U Credit migration

palmer

hello a couple off questions my wife get's tax credits not much 50 pounds per month, 
received letter say's you and partner need to claim tax credits i then get letter same thing but I get esa contribution paid in support group. Must claim by 3 feb 2024 my question will I still get my esa but as a different form. the reason for us to keep the tax credits is my wife is self employed and her money can go down also for medication reasons any advice is greatly received mark.

poppy123456

You will both be claiming Tax credits as a couple, not just your wife. When you claim UC you will each need to start a claim and then one of you will be sent a linking code to join both claims together.

As you're in the Support Group for ESA then you'll be entitled to the LCWRA element from the start of your claim. Your ESA will continue to be paid as normal but it will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. You will need to make sure you report your health condition when you claim. Then once you have access to a journal then you'll need to put a message on that to tell them that you're in the Support Group for ESA. Sometimes there's a delay in transferring your delays from ESA to UC.

If you have savings/capital of more than £16,000 then this will be disregarded under managed migration rules for a period of 1 year. However, if during that time your savings/capital drops below £16,000 then the disregard will end. Which means if your savings then go above £16,000 then entitlement to UC ends.

As she's self employed then she will need to attend a gateway appointment at her local JOb centre when you first claim. Then on the last day of each assessment period she will need to report her earnings and expenses on her journal. If she doesn't report them then your payment can be affected.

Are you claiming a disability benefit yourself such as PIP daily living, DLA mid/high rate care or ADP daily living?

There's also a very detailed guide that i did here. https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/110560/uc-managed-migration-guide#latest This may answer any other questions you may have. Please do have a read.

palmer

hello thanks for getting back to me you say that Your ESA will continue to be paid as normal but it will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. I don't understand what that means I get about 135 pounds per week on esa I do get full pip in both elements wife get 50 pounds tax credits per month regards mark

poppy123456

palmer said:

hello thanks for getting back to me you say that Your ESA will continue to be paid as normal but it will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. I don't understand what that means I get about 135 pounds per week on esa I do get full pip in both elements wife get 50 pounds tax credits per month regards mark

In your first comment you said that your ESA is contributions based, which is £129.50/week for Support Group, not £135/week.

Contributions based ESA is not part of UC so this continues to be paid as normal. Yes, it's deducted in full from any UC entitlement because if it wasn't then you would be receiving the same amount twice, which isn't possible.

The monthly amount deducted from your UC when you claim is £561.16/month. This is because ESA is a weekly benefit and UC is a monthly benefit. To work out the monthly amount you times the weekly amount by 52 and then divide by 12.

Your Tax credits isn't just for your wife, it's a joint claim based on joint circumstances

When your wife starts her claim if she reports being your carer, assuming she cares for you for at least 35 hours per week then your UC will include the carers element of £185.86/month. (assuming no one already claims this or carers element for looking after you)

As a carer your wife will have no work commiments, which is a very good thing when being self employed. It means the minimum income floor can't apply to her.

palmer

hello again thanks for your reply you are right I do get 129.50 per week so what you say is I will receive money monthly which is fine,
I have not had my wife down as my carer or any one for that matter because when I looked at that it stated that you could only claim carers iff your money was below,
your earnings are £139 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and expenses so my wife has more money than that but you say 
As a carer your wife will have no work commiments, which is a very good thing when being self employed. It means the minimum income floor can't apply to her. 
so does the minimum income of 139.00 pounds not apply because she self employed, her  earnings are around 280 per week sorry for asking as it takes me a bit to process things regards mark 

poppy123456

No problems about the questions, i'm happy to answer any that you have. 

Your ESA will continue as normal every fortnight. The amount will be deducted in full from UC. UC is paid monthly and your first payment will be 1 month and 6 days later.

Yes, you are correct that carers allowance has a maximum earnings limit of £139/week after deductions, which is why i didn't advise her to claim this. As you correctly said, she won't be entitled to it anyway because her earnings are over the limit.

I advised her to claim carers element of UC when you start your claim. It has no earnings limit like carers allowance does and you don't need to claim carers allowance to be entitled to it. It will also increase your maximum UC entitlement by £185.86/month.

You may even be better off by claiming UC, if so then you will not receive any transitional protection.

One other thing i forgot to mention. As you have LCWRA then there's also the work allowance for UC. This means either of you can receive a certain amount of earnings each month before the 55% earnings taper applies. If you claim for help with the rent then it will be £379/month. If you don't then it will be £631/month. Anything over that then your UC will be reduced by 55%. More details here. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-work-allowances/universal-credit-work-allowances

palmer

hello again thank for your detailed explanation I will see iff I have this right  
ESA 129.50 per week = 518 every 4 weeks 
carers  entitlement  £185.86/month. 

we own our house no morage ect just bills like every one 


 LCWRA then there's also the work allowance for UC. 631/ month 
so would you add up the above which comes to 1334.86 then remove 

The ESA   amount will be deducted in full from UC. i.e 518 pounds 
leaves 816.86 pounds which has my ESA  payment in there

then what ever the tax credit payment will be also 
I hope this make sense and thanks again for taking the time 
to look and help me regards mark

chiarieds

Hi @palmer - sorry, but you've got a bit muddled. As poppy mentioned above, as ESA is based on a weekly amount, then you multiple your weekly amount by the weeks in the year, then divide by 12 to give a monthly amount. i.e. £129.50 x 52 divided by 12 = £561.16 per month.

With UC, then as you're in the support group for ESA, you would get the equivalent when transferring, which is the LCWRA element. If one or both of you are over 25 years of age, you'd get £578.82 a month for you both; if you're both under 25, this would be £458.51 a month for you both. LCWRA is an additional amount, & this is £390.06 a month, i.e. £968.88 or £848.57 a month for this standard allowance + LCWRA element.

In your situation with no housing costs you need help with, then there's a work allowance of £631 per month. This means if a person's earnings are under that amount, then nothing would be deducted from your UC. However, if we take your wife's average weekly wage into account for example, again turning this into a monthly amount, that would be £280 x 52 divided by 12 = £1213.33 per month. Then deducting the work allowance of £631 that leaves £582.33 (the amount over the work allowance) & for every £1 over, there's a 55p deduction, so £582.33 x .55 = £320.28 that would be deducted from your UC. If her wages were less than this, your UC would be greater, if her wage was higher, then the amount of UC would decrease. Please see: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/how-your-earnings-affect-your-payments

As you correctly say, the carer element is £185.86 a month which is in addition to the standard allowance + LCWRA element.

poppy123456

palmer said:

 LCWRA then there's also the work allowance for UC. 631/ month 
so would you add up the above which comes to 1334.86 then remove 

The work allowance isn't included as a sum of money in your UC. It means that this amount of money will be disregarded from your wife's earnings each month before the deductions apply.

palmer

hello thank you both for getting back to me I have looked at the answer 
I will still get my ESA 129.50 per week 
LCWRA element. If one or both of you are over 25 years we are 60 and 55 I don't no what this is 
my wife earn about 280 per week as self employed take off petrol ect its 200 pounds 
she gets 100 pounds tax credit per month we have no dependence children 
don't claim. carers I get full pip on both elements 
I no I am repeat my self but I have to write it down so I can see it on paper,
I think as my wife earning can move around up and down she would be better to work 
less hours earn about 180 per week take off takes to go below 135 per week and claim carers allowance
I thought this mite happen in a couple of years time but unfortunately I do need help with things and have not wanted this to happen.regards mark

poppy123456

When you claim UC you will still receive the same amount of ESA every fortnight.

The ESA will be deducted in full from your UC entitlement. 

Your UC will include the standard couples allowance, LCWRA element and carers element. 

Your partner doesn’t need to claim carers allowance because they can claim carers element of UC without needing to claim carers allowance. 

As you don’t claim for help with any rent then your work allowance will be £631 per month. This means your partner can receive that amount of earnings per month per any deductions will apply. 

As your partner is self employed they will need to report their earnings and expenses each month. 

palmer

I thought I would give follow up on my u credit after getting info from poppy and chiarieds put the information into gov . web site on Saturday 16 dec all told about 1.30 mins, just taking time adding all about my ESA support group and linking wife up also I have couple off things to do on the journal,wife has to go Friday to show info at job centre just prof off identity passport driving licence and a house hold bill. I had info today  on my journal {jobs}, I am not required to look for work also {activities} I do not have any work related activities I have to do at this time , I will get to know my payments on 17 jan 2024 then receive money on 22 jan 2024 so far so good thanks for info poppy and chiarieds regards mark