Migration from WTC To UC

Lissy123

Hi there, i received my migration letter today to say that my partner and i will need to move the UC.

I've been dreading this as even though i think i have read everything possible i am still not sure what to expect. and think i just need a bit of reassurance

Im a carer for my partner so recieve carers allowance, he is disabled and recieves, Contribution based ESA (support group), and PIP. 

 I’m also self employed i only take in a very small profit each month .  How is this going to effect us please, i understand as we are migrating that the money should stay the same, with regards to the working tax credits however I'm unsure what happens with the self employment side of things, as i haver read about needing self-employment interviews etc with UC ? i know i will have to give my incomes and outgoings each month, thats fine, but when you earn anything does it just come off the UC amount ?

Many thanks for your help

Albus_Scope

Hi @lizzy123 I'm sorry to hear it's causing you a lot of confusion and worry. But the self employment interview will be one thing to not worry about, it's all very easy and helps you in the long run.  If they deem you 'gainfully self employed' they wont pester you into attending job centre appointments, other than every 6 months or so, they also offer support if you wanted to grow your business more. You just need to enter any earnings monthly when asked in your UC journal online.  There's more information here.

I'm sure someone will be able to explain things much better than me and explain the threshold for earnings.  

Lissy123

Hi there, thank-you for your help. i thought that because i was also a carer for my partner , that i was exempt from needing to attend job centre appointments or worrying about being gainfully self employed, or is that not correct ?

poppy123456

There's a lot of information in a guide i put together here. https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/110560/uc-managed-migration-guide#latest

As your partner is in the Support Group then they will be entitled to the LCWRA element from the start of your claim. Your carers allowance will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

When you claim UC you will need to report being a carer and your UC will include the carers element.

As self employed you will be expected to attend your local job centre for a gateway appointment, which applies to everyone that's self employed. During that appointment you will need to give them information on your self employed work.

You will have a 12 month start up period, which applies to all self employed people when you first claim UC. After this period if you're still a carer then you can't be found to be gainfully self employed because as a carer you will have no work commiments. This means that the minimum income floor will not apply.

You will still be expected to report your earnings and expenses on the last day of each assessment period.

You need to make sure you claim UC before the date in the letter. If you don't then you will lose any potential transitional protection, if there's any entitlement to it. Whether there's any entitlement will depend on the exact figures of your Tax credits and UC. I won't be able to advise on this because everyones TP will be different.

Lissy123

Thank-you so much for your help, so when i report my earnings at the end of every month do these get deducted also ?

poppy123456

No problem. You will have the work allowance because your UC will include the LCWRA element for your partner.

The work allowance means you'll be able to receive a certain amount of earnings each month before the 55% deductions apply. If you claim for help with the rent it will be £631/month, if you don't it will be £379/month. See link. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/work-allowance-universal-credit

Please note, it's not just your earnings you need to report, it's your expenses too. If you don't report those on the last day of each assessment period then you won't receive your UC payment.

There's more information here about self employed and UC. You can ignore the part about minimum income floor. It also gives information about the appointment you will need with a work coach when you first claim. You will need to attend this appointment in person. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide

Lissy123

hello again,

So i finally bit the bullet and started the migration to UC today.  I was a bit confused as my partner is disabled and receives, Contribution based ESA is in the support group), and PIP. And i receive carers allowance, on his Journal it says 'Prepare to meet your work coach' with a questionnaire.  I wrote on the journal that he receives CB ESA and is in support group.  They haven't replied yet, but I also rang the help line, however the man on there said something about how my partner might need to have a Work Capability Assessment ? And then that would remove the work commitments on the Journal.  

But my understanding is that he shouldn't need one of those ? As like, you said Poppy he should already be entitled to the LCWRA element ?

poppy123456

He won’t need another WCA because he will be entitled to the LCWRA element from the start of his claim. It may take a few weeks for them to send his details from ESA to UC. Once this is done his journal will be updated. 

I wouldn’t advise ringing the helpline for any advice because they have very little knowledge and sit there reading from a screen.

They may ask him to attend his local job centre, which he will need to do if he’s reported being self employed. Same as yourself. You will need to give details of your self employed work so please make sure you report being self employed.

Your carers allowance will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement so please make sure you report being carer and then the carers element will be included in your claim. 

Lissy123

Thank-you for clarifying this again Poppy, no i won't bother phoning them again lol yes he is not self-employed or employed that's just me, but yes I made sure that i did put that i was self-employed and also his carer.  i have put a note on the journal also just to explain that one of his disabilities is severe Agoraphobia, and he never leaves the house just so they are aware of that also x

poppy123456

If they ask him to attend and appointment as a new claimant he can request this as a phone appointment rather than in person. 

Lissy123

Little Update on the migration, partner has a home visit from the DWP home visiting team in two weeks time, to do the ID verification, he can't go due to be being housebound, and unable to use the telephone due to anxiety, so they are coming out, he is incredibly anxious about it, as he does have severe social anxiety, have been told it shouldn't take long as its just ID verification.  I went to the job centre last week, for my self-employment gateway interview thing and that took approx 10 mins due to me being his carer, so they just explained what you had already told me Poppy

Lissy123

Newest update, feeling a little deflated and stressed, on my adventures of migrating to UC , so the home visit went really well, it didn't take long at all, and the guy who came here only needed to see my partner for a few moments, I also became my partner's appointee at the same time.  And then yesterday we recieved our statement which said we were entitled to 0. It seems they have left off my partner's LCWRA entitlement ? As he gets CB ESA and is in the support group.  Also, they seem to have also deducted £46.38 from my self-employment, even though they said it wouldn't be deducted. So the Job Centre are now looking into it, and contacted a separate Dept who deal with this side of things, I feel so close and yet so far, from getting this sorted.

poppy123456

Did you put a message on your journal under the payment section as well as contact your local Job centre? If you didn't then I'd advise you to do that. 

As your earnings were under the work allowance there shouldn't have been any deductions for this. I also see that your UC includes the TP. Please be aware that when your UC amounts increase because of the annual uprating amounts, your TP will decrease by the same amount. This means you will not be any better off. 

Hopefully they will sort this out very quickly and recalculate the statement and pay what is owed.

Lissy123

Hey Poppy, it was actually the Job Centre that called me, as they had already called a couple of times yesterday, because my statement was actually due on the 10th, but it had not yet come through, so i had left a message on the journal to query where the statement was, then they called again to say another dept that has to work out the TP side of things was sorting that out and that they would issue a statement that day and any monies would be in my bank by 8pm, then the statement came though which said entitled to 0, Job centre called me again, said that the statement was incorrect and to bare with them, as another dept had to chase up the information that my partners LCWRA needed to be included to the entitlement as that was missing.

Lissy123

Hi Poppy, just wanted to update you and let you know that the statement was recalculated correctly on Tuesday and the money was paid into our account today.  Thank-you so much for your help

poppy123456

That’s great news! Thank you for returning to give an update.