Drug Use and Welfare

Benefits

If you are of working age and do not have a job or are not studying, you will probably need to claim welfare benefits. Normally this will be Jobseekers’ Allowance if you are looking for work. If you can’t work for medical reasons then you should apply for Employment & Support Allowance (ESA). 

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

If you use drugs and/or alcohol problematically you will have to show how this, along with any other conditions, affects you being able to work. What you can do is assessed by looking at certain physical and mental health activities which carry points of 0, 6, 9 or 15 depending on what you can or cannot do. You need to get a total of 15 points to be given ESA.

You can also get ESA if there would be a serious risk to your health if you had to go to work. Where possible you should try to get strong supporting letters and reports from anyone who is helping you; for example, a GP, keyworker, mental health team or physiotherapist.

ESA, along with other benefits, is going to be replaced by Universal Credit and all claimants will be transferred over the next few years. If you make a new claim after October 2013 it will be for this benefit which will be made up of lots of different parts, including an amount for if you are too ill to work. The tests for this part will be the same as for ESA.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

PIP is a benefit for people aged between 16 and 64 who may need help with extra costs because of a long-term illness or disability. This benefit is gradually replacing Disability Living Allowance (DLA). If you already get DLA and your claim is coming to an end soon, it is likely that you will receive a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) telling you that you will need to apply and be assessed for PIP.

If you use drugs and/or alcohol problematically you will have to show how this, and any other health conditions you may have, affects your ability to carry out daily living tasks and how your mobility may also be affected.

When you are assessed for PIP the DWP will consider your ability to carry out specific activities. These activities are divided into Daily Living and Mobility Activities. Daily Living activities are to do with how able you are to carry out tasks such as preparing a meal. Mobility Activities are used to assess how and to what extent your health issues impact your ability to complete tasks such as planning and following a journey.

To qualify for PIP you will need to score a minimum of 8 points from the Daily Living Activities or the Mobility Activities. If you score 8 points you will be entitled to PIP at the basic rate.

Enhanced rate PIP is awarded when you score 12 or more points in the Daily Living Activities or the Mobility Activities. If you are awarded enhanced rate you will be entitled to a higher rate in order to meet your needs.

It is possible in some cases to be awarded PIP where you have scored 8 points or more from the Daily Living Activities and 0 points from the Mobility Activities and vice versa.

Further guidance and a full list of the PIP Daily Living Activities and the Mobility Activities are available here.

As with Employment and Support Allowance you should try to get strong supporting letters and reports from people who helping you.

Universal Credit

Universal Credit is a new benefit for people of working age which is due to replace many of the existing benefits and tax credits. It is a single benefit that combines means-tested support for adults, children and housing costs into a single benefit and is paid once a month.

This means that it replaces benefits such as Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.

It is being rolled out in some parts of the country; however, it is expected that all claimants will be transferred over by 2022.

In the meantime the main benefits available to you depending on your circumstances are Income Support, Income-based Jobseekers’ Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Housing Benefit and some Social Fund Payments.

You can find further guidance on Universal Credit here.

Housing

Drug use might have a direct or indirect effect on your housing situation in some way.  

If you are homeless, you can apply to your local council to house you. One of the things you will need to prove is that you have a priority need to be housed over other homeless people. Drug or alcohol use on its own will not make you a priority, but being at risk of relapse if you remain homeless can. You will have an even stronger case if this is combined with other things that make you more vulnerable, such as medical conditions.

If you have a home your tenancy agreement will probably say that you can’t do anything illegal in the property. If you are using, supplying or producing drugs in your home (or letting anyone else do this) and your landlord finds out then they may go to court try to evict you. If any of these things cause anti-social behaviour at your home then the landlord might have stronger grounds for this.  

If your rent is paid by housing benefit and you have problems with this whereby your rent is not paid, your landlord can also apply to the court to get you out of the property.

If you get a Notice Seeking Possession (NSP) from your landlord, or court papers for a possession hearing, get legal advice straight away. Remember that being evicted from your property can take some time and neither an NSP nor a claim for possession mean that you have to leave your property. The matter must be brought before a Judge who will determine whether possession of the property should be granted to the landlord, and if it is, an eviction notice will be issued. The date of eviction is at least four weeks from the date of the possession order.

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