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Benefit confusion

lollycat11

Hi I used to work part time and receive universal credit however I becam ill around 18 months ago and have just been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy. I’m still receiving universal credit on th lcwra but do I need to claim different benefits now or just speak to universal credit?

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flour

Hi @lollycat11

It sounds like you're on top of UC with LCWRA.

If your asking if now you have a new diagnosis, do you need to tell UC the answer is generally no, unless you've gotten better there is not any point as you already have LCWRA (you can't get more from UC for sickness/health).

You can, if you wish look in to New Style ESA which if you've been working recently may still be possible to claim (there is a time limit) - no extra money but if you come in to money later on and this reduces your UC your ESA will not get reduced so you may be better off. Because you already get LCWRA claiming ESA is made simple - its just phone call to ESA to claim.

You can look in to claiming PIP. Which is separate to UC.

You can look in to your council tax reduction and housing - if you rent are UC covering your rent, if you've a mortgage are you looking in to support for mortgage inserest and/or if you have any ground rent or service charges can be paid by UC.

You can also do a benefits calculator such as entitled to or turn2us which can give a breakdown.

lollycat11

Thankyou, I haven’t worked for 2 years now but I am still employed thanks to a kind boss. I currently rent but I am struggling in the house I’m in due to stairs to bedrooms etc. does the new style esa affect my universal credit claim?

poppy123456

lollycat11 said:

Thankyou, I haven’t worked for 2 years now but I am still employed thanks to a kind boss. I currently rent but I am struggling in the house I’m in due to stairs to bedrooms etc. does the new style esa affect my universal credit claim?

If you haven’t actually worked for 2 years then it’s unlikely you will qualify for New style ESA payments. You will need to have the correct NI contributions in tax years 2020/21 and 2021/22.

As advised, If there was entitlement to New style ESA it will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement so there’s no financial gain. Though as explained above it is worth while claiming if entitled.

flour

Hi @lollycat11 thanks for coming back on and replying. Hope I can be of help, I've written out some more info below which I hope is useful.

ESA
If you've been getting pay such as sick pay or holiday pay etc... whist away from work you could still get New Style ESA. The quickest way to find out would be to simply apply online as ESA will work it out and write back to you in a few weeks. In addition, have you been registered self employed at all?
(As @poppy123456 says nobody claims ESA with UC to be better off, its about protecting your right to a less restrictive benefit in the future).

I'm not sure about this and I hope someone else can help. But with New Style ESA you can backdate the start of your claim but I don't know if that could also push you in to an earlier tax year where you may have more NI?

PIP
The other thing would be PIP, which you should apply for even if you do or don't bother with ESA. This is because PIP is totally separate from ESA/UC and you get 2 or all 3 benefits at the same time.
There are two ways you can apply for PIP. You can either;
a) post a letter in to PIP New Claims dept. with your name and address and NI no. - they will then post out a form for you to fill in by reply, or you can
b) call PIP new claims and fill in the form over the phone between 9am and 5pm on weekdays.
Do whichever suits you best depending on which is easier with your health. Although posting the letter in will take longer than the phone call. No one will ask you on the phone call for the details about your health and you won't have to explain anything about your conditions - the DWP will ask you about that later on.
I would do PIP because you are already getting one sickness/health benefit (UC+LCWRA) so there is a good chance you could get PIP too. It's not guaranteed and it depends but its a very sensible thing to do.

Have you told UC that you rent?

Did you become ill due to an accident or illness from work or a training course?

calcotti

flour said:

If you've been getting pay such as sick pay or holiday pay etc... whist away from work you could still get New Style ESA.

For the avoidance of doubt - new style ESA cannot be received while entitled to SSP. Receipt of holiday pay and contractual sick pay (after SSP is ended) is fine.

flour said:
But with New Style ESA you can backdate the start of your claim but I don't know if that could also push you in to an earlier tax year where you may have more NI?

New style ESA claim can be backdated or under three months (as long as it is before the end of SSP entitlement).

While that does cause an issue (absurdly) is that if only getting SSP is too low to be automatically intreated as having made Class 1 NI contributions. However it is possible to write to HMRC and inform them about periods on SSP and they will provide Class 1 credits for that period.
https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility
You’re on Statutory Sick Pay and you do not earn enough to make a qualifying year. Apply for Class 1 credits. Write to: PT Operations North East England, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AN, United Kingdom. Include your National Insurance number and say when the credits are for and why you’re eligible.

In the case of the OP on this thread they are getting Class 3 credits through UC anyway which protects their State Pension entitlement.

flour

Hello @calcotti nice to see you. Thank you for the reply.

So what I'm trying to work out - to help @lollycat11 is (and for my own knowledge I should add!), - for new style ESA is it
a) the date you start the claim, or is it
b) the first date of the claim (if backdated)
which is the date on which your NI years are assessed.

Lollycat could claim today on the 24 May for New Style ESA backdated to the 25 February 2023. If Lollycat does this does this mean Lollycat can be assessed on NI from the years ending 21 and 20 instead of 22 and 21. This may be to Lollycats advantage as they stopped 18 months ago.

Thank you for adding on about the SSP affection the ESA start date. And, I am also clued up of the perverse effect of SSP which takes away the payment of Class 1 as its below the LEL for up to half a year! And in turn can stop a year from qualifying for contribution benefits. I did not know that in such cases you could write to HMRC have the Class 1 added on, and presumably then you could have 2 complete NI years and qualify for contribution benefits?

In case you're not aware Lollycat the 'classes' we're talking about are different classes of national insurance contributions. There are 4 different ones and there's a list on gov uk. The different classes get you different benefits, e.g. only Class 1 and 2 get you new style ESA.

poppy123456

It doesn’t matter when the claim starts from even if it’s back dated for 3 months the same tax years will be used. The tax years for benefit claims change in about the start of January each year. Therefore tax years 2020/21 and 2021/22 will be needed.

flour said:

Lollycat could claim today on the 24 May for New Style ESA backdated to the 25 February 2023. If Lollycat does this does this mean Lollycat can be assessed on NI from the years ending 21 and 20 instead of 22 and 21. This may be to Lollycats advantage as they stopped 18 months ago.

calcotti

flour said:

Lollycat could claim today on the 24 May for New Style ESA backdated to the 25 February 2023. If Lollycat does this does this mean Lollycat can be assessed on NI from the years ending 21 and 20 instead of 22 and 21.

As poppy says it makes no difference because the claim would be made in 2023 and therefore based on tax years 2020/21 and 2021/22.