TCM0112160 - Eligibility - childcare element (WTC): Incapacitated partners (Info)

Incapacitated, for the purposes of the other member of the couple, means that

  • Housing Benefit is in payment and the other member of the couple is incapacitated for the purposes of the Housing Benefit childcare rules. Included in the applicable amount is
  • a Disability Premium

or

  • a Higher Pensioner Premium following from a Disability Premium because of the other member’s disability

or

  • because of that other member’s incapacity one of the following is payable (or would be payable if it were not for that person being an in-patient in hospital)
  • Attendance Allowance (AA)
  • Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Armed Forces Independence Payment
  • War Disablement Pension with Constant Attendance Allowance or Mobility Supplement
  • Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit with Constant Attendance Allowance or Mobility Supplement
  • Incapacity Benefit Long Term
  • Incapacity Benefit Short Term (Higher Rate) (IBST HR)
  • Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)
  • National Insurance credits awarded on the grounds of limited capability for work due to exhaustion of 12 months entitlement to contribution-based ESA. This criterion is only applicable from 30 April 2012
  • contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA (C)) for at least 28 weeks
  • Income Support paid on grounds of incapacity for work
  • Statutory Sick Pay
  • Occupational Sick Pay
  • Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
  • get paid Carer’s Allowance

or

  • qualify for Carer’s Allowance but do not actually get any payments as they receive other benefits instead.

Note: The Carer’s Allowance exception only applies from 6 April 2012.

Note: From 08/04/13 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will be introduced as a replacement for DLA for customers of working age (16-64 years of age). PIP will be made of two elements consisting of daily living and mobility and two levels of rates which are standard or enhanced. Customers under 16 and over 65 years old will remain on DLA.

Note: For tax credits purposes, the Highest Rate Care Component of DLA is the same as the Enhanced daily living component of PIP, and will allow the customer to qualify for the Severe Disability element, so long as the other qualifying conditions are met. There is also an Enhanced mobility component of PIP, but this does not allow the customer to qualify for the extra element.

Note: For tax credits purposes, the current low and middle rates of DLA (whether care or mobility) will be either standard daily living or standard mobility component of PIP, and will allow the customer to qualify for the Disability element so long as the other qualifying conditions are met.

Note: From 08/04/13 Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP) will be introduced to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for members and ex-members of HM Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force etc). A customer entitled to AFIP will receive the benefit for life, at the equivalent Enhanced rate of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or higher rate of DLA, and will entitle a tax credit customer to the severe disability element of Working Tax Credit. The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA), a division of the Ministry of Defence, will administer AFIP. The Department for Work and Pensions are responsible for making AFIP payments and maintaining the awards.

or

  • if the customer is in receipt of ESA (C) but for less than 28 weeks, the 28 weeks can be made up by adding together any linking periods where the customer received a combination of the following in the previous 28 weeks
  • Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) (which meets the criteria for contribution-based ESA)
  • Incapacity Benefit at the long term or short term higher rate
  • Severe Disablement Allowance
  • National Insurance credits awarded on the grounds of limited capability for work due to exhaustion of 12 months entitlement to contribution-based ESA. This criterion is only applicable from 30 April 2012
  • ESA (C)

Note: Linking periods of ESA (C) must be no more than 12 weeks apart and linking periods of SSP must be no more than 8 weeks apart.

or

  • a similar benefit to a Disability Premium or Higher Pensioner Premium under Northern Ireland law

or

  • the other member has an invalid carriage or other vehicle provided (in any part of the UK) under the Invalid Vehicle Schemes (IVS)

Note: In order to pay childcare charges where one of the customers in a joint claim is in prison and either one or both customers satisfy the qualifying remunerative work conditions, the customer who is in prison will be marked as incapacitated. This is only done to ensure the childcare charges are paid. In these types of cases, Household Notes will clearly state that the customer is in prison.

Note: From 1 April 2013, Council Tax Benefit (CTB) ceased to exist and was replaced by localised support for Council Tax. As a consequence, claimants will no longer be able to rely on receipt of CTB which includes a disability premium to satisfy some or all of the qualifying conditions for Working Tax Credit (WTC) or particular elements of WTC. Customers’ payments will not be affected unless they stop being entitled to a disability element of Working Tax Credit for more than 8 weeks. Prior to 1 April 2013, customers who were in receipt of CTB with a disability premium may have qualified to be treated as incapacitated for the purposes of the childcare element of WTC or the remunerative work rules for WTC.