Lcwra

poppy123456

All you can do is continue to request the MR.

Community_Scope

Hello @kay14

Just to let you know I have removed the letter with your details on. If you wanted to block those details out and reupload, you are more than welcome  

kay14

Thanks I was just trying to do it I have wrote in my journal see what they say 🤞

kay14

They said it’s because of my partners income which I don’t think is fair I’ve got no gaps in my national insurance payments but I’ve been a carer for my grandad for the last 5 years does this count for esa there must be some kind of sick I can claim I can’t go on like this , my grandad sadly passed away yesterday 😩 

poppy123456

sorry for your loss. Yes, your partners income can mean you have no work related requirements. Although with the changes expected in September for AET this may well change and you could have work related requirements.

You also mentioned you were a carer for your grandad, if you were claiming carers element of UC for looking after him then this will be why you have no work related requirements.

All you can do now i'm afraid is continue to request the MR for the WCA decision.

kay14

Thanks so you know if I could claim esa as I have no breaks in my national insurance I used to work 10 hours a week whilst caring am basically 200 pound a week down x

poppy123456

You need class 1 (or class 2 if self employed) NI contributions in tax years 2020/21 and 2021/22 to be entitled to payments from ESA. Were you claiming carers allowance for looking after your grandad? 

There’s also no financial gain to claiming New style ESA at the same time as UC because it’s just deducted in full from any UC entitlement. 

kay14

Yes I have been caring for 5 years 

poppy123456

You won't be entitled to New style ESA from just the NI credits from carers allowance alone. Normally to claim New style ESA you would need to have NI contributions or credits for the two tax years mentioned above and in one of these years you need to have actually paid contributions equivalent to at least 26 weeks in one of these years. 

However as you were in receipt of Carer’s Allowance in any week in the years 2021/22 this second contribution condition is relaxed so that you will need to have to have paid 26 weeks (class 1 (or 2 if self employed) in any one tax year of your life.

You can see the conditions here. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/employment-and-support-allowance-contribution-based

However, as i advised, there's no financial gain to claiming New style ESA and UC at the same time. The work capability assessment process is also the same for ESA as it is for UC.

poppy123456

Just to add, if you do claim ESA and entitled to the payments because you've already been found to have LCW then this will apply to your ESA too. You only have 1 assessment for both benefits. You will be entitled to payments for 1 year unless placed into the Support Group (LCWRA equivalent)

kay14

Thankyou for all info 😊

poppy123456

You're welcome. If there's entitlement to New style ESA payments then yes you can claim it. I would still advise you to go ahead with the MR request for the WCA decision for UC. 

If found to have LCWRA then you will be owed some money from the 4th month after you first reported your health condition. However, if you were claiming Carers element of UC during that time then they won't owe you the full amount for the LCWRA, they will owe you the difference between both elements, up until carers element ended. This is because the same person can't be paid both elements at the same time. 

I also wanted to mention about the budgeting advance you asked about earlier in the thread. I didn't realise you were claiming UC with a partner that worked when you asked the question. If your partner has received earnings of more than £3,600 in the past 6 months then you won't be entitled to any budgeting advance because of their earnings. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/on-universal-credit/budgeting-advance/

kay14

Thanks again x

Hannah_Alumni

I'm sorry to hear about your loss @kay14 If you ever need to talk to someone, the NHS have a self referral page for people dealing with grief and loss. And of course, please reach out if we in the community can support you in anyway