LCWRA and self employed

Cazi

Good morning. I had LCWRA confirmed recently. I’m self employed but got my first fit note on 22/12/23. I know there will be no extra payment (if at all) until next month. 

For the last 4 months although I’ve earned £0, UC have taken my expected earnings (minimum income floor) as £451.53. This made my UC payment as £99.56 per month to live on for the last 4 months. Would there be any backpay due to my actual earnings being £0?
I'm sinking further into debt as I’m not entitled to ESA due to non payment of National Insurance back in the 90’s.
Many thanks for any advice. 

Cazi

TheManFromLondon said:

[Comment removed at posters request]

Thank you for your help. I’ve been self employed for the last 15 years but had to stop work in December.

poppy123456

Yes you should be owed some money because the minimum income floor will no longer apply to you. You will also have the work allowance now, if you didn’t previously have it. This means you can receive a certain amount of earnings each month before any deductions apply. 

If you claim for help with the rent then it will be £404/month, if you don’t it will be £673/month. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/work-allowance-universal-credit

When the LCWRA element is paid from will depend on what date you usually receive your money.

TheManFromLondon said:

Cazi said:

TheManFromLondon said:

[Post removed as requested by author] 

Thank you for your help. I’ve been self employed for the last 15 years but had to stop work in December.

In any case, try sending this journal message, hopefully to get your backpay, but I worry if you remain as self employed, they can say their estimation is for a 12 months period, maybe not based on physical year and delay your backpay.

Being April (and I hate to sound like a broken record) is beneficial to stop self employment, as you have zero earning so far. This is the only way to corner UC and get your money at this point, and when/if you get more than £1000 you get back to self employment.

I have. I idea what you mean by this ^^

There’s  no harm in continuing to be self employed now they have LCWRA. The minimum Income floor doesn’t apply when you have LCW/LCWRA. UC is based on earnings received each month so as self employed you need to report earnings and expenses on the last day of each assessment period. 

It’s really important that you check the advice your giving is correct before advising. 

Albus_Scope

Heya @Cazi and welcome to the community. 

I can see you're already receiving some help here, but I just wanted to pop in and say hello.

Cazi

Albus_Scope said:

Heya @Cazi and welcome to the community. 

I can see you're already receiving some help here, but I just wanted to pop in and say hello.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it

Cazi

poppy123456 said:

Yes you should be owed some money because the minimum income floor will no longer apply to you. You will also have the work allowance now, if you didn’t previously have it. This means you can receive a certain amount of earnings each month before any deductions apply. 

If you claim for help with the rent then it will be £404/month, if you don’t it will be £673/month. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/work-allowance-universal-credit

When the LCWRA element is paid from will depend on what date you usually receive your money.

TheManFromLondon said:

Cazi said:

TheManFromLondon said:

[Comment removed at request of author]

Thank you for your help. I’ve been self employed for the last 15 years but had to stop work in December.

In any case, try sending this journal message, hopefully to get your backpay, but I worry if you remain as self employed, they can say their estimation is for a 12 months period, maybe not based on physical year and delay your backpay.

Being April (and I hate to sound like a broken record) is beneficial to stop self employment, as you have zero earning so far. This is the only way to corner UC and get your money at this point, and when/if you get more than £1000 you get back to self employment.

I have. I idea what you mean by this ^^

There’s  no harm in continuing to be self employed now they have LCWRA. The minimum Income floor doesn’t apply when you have LCW/LCWRA. UC is based on earnings received each month so as self employed you need to report earnings and expenses on the last day of each assessment period. 

It’s really important that you check the advice your giving is correct before advising. 

Thank you very much. This makes sense. Appreciate it

poppy123456

Cazi said:

poppy123456 said:

Yes you should be owed some money because the minimum income floor will no longer apply to you. You will also have the work allowance now, if you didn’t previously have it. This means you can receive a certain amount of earnings each month before any deductions apply. 

If you claim for help with the rent then it will be £404/month, if you don’t it will be £673/month. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/work-allowance-universal-credit

When the LCWRA element is paid from will depend on what date you usually receive your money.

TheManFromLondon said:

Cazi said:

TheManFromLondon said:

[Comment removed at request of author]

Thank you for your help. I’ve been self employed for the last 15 years but had to stop work in December.

In any case, try sending this journal message, hopefully to get your backpay, but I worry if you remain as self employed, they can say their estimation is for a 12 months period, maybe not based on physical year and delay your backpay.

Being April (and I hate to sound like a broken record) is beneficial to stop self employment, as you have zero earning so far. This is the only way to corner UC and get your money at this point, and when/if you get more than £1000 you get back to self employment.

I have. I idea what you mean by this ^^

There’s  no harm in continuing to be self employed now they have LCWRA. The minimum Income floor doesn’t apply when you have LCW/LCWRA. UC is based on earnings received each month so as self employed you need to report earnings and expenses on the last day of each assessment period. 

It’s really important that you check the advice your giving is correct before advising. 

Thank you very much. This makes sense. Appreciate it

You’re very welcome. If you can tell me what date you usually receive your UC each month then I can tell you what date you will start to receive the LCWRA element. 

Cazi

poppy123456 said:

Cazi said:

poppy123456 said:

Yes you should be owed some money because the minimum income floor will no longer apply to you. You will also have the work allowance now, if you didn’t previously have it. This means you can receive a certain amount of earnings each month before any deductions apply. 

If you claim for help with the rent then it will be £404/month, if you don’t it will be £673/month. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/work-allowance-universal-credit

When the LCWRA element is paid from will depend on what date you usually receive your money.

TheManFromLondon said:

Cazi said:

TheManFromLondon said:

[Comment removed at request of author]

Thank you for your help. I’ve been self employed for the last 15 years but had to stop work in December.

In any case, try sending this journal message, hopefully to get your backpay, but I worry if you remain as self employed, they can say their estimation is for a 12 months period, maybe not based on physical year and delay your backpay.

Being April (and I hate to sound like a broken record) is beneficial to stop self employment, as you have zero earning so far. This is the only way to corner UC and get your money at this point, and when/if you get more than £1000 you get back to self employment.

I have. I idea what you mean by this ^^

There’s  no harm in continuing to be self employed now they have LCWRA. The minimum Income floor doesn’t apply when you have LCW/LCWRA. UC is based on earnings received each month so as self employed you need to report earnings and expenses on the last day of each assessment period. 

It’s really important that you check the advice your giving is correct before advising. 

Thank you very much. This makes sense. Appreciate it

You’re very welcome. If you can tell me what date you usually receive your UC each month then I can tell you what date you will start to receive the LCWRA element. 

I get paid on the 22nd of the month. Much appreciated 

Cazi

poppy123456 said:

Cazi said:

poppy123456 said:

Yes you should be owed some money because the minimum income floor will no longer apply to you. You will also have the work allowance now, if you didn’t previously have it. This means you can receive a certain amount of earnings each month before any deductions apply. 

If you claim for help with the rent then it will be £404/month, if you don’t it will be £673/month. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/work-allowance-universal-credit

When the LCWRA element is paid from will depend on what date you usually receive your money.

TheManFromLondon said:

Cazi said:

TheManFromLondon said:

[Comment removed at request of author]

Thank you for your help. I’ve been self employed for the last 15 years but had to stop work in December.

In any case, try sending this journal message, hopefully to get your backpay, but I worry if you remain as self employed, they can say their estimation is for a 12 months period, maybe not based on physical year and delay your backpay.

Being April (and I hate to sound like a broken record) is beneficial to stop self employment, as you have zero earning so far. This is the only way to corner UC and get your money at this point, and when/if you get more than £1000 you get back to self employment.

I have. I idea what you mean by this ^^

There’s  no harm in continuing to be self employed now they have LCWRA. The minimum Income floor doesn’t apply when you have LCW/LCWRA. UC is based on earnings received each month so as self employed you need to report earnings and expenses on the last day of each assessment period. 

It’s really important that you check the advice your giving is correct before advising. 

Thank you very much. This makes sense. Appreciate it

You’re very welcome. If you can tell me what date you usually receive your UC each month then I can tell you what date you will start to receive the LCWRA element. 

I get paid on the 22nd and my dates are the 16th to the 15th of each month. Thank you so much.

poppy123456

If there were no gaps in your fit notes until a decision was made then your waiting period will be...
Jan/Feb, Feb/March, March/April.. LCWRA starts from assessment period 16th April to 15th May and first payment will be 22nd May. 

The work allowance will apply from assessment period 16th Dec to 15th Jan and the same will apply for the Minimum Income Floor. 

Money owed will be paid as a separate payment and often takes quite a few weeks to pay it. They will recalculate your past statements first to work out how much you've been paid against what you should have been paid. You will then receive the difference between the two. Once that's done you will receive letter on your journal and the money will be paid into your bank. 

Please also note that once the statements are recalculated they will replace your exciting ones so you may want to take copies of those now before you lose them.