Benefits & financial issues

NAT understands that benefits can be hugely important to people living with HIV and are a vital lifeline when you are unable to work.

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) has been a big area of concern for people living with HIV.  NAT has worked with organisations supporting people living with HIV to find out the experiences of people living with HIV who have taken the WCA and the impact it has had.  You can read our findings in our report Unseen Disability, Unmet Needs.

We have also been engaging with the independent review of the WCA, chaired by Professor Harrington, which is tasked with recommending improvements to the process.  In coalition with other charities including the MS Society, Forward ME and Parkinson’s UK we have made detailed recommendations for how the WCA can be made fairer for people with fluctuating conditions, including HIV.  For more information on this work, please contact [email protected].

We have also been very vocal around proposals for the new benefit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which will replace Disability Living Allowance from 2013.  We have gathered evidence from people living with HIV and the services who support them about what their needs are, and communicated this to the Department for Work and Pensions in consultation responses and meetings.

If you would like to see what were are saying to the Government on this and other policy issues, visit NAT’s consultations responses page.

Applying for benefits can often be confusing and stressful, so it's useful to read up on the process before you begin.  NAT and THT have put together a benefits advice briefing for people living with HIV on how to manage the process, and this includes details of where you can find further information and support.

Following changes to the benefits system, people living with HIV who are unable to work can apply for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).  For new claimants, ESA has replaced Incapacity Benefit (IB).

ESA claimants are divided into two groups: the work-related activity group (WRAG), who are currently unable to work but are expected to be able to work sometime in the future; and the support group, for those who would not be expected to look for work in the near future.

More than 10% of people accessing HIV treatment in the UK claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA), to help with the extra costs associated with living with a disability.

From 8 April 2013 DLA will be replaced with a new payment called Personal Independence Payment (PIP).  Like DLA, it will consist of two components: the ‘mobility’ component; and the ‘daily living’ component, which will replace the ‘care’ component currently paid.

There will also be a new assessment, which will involve in most cases a face-to-face meeting with an independent healthcare professional.  The Government has developed this new assessment for PIP, and during the consultation process on PIP we worked hard to ensure the needs of people living with HIV were considered.  To see what we said to the Government visit our consultation responses page.

NAT working with other disability charities has recently been successful in convincing the Government to phase in the introduction of PIP over a longer period of time.

PIP will start coming into effect from 8 April 2013.  All new claimants will be assessed under the new system, and there will also be a programme of reassessment of existing DLA claimants for the new benefit. For people with an indefinite or fixed term DLA award the process of reassessment will not now start until October 2015.

We have put together a revised PIP factsheet for people living with HIV who may need to claim the new benefit or who are currently claiming DLA and will be migrating to PIP.

When applying for benefits, Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is the process people go through to see if they are eligible for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).  The WCA involves a face-to-face meeting with a healthcare professional to assess your ability to carry out a range of activities.

The WCA involves questions about both physical and mental health, which are similar to those already asked on the application form for ESA.  The healthcare professional then makes a report of the assessment and recommends to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) whether you are likely to be eligible for ESA.  The DWP then considers this alongside your application form, and the medical evidence you have provided.

NAT understands that benefits can be hugely important to people living with HIV and are a vital lifeline when you are unable to work.

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) has been a big area of concern for people living with HIV.  NAT has worked with organisations supporting people living with HIV to find out the experiences of people living with HIV who have taken the WCA and the impact it has had.  You can read our findings in our report Unseen Disability, Unmet Needs.

We have also been engaging with the independent review of the WCA, chaired by Professor Harrington, which is tasked with recommending improvements to the process.  In coalition with other charities including the MS Society, Forward ME and Parkinson’s UK we have made detailed recommendations for how the WCA can be made fairer for people with fluctuating conditions, including HIV.  For more information on this work, please contact [email protected].

We have also been very vocal around proposals for the new benefit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which will replace Disability Living Allowance from 2013.  We have gathered evidence from people living with HIV and the services who support them about what their needs are, and communicated this to the Department for Work and Pensions in consultation responses and meetings.

If you would like to see what were are saying to the Government on this and other policy issues, visit NAT’s consultations responses page.

With advances in treatment and evidence that people living with HIV can lead long and healthy lives, there have been some improvements within the financial services sector. This includes the availability of Life Insurance for people living with HIV and the existence of best practice guidance on HIV and insurance by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The ABI have also produced an HIV and Life Insurance Consumer Guide.

People living with HIV are protected under the Equality Act 2010, but can legally be subject to proportionate difference in treatment for some financial products when reasonable and only based on relevant, current and reliable information. 
 

However, NAT has been approached by individuals and financial advisors concerned that people are experiencing disproportionate and unreasonable difference in treatment when accessing financial services and products such as insurances, or are being offered such high premiums that they are unaffordable. It is likely that this is based on out of date information, generalisations or assumptions about the health and life expectancy for people living with HIV.

NAT is now reviewing the current access that people living with HIV have to financial products such as insurance, with the aim of making policy recommendations to generate change in the sector.

If you have experiences or views on access to financial services in relation to living with HIV which you'd like to share with us, please get in touch so we can gain further intelligence on this issue.

As an independent charity we are unable to recommend individual companies or brokers that provide financial services but you can find out more about insurance for people living with HIV including information on some of the insurance companies that offer life insurance on NAM's website.