ESA

lizptsd

Hi I've just been awarded LCWRA today. I've been dismissed from work with notice from the 17th May. Can I claim new style ESA in the support group from when my SSP end in May? We are on UC but as my Husband already gets LCWRA element we know that we will only get the one award. He also gets ESA in the support group which is taken off our UC. I have 41 full years NI for the tax years up to 2023 and up until I was signed off 24th November 2023 so I hope that is not a problem.
I haven't got a clue what's going on and what I can claim. I get PIP enhanced daily living and standard mobility.
Can you help please? 

poppy123456

Yes you can claim New style ESA now but payments won't start until SSP ends because both can't be claimed at the same time. They will look at your NI contributions from the previous 2 tax years.

Although you've been found to have LCWRA when you claim ESA there's a 13 week assessment period before the extra money is paid. As you're aware the ESA will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement so this may reduce your UC to zero but of course it will depend on your circumstances. 

If you're entitled to free NHS prescriptions/dental and eye tests because of UC if it ends then you will not automatically be entitled. You can look at applying for the NHS low Income scheme. 

lizptsd

Hi Poppy we get the Housing Element and I've worked out that that should not be affected if I apply for Esa. 
We already get help with the NHS 
Thanks so much for your help 

poppy123456

You will of course not be any financially better off by claiming it. One other thing for your UC. I noticed that you're claiming daily living PIP. As you've now been found to have LCWRA then your partner can claim carers element for looking after you. This is because the LCWRA element can be for you and the carers element for your partner. You would then be receiving your maximum UC entitlement because it will include 1 LCWRA and 1 carers element. 

lizptsd

Thanks Poppy that's a big help! Thank you for your advice 

Albus_Scope

Heya @Lozzza_333 and welcome to the community!

That sounds like a right pickle, sorry to hear you've had to go through all of that.  Unfortunately, the people you speak to on the phone are from a call centre and aren't always fully trained. Though it's very odd for them to refuse to speak to you.  I'm not 100% on ESA currently, but hopefully one of our super regulars will be able to give you some advice shortly.

poppy123456

Firstly when you ring any DWP department you're certainly not speaking to an advisor and they couldn't have done a benefits check for you. They are call centre staff with very little benefits knowledge other than to read from a screen in front of them. 

Are you 100% certain your ESA is the old contributions based and not New style? There were a lot of areas back in 2016 that would have been a full UC area so claiming the legacy benefits wouldn't have been possible. 

If it's the old contributions based then yes you can claim the income Related top up. 

This is rather complex so I'd advise you to get some expert advice from an agency near you. 

Lozzza_333

Thank you for your responses. 
I called ESA and requested a manager call me back. They said it would be within 3 days. 4 weeks later I rang again as no one had called me. They escalated it again on a 3 hr call back. 2 days later I received a call from the preston office? She said the main office are too busy so they had asked her to deal with the issue. She has been in the job 20yr but knew nothing about universal credit yet advised me to claim it as soon as the phone call ended. She read through my notes and also confirmed the date I notified the changes to housing benefit but said I was not entitled then or now to income top up. 

How do I find out if I am on old or new style? 
Is this the ultimate decider? If new style Im not entitled to top up so will need to claim UC?
If old style I am entitled to the top up and the disability element and would it be under a ‘supersession’? 
How do I get access to a manager at ESA? 

poppy123456

As it's ESA that person deals with I'm not surprised that she didn't know anything about UC. It's very different to ESA. Even those working with UC don't always know the rules.

The full UC service roll out started in May 2016 and each individual areas changed at different times. One way of checking is to ask google that question. Put into google the area you lived when you first claimed ESA, if you remember what date it was and it will tell you. I googled 2 areas where I've lived and it told me the date it became a full UC area. If that area was a full service area then it would be New style ESA that you're claiming. 

I'm not 100% sure if you ring ESA whether they would be able to tell you which ESA you're claiming and it's not obvious by the letters you receive because they are known for making no sense at all. 

Lozzza_333

Ive just had a quick google and pulled up manchester city council UC role out. It says only 8000 were on it in 2017, mainly people without health conditions. It rolled out in my specific are in 2018. So Im guessing I am on legacy Contribution ESA and entitled to the top up?
Do I call again and ask for a supersession? 

poppy123456

You don’t need to ask for a supersession. Before they can award the top up you will need to be assessed. For that to happen you will need to ask them to send you the ESA3 form. You will need to fill that out and return it. 

lizptsd

Sorry I'm a bit dim what do you mean by supersession and what is the assessment for as I've already been assessed 

poppy123456

lizptsd said:

Sorry I'm a bit dim what do you mean by supersession and what is the assessment for as I've already been assessed 

Sorry, I was answering questions from another member lozza, who asked questions on your thread. 

I’ve just asked a member of the admin team for their question to be made into a thread of its own. 

A supersession is when a decision maker changes the decision from an earlier date. 

lizptsd

Ok that's great thanks again Poppy 

Albus_Scope

Hi folks, I've moved @Lozzza_333 post here to stop any further confusion, but unfortunately the comments didn't move with it. Sorry for the messiness! 

Lozzza_333

sorry everyone, I had no idea I could create my own post. Ill post on the corrected one.