LCWRAG - Ability for some paid work without negatively impacting benefits.

kc1978

Sorry poppy was being a little sarcastic about the sanctions.
If you work I understand that they would deduct salary from the UC and LCWRA payment. However to get this you have to prove you would be at severe risk to your health also safety.
I guess if you are supported to work and low paid deductions won't be huge but give a feeling of purpose.
I do know though an employer would have to be open with liability insurers about the risks and management. If something went wrong. Insurance premiums would be effected. When I could work certain things I did effected the insurance substantially, from when able bodied.
I do think though, some of these rules etc are why people get frustrated.
Get Full PIP, UC with LCWRA but working 20 hours paid.
They don't get that there are deductions for every £1 earned over the base
Maybe a system of a minimum living cost. If you earn over that it's deducted. I don't know how a great system would look. Cause I don't think there is a Great system anywhere to look upto or aspire to
I know grants available to support disabled people into work are also provided.
A friend got a lot of grant help, which was amazing when they were able to return full time.
To be honest I'd give it all back to get back into work, pre disability I was earning alot. Paying 40% tax on a good portion and now worrying will I have enough to pay everything. Savings disappeared on equipment , bills, mortgage until I was able claim
Id give all but minimum wage to charity if I got my health and abilities back.
I just think that many see that we are getting huge amounts of cash and are lazy and unwilling, which is so far from the truth. Every person I talk to would give anything to work live a normal life.
Shows though, I was told by the job centre not to do work

So my advice was wrong. Not that I could at present.
I would love do a day body swap, so they could experience 24 hours as me.

Think they would be more understanding, and less judgemental.Was only saying the advice I was given by Job centre.
Thanks for your clarification on the reality.

K

poppy123456

@kc1978 you don’t need to prove there’s a severe risk to your health or safety. You’ve already proved that you have LCWRA by going through the WCA .

You do need to be careful that the work you do doesn’t contradict the reasons why you’re claiming LCWRA but that was already advised earlier in the thread.

For deductions for earnings it’s 55p for every £1 of earnings received above the work allowance. Earnings up to the work allowance mean you’ll keep the whole of your maximum UC entitlement.

PIP is irrelevant because it’s not affected by earnings.

kc1978

Sorry poppy was being a little sarcastic about the sanctions.

If you work I understand that they would deduct salary from the UC and LCWRA payment. However to get this you have to prove you would be at severe risk to your health also safety.

I guess if you are supported to work and low paid deductions won't be huge but give a feeling of purpose.

I do know though an employer would have to be open with liability insurers about the risks and management. If something went wrong. Insurance premiums would be effected. When I could work certain things I did effected the insurance substantially, from when able bodied.

I do think though, some of these rules etc are why people get frustrated.

Get Full PIP, UC with LCWRA but working 20 hours paid.

They don't get that there are deductions for every £1 earned over the base

Maybe a system of a minimum living cost. If you earn over that it's deducted. I don't know how a great system would look. Cause I don't think there is a Great system anywhere to look upto or aspire to

I know grants available to support disabled people into work are also provided.

A friend got a lot of grant help, which was amazing when they were able to return full time.

To be honest I'd give it all back to get back into work, pre disability I was earning alot. Paying 40% tax on a good portion and now worrying will I have enough to pay everything. Savings disappeared on equipment , bills, mortgage until I was able claim

Id give all but minimum wage to charity if I got my health and abilities back.

I just think that many see that we are getting huge amounts of cash and are lazy and unwilling, which is so far from the truth. Every person I talk to would give anything to work live a normal life.

Shows though, I was told by the job centre not to do work .... So my advice was wrong. Not that I could at present.

I would love do a day body swap, so they could experience 24 hours as me. Think they would be more understanding, and less judgemental.

Was only saying the advice I was given by Job centre.

Thanks for your clarification on the reality

kc1978

I understand pip is not effected, but I understand some of the negativity.

I get UC PIP LCWRA , and as I said I was saying the advice I was given by Job centre.

The high risk I mentioned was relating to LCWRA. If your that high risk, employers have by health and safety law got to insure and address each risk to protect the employee and the others.

That is law also.

I think it could be an interesting research, as I would be certain, that risk assessment, all protections and plans are in place reviewed recorded. Valid insurance communications and liabilities.

I think it would be quite eye opening to see how many meet health and safety at work act in regards to these as you say already identified high risk to health or individual safety are even considered.

Unless you have seen some research, I'd love seeing.

chris1717

Hello, OK I am going to try and bring back in focus the leanings here. Firstly, though it is vital that all understand that the DWP Job Center Staffing have no responsibility to inform / advise claimant correctly of rights to entitlement etc. Instead, they repeatedly inform for a claimant to seek expert guidance etc. Therefore, this possibly depends on the individual a claimant meets with, however, I would strongly recommend obtaining from a sep resource.

Therefore, at present I understand that I have a right to explore a small monthly income up to my LCWRAG allowance. This allowance in my situation could be £673 but I think it was Rosie who shared that she was not sure if my nominal Housing Cost of £50 per month mainly related to insurance costs and ground rent etc would therefore oddly place me in the lower paid work allowance of approximately £400 for the benefit of £50 referenced as a Housing Benefit cost etc.

I understand the reasons why I obtained / awarded LCWRAG and some of these issues have improved since with new medications but the connected side effects are further new negatives.

Overall though I have multiple health issues one being APD Audio Processing Disorder which is defined as a disability and I was finally diagnosed in late 2023, so I am hoping to test drive opportunities outdoors to see how I cope but need to balance my fatigue issues which are also being explored, to include PTSD CBT therapy for severe depression and anxiety.

Personally, I think I need a steady routine with some activity but not a full day etc to prevent a boom bust scenario and therefore why this connected LCWRAG paid work could be a good option for me to explore tentatively etc.

I will not be exploring alone as this is too much for me to try and do and therefore in the early stages of trying to improve understanding and also identify how the Scope Disability connected teams or departments can help me here, which is presently at a first early point stage by face to face appointments with my second coming later this week.

Therefore much of what I am trying to identify here is to ensure I understand my position as best as possible to manage needs and prevent UC making issues etc. If I can understand correctly then my anxiety that my benefits could be suddenly pulled or changed will be managed as best I can.

Thank you to all who have helped here so far. Much appreciated. Presently awaiting the connected Rosie update to identify if my £50 Housing Benefit will cancel out the higher £673 allowance etc.

C

kc1978

I learnt huge amount and big lesson don't take what work coach says. Seek 2nd opinion.

Hope it works out. Good luck

Rosie_Scope

Hi @chris1717, sorry it's taken me a while to get back to you. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find much clear information about this area. But from what I understand, receiving any support with housing costs however small will put you in the bracket for the £404 work allowance rather than the larger amount.

I wonder whether a benefits advisor might be able to help you here. You could try seeing if there's anyone in your area that might be able to take a look at all your details and clear things up for you. Advicelocal have a directory that might be worth a look. 😊

chris1717

Hello Rosie, Thank you. It does seem a little odd. However to start with I will work with the lower level of £400 pm as my brief with my connected Scope Disability Adviser face to face Employment Extra initial face to face appointments.

The £400 pm allowance works at at about 7.6 hours at the LLW of £13.15 hr. If I could find something from 8:30am to 12:30pm for Monday and Tuesday this would be 8 hours a week and push me to a paid employee income of £420 minus connected deductions.

Therefore this £420 would be a test to see if they begin to taper my benefits etc.

In addition, I can seek separate advice on a particular opportunity being identified.

At present, I think testing approx 8 hours a week is a safe trial step and even if I could obtain a higher pay rate of £20 hr for example that would be £640, which practically if you add my 50 housing cost at £ 690, so marginally breaking through the £673 higher rate allowance which I think it would be unreasonable able to deprive of etc.

I think I have the best next step knowledge information I can presently access for now.

Thank you to you and all who have helped here. If and when I learn more I will update here.

C

Rosie_Scope

No problem at all. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do next @chris1717 😊 do keep us posted with how you get on!

poppy123456

Services charges are still treated as housing costs and I can't find anything to suggest you would be entitled to the higher work allowance in your case.

Please be aware that your UC entitlement is based on earnings received each assessment period.

Therefore if you're paid 4 weekly from your employer there will be 1 month a year where you'll receive earnings twice during that month.

If paid fortnightly there will be twice a year where you'll receive 3 wages in your AP.

If paid weekly there will be 4 times a year where you'll receive 5 earnings in your AP.

During those months your UC could be less or even reduced to zero depending on what earnings you receive and what your maximum UC entitlement is.

If a UC claim is reduced to zero through earnings your claim will remain open for 6 months.

See link.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-earnings#:~:text=Your%20Universal%20Credit%20payment%20will,your%20wages%20affect%20your%20payments.