The Coalition Government is currently carrying out major reform of the benefits system. In the last 18 months changes have been made to who can qualify for Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and the Social Fund and how much people can claim.
From 2013, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will be replaced by a new benefit called a Personal Independence Payment which will be available to less people than DLA currently is.
Between 2013 and 2017 the Government also plans to introduce the Universal Credit; a single benefit that will replace six of the main means-tested benefits including: Housing Benefit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support.
Many people living with HIV need access to benefits because their health prevents them from being able to work or because they need help with the additional costs that their HIV creates. Benefits like DLA can help some people living with HIV to pay for things like healthier food, heating or laundry bills or for personal care.
Terrence Higgins Trust has been working to try to ensure that people living with HIV who need access to welfare benefits will continue to be able to claim them after the changeover. We have also been campaigning to make the system fairer and to improve benefits assessments so that impact of HIV is better understood by benefits decision-makers.
Join our campaign
Earlier this year we called upon the Department for Work and Pensions to take action to improve the quality of benefits assessments for people living with HIV. Too often, people tell us that the person that carried out their assessment had little knowledge of HIV or used outdated information during their assessment.
We asked MPs to write to the minister in an attempt to improve training and information for benefits assessors. Take part in our campaign and write to your MP.
Read our consultation responses
Throughout the debate about changes to the benefits system we have been asking people who are living with HIV what they think. We’ve also trialled some of the plans to see what impact they will have. To read our consultation responses click here.
Tell us what you think
Telling us about your experiences in the benefits system, whether you have filled out a form, gone through re-assessment or are leaving benefits to take up work, helps us to get a clear idea of what the issues are for people living with HIV.
Email campaigns@tht.org.uk if you have a story that you want to share with us. All stories will be made anonymous.