Incapacity Benefit is paid to people over the age of 16 if they are unable to work due to ill health and meet the DWP rules for being treated as incapable of work. You will need to claim via the contact centre on 0800 055 6688 who will take details of your claim and arrange a work focused interview for you. Later you will have to complete a form IB50 for the purposes of the personal capability assessment to see if you score enough points to be found incapable of work. Most people will have a medical assessment to see if the information given on the IB50 and the doctor’s assessment show the person is incapable of work. If unsuccessful, you need to get advice about appealing the decision.
Incapacity Benefit is a contribution-based benefit and not means tested, except that an occupational pension or personal pension over £85 a week will reduce the amount that you get.
The benefit is normally only paid if the person has paid and/or been credited with the right amount of National Insurance contributions in the appropriate years. There are special rules for people under the age of 20 (in some cases 25) when they become ill who do not need to meet these National Insurance rules but do need to meet the personal capability rules.
www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/cms.asp?Page=/Home/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/729