Will claiming CB end ESA (not for a baby)

tomato_soz

Good evening

Quite literally asking for a friend. Their child's mother is unwell and he looks after their children full time. He is unwell and recieved ESA couples rate (income related), SDP, HB, PIP. His partner is his carer and gets PIP also. Their circumstances haven't changed. They already look after his children full time which has increased from shared care over the years. Previously, the childrens mother has always claimed CB and working tax credits, then UC. She has said he can claim child benefit for their children so that is not contested. But will this trigger a claim for UC, like having a new baby would? Would he lose transitional protection? He currently claims no benefit for being a parent and is worried that because there is no such thing as child tax credits now (?) he would be made to claim UC in order to provide for the children and have an extra bedroom included for housing purposes. Would he be better off with them included on a UC claim or can you claim CB and no UC? What's the best way to claim so they are not worse off? They are financially OK without the money so far but wouldn't turn their nose up at anything else that could help.

Thank you.

tomato_soz

There are two children BTW

poppy123456

Child benefit isn't part of UC so it will not trigger a move across. Is the mother still claiming benefits for the children? If they are not living with her the majority of the time she shouldn't be claiming them anyway. Same applies for the extra bedroom for them if she's claiming for help with any rent.

Once she stops claiming then he can make a claim for child benefit. If he wants to claim extra money for the children then they will need to make a claim for UC. Once they submit the claim for UC their Income Related ESA and HB will stop after 2 weeks. Which 2 child elements included with UC they couldn't possibly be worse off.

Who's the main claimant and which group are they in for ESA WRAG or Support Group? Which one claims carers allowance?

tomato_soz

Thank you so much for your help - I didn't ask for any more info so this is all I know. Their mum has lung disease and I don't think she will get better. I think they've read something online and misinterpreted it so this is really helpful.