Help needed regarding UC

angieLove

Good afternoon, I am hoping someone could help me.
I am currently receiving WTC & CTC & PIP, I have one Child who receives DLA. my partner is self employed contract worker. Work is limited and due to my poor health and his own he can not work to his full capacity 
I have been sent a letter from UC to migrate over.

I am really confused and not sure how to apply I have looked online and I am overwhelmed.

I am studying at University. I have heard that if you are in a full time study course then you are not entitled to UC, is this correct?

Will I get any UC as I have a child with additional needs. ie will I receive the child element of UC, as i was receiving the child element of CTC. Or will I not be entitled to anything. 

My course in a sense is only 9 months and I have spoken to university support team and been informed the months that I am not studying UC will pay me for those months I have to send proof of academic year timetable, as I have not applied I am very stressed and worry has taken over me. I myself have a medical health condition would I be required to work. Would they put me in some type of group. Also my child has been recently been diagnosed and awarded DLA, can I claim Carer's allowance or the carer's element of uc for the periods I am not studying.

I understand i will be claiming as a couple and there is something called a journal where my partner will have to submit his income details, how will this work will it be monthly entries ?

I really appreciate any help i am very stressed and confused.

Many thanks in advance 

poppy123456

You will both need to make sure you claim UC no later than the date stated in the letter. If you don’t then your tax credits will end.

As a student you are correct that usually if studying full time then normal you can’t claim UC unless you’ve been assessed as having limited capability for work. However, as you’re migrating from Tax credits then the rules will mean you are able to claim UC until the end of your course. 

However, any student maintenance loan that’s available to you will affect your UC, even if you don’t take that loan. This means there will be a deduction in your UC. I’m not entirely sure to be honest whether Transitional Protection will cover this but I will find out for you and come back with that I find.

You will both need to start a claim and then one of you will receive a linking code to join both claims together. You will be entitled to child element, disabled child element, couples allowance and any other elements you’re entitled to depending on your circumstances.

If your PIP includes the daily living part then your partner will be able to claim carers element of UC for looking after you. There’s no earnings limit to this like there is with carers allowance.

Also if your child’s DLA includes either mid/high rate care then you can claim carers element for looking after them. 

With both of you claiming carers element it will mean you will not have any work requirements. This also means that the minimum income floor will not apply to them. 

As your partner is self employed they will need to make sure they tell them this when they start a claim. They will need to attend a gateway appointment at their local job centre for this. During this they will be asked questions about their self employment. 

As self employed they will need to report their earnings and expenses on the last day of each assessment period. If they don’t they it can affect your payment for that month. There’s some in there about self employment and UC. It also includes information about the gateway appointment. 

https://www.gov.uk/self-employment-and-universal-credit#:~:text=If%20you're%20gainfully%20self,to%20earn%20in%20similar%20circumstances.

You can also report your health condition and provide fit notes. This will then start the work capability assessment process off. However, if found to have LCWRA then the same person can’t receive carers element at the same time so you will only be entitled to the higher element, which is the LCWRA. 

Once the calculations are completed if it means you’re worse off on UC than you were on tax credits then you will receive Transitional Protection. However, this does erode over time so if other elements increase the TP decreases. Until such a time it will erode completely.

Also if you have capital of more than £16,000 this will be disregarded for 12 months. If after that time you still have more than this in capital then your UC will
end. 

It’s complicated! There’s also a guide here on how to claim. https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/how-to-claim

Once your claim is submitted you will each have access to a journal and everything is done through that. Your first payment will be 1 month and 6 days later.

You can have an advance payment but please be aware that this does need to be repaid back and will reduce your future payments until it’s repaid. 

angieLove

Many thanks poppy that was very thorough and informative, and so kind of you. 

I was worried as I am a student UC will say you have your maintenance loan and are not entitled to UC, and i was unsure if I would receive the child element of UC for my child.

Also I wasn't sure that any of the above would apply to me as a student. I have been beside myself with worry. I was worried about the student maintenance loan affecting UC. Would I be able to study and still claim UC ?

Many thanks for explaining the self employed side of things I will have a read through that information.

My child's DLA is middle rate and I do receive the Daily living component.

Thank you for looking in to the Transitional protection and how that will affect me i will look out for that advice 

Once again many thanks, its very much appreciated 

poppy123456

This is what I've found out for you. Your student maintenance loan is treated as other income and will reduce your UC £1 for £1. Minus a small disregard. 

However, this is where the Transitional Protection should kick in and cover any losses you may have had if you didn't have TP. For this reason you shouldn't be any worse off when you do claim. Hopefully they get the calculations correct because I have heard that with TP they haven't always got the figures correct. Unfortunately, I can't help with that because I don't know what your figures are for your UC claim and that's what the TP will be based on. 

angieLove

Thank you for your advice, I feel alot more confident about applying. I have enough information for me to go through.

If worse comes to worse I may contact CAB UC help. But you have helped me understand things a lot 

There's things I still don't understand ie certain terminology but I will read further upon this 

Thank you poppy 

angieLove

Sorry to ask again, but I have someone who cares for me and is claiming carer's allowance would that need to be stopped in order for my partner to claim the carer's element of UC

poppy123456

You’re welcome. Yes, the person claiming carers allowance needs to stop claiming that before your husband can claim carers element. 

angieLove

Thank you for that.


"You can also report your health condition and provide fit notes. This will then start the work capability assessment process off. However, if found to have LCWRA then the same person can’t receive carers element at the same time so you will only be entitled to the higher element, which is the LCWRA. "

Regarding the above information, can you please help me understand these 2 points 

Will I have to ask to be assessed for LCWRA, or will they automatically do it themselves how will they know I need to apply?
Also
if I was to have LCWRA, will I not be able to claim the Carer's element for my child 

I appreciate all your help.

poppy123456

If you report your health condition, supported by a fit note then you will be referred for a work capability assessment, usually from day 29 of your claim. Once it's done you will receive a letter on your journal telling you they are referring you. A few days later you will receive the UC50 form in the post. This will need to be filled in and returned with all your additional supporting evidence. 

angieLove said:

if I was to have LCWRA, will I not be able to claim the Carer's element for my child 

No, because the same person can't receive both elements at the same time. In this case the highest element will be paid. 

Please also note, if there's entitlement to Transitional Protection from the start of your claim and you then go through the WCA you may not be any better off. The reason for this is because if other elements increase or you become entitled to other elements, then the TP will erode. Whether you will be better off will depend on how much your TP is. 

angieLove

Thank you for all your help poppy

angieLove

Hello how are you 
A quick update and some more advice needed please 
Thank you poppy for all your help you were right in everything you said.
I am now claiming UC, my award has stayed pretty much the same aside from a slight increase.
My question is that my studies will have finished in mid May and will resume again in late September 2024.
Can I claim Carer's allowance (CA)  from May to Sept '24.
If I claim Carer's allowance will I still receive the Carer's element of UC 
If I was to receive Carers allowance would it be deducted off my current award of Uc, or would it be deducted from all the benefits entitlement we will receive ie UC plus Carer's allowance then minus Carer's Allowance.

I guess my question is it worth applying for Carer's allowance.

I would really appreciate your help many thanks 

poppy123456

There's no financial gain to claiming Carers allowance and UC at the same time because it's just dedicated in full from any UC entitlement. 

You do not need to claim carers allowance to be entitled to carers element. If you claim carers allowance, it could take up to about 12 weeks for a decision. When you return to college in September the carers allowance will stop because you can't claim that as a full time student. Then you'll have the problem of UC deducting the carers allowance and they are not great at communicating with each other so your CA will stop but UC could still deduct it. Very often it's just a total nightmare.

For this reason I would advise against claiming CA and just claim carers element because there's no student rules for this like there is for CA. 

angieLove

Hello and thank you for prompt reply I understand its a taxable income and so it will be classed a income.

Thank you for your advice I won't claim CA.

poppy123456

No problem. Yes, CA is taxable income but for UC purposes it's not treated as earnings, it's unearned income, which is why it's deducted in full.