Seeking advice

Gfly381

I have wrote this before seeking advice just wondering if anyone has anymore advice on this as I can’t seem to find anything online

Hi everybody, hope everyone is keeping well, I have a question and if someone could help me answer it I would really appreciate it. 
I am currently 24 years old from Northern Ireland and I am out of work due to depression and anxiety, I am claiming esa and personal independent payments (PIP) for my disability, as I am claiming both of these benefits I don’t have to look for work.

I was interested in doing a part time course in my local collage, it is 3 hours one evening a week for 20 weeks, if I do this course It would be the first time in a few years that I will be in the public, therefore I don’t even know if I could be able to do it without my mental health getting in the way and quitting, but I feel like I would like to try it as I feel even worse at home not doing anything to progress with my recovery, the reason why I have picked this particular course is because it’s the one with the lest amount of hours than the rest of the courses. I would not be applying for any student loans or any financial help just sorely to get out of the house for 3 hours a week. I am on limited capability for work and work related activity and pips due to my mental health.

my question is would my benefits be affected if I done this part time course? 
Thank you so much for reading this! 


OverlyAnxious

Hi,

PIP won't be affected by this. It is not means tested. And I can't see a 3 hour/week course contradicting any of the descriptors that you may have scored points in as PIP is awarded based on the majority of days.

If you're getting LCWRA then you must be on Universal Credit, not ESA. As there's no money involved, UC won't be affected that way. However, for LWCRA you only need to satisfy one of the UC descriptors. It is possible that a college course could contradict that descriptor.

Generally most claimants will be ok doing this, just make sure the course can't be seen as a contradiction to the LWCRA award.

Gfly381

thanks for getting back to me I really appreciate it, since it’s a part time 3 hour course a week for 20 weeks and only a level 2 reward as a qualification do I need to inform uc about it?

OverlyAnxious

I don't think you need to inform UC about a part time course on LCWRA but not 100% sure.

They may get notified automatically when you join the course. If that happens they'll probably ask you to confirm the type of course it is in the journal. You could pre-empt that by letting them know beforehand if that would give you some peace of mind.

Gfly381

thank you, I’ve just recently passed my medical for LCWRA for the 2nd time and I’m just so afraid to ring them to ask incase they assume I am fit for work, I took interest in that course as it’s the least amount of hours and duration and honestly just something to work towards as my mental health is deteriorating being in my bedroom all day, I have also emailed the local collage to see if the course can be home studied and not face to face, just waiting on them getting back to me, thank you for your help I really do appreciate it!