About Long Term Incapacity Allowance (LTIA)
Long Term Incapacity Allowance (LTIA) is a Social Security contributory, in work benefit that you can apply for if you have:
- long term ill health
- an injury that has been ongoing for 6 months before you apply
You cannot claim this benefit if you:
- have a pre-existing condition diagnosed before 1 October 2004
- have a congenital ailment
- are in receipt of your pension
If you're eligible, you could get between £13.29 and £265.93 per week and, depending on your award, some Social Security contribution credits. Or you may not be awarded anything at all.
Your level of benefit depends on your illness or injury. It's not based on whether you can work or if you're earning less because of your illness or injury.
Amount you'll receive
We work out LTIA claims as a percentage of a maximum LTIA rate. This maximum LTIA rate is currently £265.93 for an award of 100%. Awards can be anywhere between 5% and 100%.
The percentage is equal to the amount of benefit you get, so if your percentage is 100%, you’ll receive the full benefit rate. However if your percentage is 50%, you’ll get half of the benefit rate. The minimum rate is £13.39 for an LTIA award of 5%.
If you're given an award below 5%, you will not be entitled to any benefit and your claim will be disallowed.
We only award LTIA at 100% for severe mental or physical illnesses or injuries which prevents you from doing basic tasks. Often people with an award of 100% need daily support from other people.
Your award includes any ups and downs that we expect you may have because of your illness or injury.
Difference between LTIA and Short Term Incapacity Allowance (STIA)
Many people start claiming LTIA when their Short Term Incapacity Allowance (STIA) ends after the maximum period of 364 days or because they want to claim incapacity benefit and work.
LTIA and STIA are very different benefits. The main differences are:
- STIA is a short-term benefit which we can only pay for a maximum of 364 days
- in some cases, LTIA can be claimed for many years
- LTIA is based on the effects of your illness or injury, not on if you can work or your financial circumstances
- you’ll only get the same amount of LTIA as maximum STIA if you're given a LTIA 100% award
- you can claim LTIA and work. You cannot claim STIA and work
- LTIA is based on a medical assessment by a doctor, not medical certificates
- not all LTIA awards include Social Security contribution credits
Find out more on
payments if you're off work sick (Short Term Incapacity Allowance).
How you can claim LTIA
If you’ve claimed STIA for the maximum 364 days, you’ll be sent a form so you can claim LTIA.
If you want to move from STIA to LTIA before this, request an application form by email to
Health.Zone@gov.je or call +44 (0) 1534 444444.
If you have a long term illness or injury, you can also claim LTIA without receiving STIA. You can do this if you’re already working or if you want to work.
If you want to do this, you’ll need to:
- fill in the claim form
- sign the form at the bottom
- send your completed form to us straight away
You should respond quickly otherwise your payments might be delayed.
Contributions needed to claim LTIA
LTIA is a contributory benefit, which means you need the right contributions or credits on your Social Security record to be eligible for it. This is worked out using a particular 3 months period or relevant quarter.
To claim LTIA, you need:
- at least 6 months of contributions before the end of the relevant quarter
- at least 1 month's contributions or credits in the relevant quarter
The table below shows how to find out the relevant quarter for LTIA:
| January to March | July to September in the previous year |
|---|
| April to June | October to December in the previous year |
|---|
| July to September | January to March in the same year |
|---|
| October to December | April to June in the same year |
|---|
How you’re assessed
We decide if you're eligible for LTIA and how much your award should be. This is based on:
- a medical assessment
- a medical assessment report from your GP
- information you give us in your claim form
- any supporting information you give us
Medical assessments for Social Security benefits
How and when we pay you
If you're awarded a percentage of 20% or over, your LTIA will be paid in advance, every 4 weeks.
If you're awarded an assessment of between 5% and 15%, we'll pay you a lump sum.
We'll pay your benefit directly to your bank account. Contact us if you don't have a bank account.
You’ll normally receive the money on a Thursday, but this may sometimes change.
LTIA contributions credits
Contribution credits may be included in your LTIA award, unless:
- you’re already paying Class 1 contributions above the lower earnings limit (£940 per month for 2019)
- you’ve chosen not to pay contributions
- you’re getting more credits through another benefit or claim
These credits protect your entitlement to a pension and contributory benefits in the future, and mean you won’t have to pay Class 2 Social Security contributions while you’re receiving these credits.
If you pay Class 1 contributions above the lower earnings limit, you will continue to pay these as normal and the credits will not be applied to your Social Security record.
The length of time you receive credits for depends on what percentage you get and the medical assessment period. Awards of less than 20% do not include contribution credits.
| 100% | 540 |
| 95% | 540 |
| 90% | 540 |
| 85% | 540 |
| 80% | 540 |
| 75% | 540 |
| 70% | 360 |
| 65% | 240 |
| 60% | 120 |
| 55% | 96 |
| 50% | 60 |
| 45% | 36 |
| 40% | 24 |
| 35% | 18 |
| 30% | 12 |
| 25% | 6 |
| 20% | 3 |
Claiming for your husband, wife or partner
You can claim an increase in your benefit if your spouse or partner is claiming Home Responsibility Protection (HRP) and is living with you.
We may reduce or not pay this increase if your spouse or partner is getting another Social Security benefit in their own right.
Contribution credits for parents working 20 hours or less: Home Responsibility Protection (HRP)
Claiming LTIA and other contributory benefits
We cannot pay you more than 100% for any Social Security contributory benefit. These are benefits that are paid from the Social Security fund not from taxes. You cannot receive 2 overlapping contributory benefits for the same period.
Other contributory benefits include:
- Short Term Incapacity Allowance (STIA)
- Old age pension
- Home Carer's Allowance
- Maternity Allowance
- Incapacity pension
- Survivors benefit
The table below explains what happens if you're awarded more than 1 contributory benefit.
| If you're awarded 2 or more contributory benefits at 100% | We’ll only pay for 1 of these benefits. However, your claims will be kept open in case any of the benefits change. You’ll will also still receive any contribution credits awarded, unless you’re paying Class 1 contributions or receiving credits for any other reason. |
| If you’re awarded 2 or more contributory benefits less than 100% | We’ll only pay the highest of the benefits. They are not added together.
You’ll still receive any contribution credits awarded, unless you are paying Class 1 contributions or receiving credits for any other reason. |
| If you’re awarded a contributory benefit while someone else is being paid a dependency increase for you in 1 of their contributory benefits | We’ll keep the dependency increase the same but will reduce your new contributory benefit award by the same amount as your dependency increase. Therefore, if your dependency award is higher, you’ll not be paid any money for your new award. If your dependency award is lower, we’ll reduce your new benefit by this amount and pay you the difference. In both cases, you’ll still receive any contribution credits awarded, unless you’re paying Class 1 contributions or receiving credits for any other reason. If you prefer, we can pay your new award and reduce the dependency increase. This will be explained in more details if you get an award letter. |
Claiming LTIA and Income Support
If you’re a member of an Income Support household and start claiming LTIA, your Income Support will be reduced by the same value as your LTIA award. This is because LTIA will be considered as income.
As you can work and receive LTIA, if you claim Income Support, you may be expected to work or look for work. If this affects you, a Back to Work employment advisor will contact you.
Income Support
Finding a job: Back to Work
If your condition gets significantly worse or better
Your LTIA award takes into account any ups and downs that you may have because of your illness or injury.
However, you can ask for an early review of your claim if your illness or injury gets significantly worse or better.
If your LTIA condition gets worse, ask your GP to write to us if they agree. You can also send in any extra medical evidence. We'll use this information to determine whether or not you're eligible for an early review.
You must tell is if your condition gets significantly better or is cured.
Handing in medical certificates
You don’t need medical certificates to be awarded LTIA.
We don’t accept medical certificates for ‘bad days’ that are related to your condition. This is because your LTIA award takes into account any ups and downs that you may have because of your illness or injury.
By claiming LTIA for any condition, you accept that you are no longer entitled to receive STIA for that same condition, or for any ailment directly relating to that condition. Any medical certificates that you submit for a condition for which you already claim LTIA will therefore be disallowed.
If you have a different condition which is not related to your LTIA claim, you are still able to submit medical certificates or hospital certificates to claim STIA for that separate condition.
If you need an agent or authority to receive payments on your behalf
If you need any of your LTIA to be paid to an agent or authority to receive payments on your behalf, complete the form below.
Application for payment to an agent or authority form
If you want somebody to speak to us about your claim
If you’d like somebody to speak to us about your claim on your behalf, complete the form below.
Authority to disclose information form
Changes in your circumstances
You must tell us if:
- you change address
- you change your bank account
- you plan to leave Jersey for a short period or permanently (tell us which country you’re going to visit)
- you go to prison (your benefit can’t be paid for any part of a prison sentence)
- there are any changes in your circumstances that would affect the payment of benefit to your spouse or partner
If you disagree with your LTIA award
If you’re unhappy with the decision on your claim, you may appeal.
If you think your Long Term Incapacity award is wrong
Claiming benefits from another country
Tell us if you’re receiving Social Security benefits from any other country when you fill out your claim form.
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