Extended Payments

What is an Extended Payment?

An extended payment is a payment of Housing or Council Tax Benefit made for a maximum of 4 weeks after you or your partner starts work, increase your hours of work, or earnings, and as result of this you are no longer entitled to:

  • Income Support;
  • Job Seekers Allowance (income based);
  • Incapacity Benefit;
  • Severe Disability Allowance;
  • Or, from 27 October 2008, Employment and Support Allowance.

If you were in receipt of Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance, or Employment and Support Allowance (income related).

What are the qualifying conditions for an Extended Payment?

To be eligible for an Extended Payment you or partner must have:

  • Stopped getting Income Support, income based Job Seekers Allowance, or Employment and Support Allowance income related, (IS / JSAIB / ESAIR) because you or your partner have started work, increased your working hours or increased your earnings; and
  • Those new employment circumstances are expected to last at least five weeks; and
  • You and your partner have been continuously in receipt of either IS, JSAIB or ESA(IR), or a combination of these benefits, for a period of at least 26 weeks immediately before they ceased.

If you were in receipt of contribution based Job Seekers Allowance (JSAC) before you were entitled to IS, JSA or ESA(IR), your period on JSAC will count towards meeting the 26 week condition, as long as there was no breaks in your entitlement to benefit, and IS, JSA or ESA(IR) were the last benefits you were in receipt of.

Any periods that your partner was on IS, JSA or ESA(IR) will also count towards the 26 week condition as long as there are no breaks in entitlement between yours and your partners benefit awards, and IS, JSA or ESA(IR) were the last benefits you were in receipt of.

If there is a break in your entitlement to any of the benefits mentioned within the 26 week period, the 26 week period will recommence from the date your benefit recommences from.

Unless you meet all three conditions set out above you will not be awarded an Extended Payment.

If you were in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disability Allowance, or contributory Employment and Support Allowance:

What are the qualifying conditions for an Extended Payment?

To be eligible for an Extended Payment you or partner must have:

  • Stopped getting Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disability Allowance, or contributory Employment and Support Allowance (hereafter IB, SDA, ESAC), because you or your partner have started work, increased your working hours or increased your earnings; and
  • Those new employment circumstances are expected to last at least five weeks; and
  • You and your partner have been continuously in receipt of IB, SDA, ESAC either, or a combination of these benefits, for a period of at least 26 weeks immediately before they ceased; and
  • You must not be entitled to and not be in receipt of IB, SDA, ESAC in the last benefit week in which you were entitled to IB, SDA, ESAC.

Any periods that your partner was on IB, SDA, ESAC will also count towards the 26 week condition as long as there are no breaks in entitlement between your and your partners benefit awards, and you and your partner remained a couple throughout the period and remain so thereafter.

If there is a break in your entitlement to any of the benefits mentioned within the 26 week period, the 26 week period will recommence from the date your benefit recommences from.

Unless you meet all three conditions set out above you will not be awarded an Extended Payment.

A special note regarding Pension Credit

If you, or your partner, are in receipt of Pension Credit as well as IB, SDA, or ESAC, you will not qualify for an Extended Payment if your employment circumstances change. If your employment circumstances change and you, or your partner, are in receipt of Pension Credit please inform the Pension Service of your change in circumstances. Your Housing and Council Tax Benefit will continue to paid at the same rate until we have your new Pension Credit award, when we will make a decision about your Housing and Council Tax Benefit entitlement.

The following sections apply to all persons regardless of their qualifying benefits:

How do I claim an Extended Payment?

With effect from 6 October 2008 there is no requirement upon you to claim an Extended Payment, instead the Council will determine if you meet the conditions for an Extended Payment.

Based upon information we receive from Jobcentre Plus we will be aware that your benefit has ended, and the reason for it ending, but unless you have already informed the Council of your new circumstances we will usually have to suspend your benefit whilst we establish whether you qualify for an extended payment and / or any benefit based upon your new circumstances.

If we do suspend your benefit we will write to you explaining that your claim has been suspended, the reasons for the suspension, and the information and evidence we need to make a new decision about your claim.

How long is an Extended Payment?

The maximum length of an Extended Payment award is 4 weeks. The 4 week period will commence from the Monday after your IS, JSA or ESA(IR) claim ends.

If during the period of your Extended Payment you have any rent free weeks you will only be awarded an Extended Payment for the weeks that you would pay rent.

How much will I benefit will I get?

The amount of benefit you will get during an Extended Payment period will match the amount of Housing and Council Tax Benefit that you were receiving immediately prior to your IS, JSA or ESA(IR) benefit ending.

It is possible that you could receive too much benefit during an Extended Payment prior if you failed to declare a relevant change in your circumstances that would have affected the amount of benefit you received prior to your Extended Payment period.

What happens after an Extended Payment period?

Since 6 October 2008 there is no requirement for you to make an “in-work claim” following an extended payment period however the Council will still need to establish whether you meet the conditions of entitlement for Housing and Council Tax Benefit. To this end you will need to supply the Council with supporting evidence and information of your new income and capital circumstances.

Until such times as the Council have enough information to make a new decision about on-going benefit entitlement the Council will suspend any future payments to ensure that you are not overpaid. If you do meet the conditions of entitlement or you do not supply sufficient information and evidence to substantiate your claim, your claim will cease with effect from the end of the Benefit Week in which your Extended Payment ends.

Unusual circumstances during the qualifying period or during the Extended Payment period

In the preceding paragraphs we have outlined the Extended Payment scheme as simply as possible. For most claimants the circumstances outlined in these paragraphs will be those you will experience, but there are other more complex scenarios that could occur.

As these scenarios are very complex we do not intend to outline them here. When they do occur we will inform you of how they will affect your entitlement to an Extended Payment.

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