Police Mutual Care Line
In partnership with Police Mutual, NARPO is pleased to be able to announce the launch of the Police Mutual Care Line providing support for the police family, serving and retired, in times of need. The service will be provided by Red Arc, a nurse led advice service, who are at the end of the telephone to help with a range of concerns, including coping with bereavement, serious physical or mental health problems, disabilities, trauma, post-hospital care or dealing with long term elderly matters.
All nurses are specially trained advisers with a great deal of knowledge who treat all callers with compassion, sensitivity and in confidence.
Sickness Benefit Update
Sue Williams reports: If you were in-receipt of ‘sickness benefit’, invalidity benefit, incapacity benefit, or any of the other names it has been called over the past years, it has been tax free and deducted from the injury award you receive, i.e. Sick benefit £400 per month, £400 deducted from your injury award per month, so you were no better or worse off other than your class 1 N.I was paid towards your qualifying years for your old age pension.
If you are entitled to benefit you must claim it and it is then deducted from your pension (Injury award). Pretty straightforward.
A couple of years ago when the D.W.P changed the benefit to Employment and Support Allowance, your receive the same as you had been previously on ( you couldn’t be made worse off, so they topped the benefit up), the difference being was that there was no provision with the pension regulations to deduct ESSA, so you got your £400 injury award PLUS £400 ESSA….. double bubble!
The regulations have now been amended to include ESSA, and it will from 13/2/17 be deducted from your injury award, back to square one as it used to be. The only problem that has arisen is that this is a taxable benefit and the injury award is not taxable, so it forms part of your tax allowance.
Narpo HQ are aware of this and are challenging it as a taxable benefit is being deducted fully from a non taxable income (injury award).
Anyone on the old benefits will know they have been better off since ESSA came into force and will know it stopped being deducted when it changed over. It’s just been a nice bonus for some while they altered the regulations.