Migrating from ESA to UC and filling out a UC50

Rachel1620

Okay, thank you for explaining that. So once she gets the migration letter, is it best for her to wait a while and migrate about half way through the 12 weeks given to do so? We did ours about 9 weeks in, but she doesn't want to leave it too close to the end of the 12 weeks given, thanks Rachel

poppy123456

It depends on whether she would be better off claiming UC. If her ESA includes the Severe disability Premium then she should wait until as late as possible to claim, as long as she claims by the date in the letter then it will be fine.

If it doesn't include the SDP then LCWRA for UC pays more than ESA Support Group if she's 25 or over so she shouldn't delay claiming.

Rachel1620

Yes, she does have the SDP included in her ESA, so she should wait.

When we did ours we had the SDP included in our ESA, but because we claimed for the carer's element, We have lost that SDP now. I believe that we have made ourselves worse off by doing that, but not sure by how much or why it affects it?

Thank you

RRachel

poppy123456

Yes she should wait. SDP is not paid when claiming UC. Instead you'll be entitled to Transitional Protection. When you migrate across they use the figures for your previous benefits and compare them with your maximum UC entitlement. If the UC is less than your previous benefits then TP will make up the difference.

For SDP you must either live alone or be treated as living alone and no one must be claiming either carers element of UC or carers allowance for looking after you. This still applies in your first UC assessment period.

If someone claims either of those benefits for looking after you during that first period, it will affect your TP. In this case it's advised to claim carers element In your 2nd assessment period. Although the additional carers element will reduce your TP by the same amount, you would still be better off doing it this way.

I didn't realise that your partner had claimed carers element in your first assessment period, otherwise I would have advised. You shouldn't have lost all of the TP, just some of it due to your partner claiming carers element for looking after you.

Rachel1620

We still got £444 transitional protection payment in our UC, even though we claimed for the carer's element. We both had an SDP and both claimed as each others carer, but only the one carer element payment is allowed. Our UC award has been checked by the citizens advice specialist benefit team and is deemed to be correct with the breakdown of payments we've received. Just think we may have made a mistake by claiming the care element during the first assessment period, but it's done now. Wish I'd found this site before we migrated, as I was clueless regarding the migration and how UC worked.

My sister won't be claiming a carer's element, as she lives on her own, but employs a team of carer's to give her the care she needs. I think the only other thing she needs to know is wether she has to make an appointment in advance to migrate using the text relay phone system, or can she just ring on the day she wants to migrate and do it there and then? It all seems very complicated compared to the old ESA system,

Thanks Rachel