LCWRA & Self employment

Fibleepy

Further to my earlier post I’ve decided to put this new post up as you will be able to give me more precise answers if you know the full reasons for my questions. 

I am asking on behalf of a married couple who currently claim UC. 

The wife is on LCWRA and the husband is part time self employed but claiming Carers Element as he cares for his wife. 

The husband can only do a limited amount of self employed work due to his caring duties.

They get the housing element too.

However, the husband has recently become ill himself and is finding it more difficult to work but he would still like to do enough to keep his business running (albeit at a slower pace).

He has no Minimum Income Floor.

The husband is wondering if it’s worth him trying to get LCWRA but would he actually get the pay for it since he already gets paid the Carers Element?

Would the wife then be able to claim Carers Element as his carer? 

Or would the husband have to completely stop working (which he really doesn’t want to do) in order to claim LCWRA and for the wife to claim Carers Element? 

poppy123456

Fibleepy said:

The husband is wondering if it’s worth him trying to get LCWRA but would he actually get the pay for it since he already gets paid the Carers Element?

He can report his health condition, provided by a fit note but even if he's found to have LCWRA then he won't receive any extra money for this because his wife is already receiving it. You can only receive 1 LCWRA element per claim.

It's an awful lot of stress and anxiety to go through when he won't be entitled to the extra money anyway. As he's already receiving carers element then he has no work commiments anyway.

Fibleepy said:

Would the wife then be able to claim Carers Element as his carer? 

No, because his wife receives the LCWRA element and she won't be able to claim Carers element at the same time because the same person can't receive both elements. In this situation the highest element is paid.

It seems like they are already receiving their maximum UC entitlement by the LCWRA and carers element for each of them.

Fibleepy

Ok I understand that thank you Poppy. Only one element allowed per person.

I guess the husband will just have to carry on struggling to work otherwise he’s going to have a lower income than he currently gets.

I suppose the husband could try applying for PIP?

poppy123456

Yes, he can apply for PIP but before doing that he will need to look at the descriptors to see if any of them apply.

Fibleepy

Thanks Poppy! 

I just want to check one more thing please.

The £379 per month earning limit….is that per couple or per person?

The couple are telling me that the following message is shown on the wife’s section of her UC account (she claims LCWRA) but it’s not shown on her husband’s account (he’s self employed).

“For the work allowance, if you’re claiming for help with the rent it will be £379/month, if not then it will be £631/month”

 Earnings never go above £379 per month anyway.

poppy123456

The work allowance is per claim and not for each individual person. 

Although they are claiming as a couple they still have a journal each with their individual information on it, which is why it doesn’t show the LCWRA element on his journal. 

Fibleepy

Got it! Thank you so much Poppy. You are a ⭐️