is withdrawn as there is no longer any entitlement to Attendance Allowance / Disability Living Allowance care component.
After 52 weeks the absence may be considered as permanent and you may no longer be treated as members of the same household.

Employment and Support Allowance

After four weeks Severe Disability Premium is withdrawn, or reduced.
After 52 weeks premiums and the work-related or support components are withdrawn.
If a member of a couple has been in hospital for 52 weeks and the hospitalisation is deemed permanent the customer and partner must claim separately as they are no longer treated as members of the same household. The member of the couple in hospital is awarded the full personal allowance rate.
If the hospitalisation is deemed temporary the couple's benefit remains in payment at the full rate.

Jobseeker's Allowance (contribution based)

How hospital admission affects you when you are claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (Contribution based).

Customer

Jobseeker's Allowance (Contribution based) will normally stop immediately the customer is admitted into hospital as they can no longer be considered as available for and actively seeking work. The customer should claim Employment and Support Allowance.
This will not apply if the customer is able to take advantage of the rules which apply to short periods of sickness whilst on Jobseeker's Allowance.
A person may continue to receive Jobseeker's Allowance for two periods of sickness of not more than two weeks long in a jobseeking period, or in a 12 month period where the jobseeking period exceeds 12 months. As well as this, claimants can also have one extended period of sickness of up to 13 weeks.
In these cases payment could continue for not more than two weeks or 13 weeks whilst the customer is in hospital.

War Pension

How hospital admission affects you or your family if you are receiving War Pension.

Customer

Immediately:
Because of the many discretionary areas within the War Pension Scheme, each case is treated on its individual merits.

Contact:

The War Pensions Agency should be notified immediately, when a customer is admitted to hospital.
War Pensions Agency
Norcross
Blackpool
FY5 3WP

Partner

Immediately:
Because of the many discretionary areas within the War Pension Scheme, each case is treated on its individual merits.
The customer should contact the War Pensions Agency immediately, if their partner is admitted to hospital.
War Pensions Agency
Norcross
Blackpool
FY5 3WP

Dependent Child

Immediately:
Because of the many discretionary areas within the War Pension Scheme, each case is treated on its individual merits.

Contact:

The customer should contact the War Pensions Agency immediately, if a dependent child is admitted to hospital.
War Pensions Agency
Norcross
Blackpool
FY5 3WP

Pension Credit

How hospital admission affects you when you are claiming Pension Credit.

Customer

After four weeks:

Extra Amount for Severely Disabled is withdrawn as there is no longer any entitlement to Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance care component.

Couple claims

After 52 weeks the absence may be considered as permanent and you may no longer be treated as members of the same household.

Customer getting Carer’s Allowance

Payment of Carer's Allowance can continue for a period of up to 12 weeks if the Carer's Allowance customer or the person being looked after is admitted to hospital.
Eight weeks after entitlement to Carer's Allowance ends Guarantee Credit is recalculated to remove the extra amount for carers being paid in respect of the inpatient.

State Pension

State Pension is not affected by being in hospital, even if you stay in hospital for longer than 52 weeks.

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