UC/ESA

boyblue
boyblue Community member Posts: 15 Listener
edited November 4 in Benefits and income

Hi all. I'm just wondering if someone could give me clarity on 2 things that I am concerned about relating to UC?

The first is, I'm sure, simple for you guys who are switched on with these things.

A friend of mine is currently on ESA, HB, PiP and disability premium. She needs to move house but is not able to claim HB so will have to do a UC claim. It seems that her legacy benefits will continue for 2 weeks from the UC claim date then, according to what we can find on the internet, there will be a 5 week delay before she gets her UC payment. Does this mean she will have a period where she wont get any money at all so it wont be backdated to cover the missing 5 weeks. in effect she is being left with no support for that period?

the 2nd query is related to myself. I applied for UC august 7th 2023, whilst still in work, as my sick pay had expired and only had SSP. Due to circumstances I was put back onto full pay so all my assessments were for £0. When I completed my application i wrote the following.

7th Aug 23 "Can I please apply for a budgeting loan
and can i also apply for LCW as I have been off sick well over 18 months which i have sick notes for."

I heard nothing back from this, so wrote.

14th Sept 23 "Good Afternoon, I have completed my to do list however i was unaware there was anything outstanding so it is 1 day late.
also I have been off work sick for a considerable length of time I have been informed that i may be entitled to a different benefit. I have previously mentioned this but have not heard anything back. could you please help with this?"

I received this back..

20 Sept 2023 at 4:01pm Hi A… You may be able to refer you for a work capability assessment to see if you are eligible for further support but you would need an up to date fit note to do this. Your fit note expired on 30/8/23. Do you have another fit note to report on your account.

I then had no interaction through my journal until my circumstances changed again in march 24. Consequently I completed a change of circumstance on my journal this took some weeks and on the 29th April 24 I called UC and asked what was happening and again mentioned the ESA that no one had addressed. I received the following from UC after the call..

29 Apr 2024 at 5:00pm
We spoke today; I've asked that your Case Manager, Catherine, or one of their colleagues looks at your case and responds to the questions you raised. They will respond by 30 April, before 6 pm. This will usually be via your Journal, but if a complex explanation is required they may contact you on your provided telephone number.

No one had been in touch so i sent another message..

3 May 2024 at 6:50am
i was told someone would be in touch by 6pm on the 30/5/2024 however I am still waiting for contact 3/5/2024.

They then called me that afternoon, where again I asked about ESA and discussed some other concerns. I was also asked to send some other sick notes from a missing period I stated that I had sent them direct to the JC and could they investigate. Later that day I received this..

3 May 2024 at 5:05pm
Hi Please visit - https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance. (opens in new tab)
Regards

I continued to provide fit notes and have my work search reviews and voiced, numerous times whilst on the calls, that I have heard nothing about ESA. but I kept getting told there is no point as the money would just be taken from my UC so there is no benefit. I was then sent a message in my journal..

Saturday 27 July 2024 at 2:20pm We need to know if your health conditions or disability affect your ability to work or carry out work-related activity. You will receive a letter and a Capability for Work (UC50) questionnaire in the post. You will be asked questions about any physical or mental health conditions you have and how they affect you. If we decide you are not capable of work, we will not ask you to search for work or be available for work. If we also decide you are not capable of work-related activity, you may get extra money.

a couple of months ago I received a letter saying my work capability form had not been returned. so i wrote a note..

27 Aug 2024 at 4:07pm
Good Afternoon I have recently had a letter saying I have not completed my health review and it is time limited. I am concerned as I have not received any forms to complete, can someone please advise?

This was responded to, eventually!!..

9 Sept 2024 at 4:35pm
Hi A…, You can print out a UC50 Health Form to then fill out and send. In your search engine > UC50 form: Universal Credit capability for work questionnaire. Alternatively you can visit the job centre to have someone print out this for you. Kind regards.

after doing this i obviously completed and sent the form, after a few weeks I then posted a note on my journal..

10 Oct 2024 at 3:13pm
Good afternoon. I have still not had any word about my ESA claim, can you please let me know how long this usually takes and let me know where it is up to ? Thank You

There was then a brief exchange between myself and the work coach..

10 Oct 2024 at 5:04pm Hi A…, What is it that you're trying to find out about regarding your ESA? Kind regards.

13 Oct 2024 at 5:38pm
hi Just wondering if I have been put on ESA?

15 Oct 2024 at 4:16pm
Hi A..., You haven't got a claim to NS ESA. You can make a claim but you won't get anything extra. Kind regards.

A few days after that I received a call from work capability assessors who went through all my problems and have sent the assessment to DWP for decision.

Now I'm not sure what the position is regarding when I may or may not be entitled. I have read it is when you first supply sick notes, then I've also read its when your assessment is completed and then its 3 months after your assessment, I'm so confused!

Can anyone provide me with a little clarity .. please?





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Comments

  • Kimmy87
    Kimmy87 Community member Posts: 1,340 Trailblazing
    edited November 3

    Question 1)

    After applying for UC, your friend will receive one final payment of HB & ESA 2 weeks later.

    3 weeks after that, the first UC payment will be received (UC is paid one month in arrears).

    Question 2) If you are found to have LCWRA there is a 13 week waiting period where no money is paid.

    So assuming you have supplied continuous Fit Notes, you will be entitled to back pay starting 13 weeks after the date you supplied the first Fit Note.

    New Style ESA is administered outside of the UC system.

    Have you actually claimed NS ESA?

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-employment-and-support-allowance#how-to-apply

    NS ESA is deducted in full from UC (598 odd) but it can be useful to claim both.

    It's paid fortnightly, gives a higher class of NI Contributions, and as a contribution based benefit isn't effected by a change if circumstances such as an inheritance which ends entitlement to UC.

    Should you qualify later again, your ESA status would carry over & bypass the UC WCA process.

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 61,768 Championing

    Your friend.. When they move house if they are remaining within the same local Authority then they can remain on their existing benefits. They will only need to claim UC if they are moving to a different local authority.

    Yourself.. Having read through all of that it seems like you haven't actually claimed New style ESA and you've just claimed UC. You're getting confused by both ESA and UC.

    The waiting period for the LCWRA element isn't 13 weeks, it's 3 full assessment periods starting from when you provided your first fit note. It's then paid from the 4th month, with first payment being the end of that month.

    However, if there's any gaps in your fit notes up until a decision is made on your work capability assessment this can affect when the extra money is paid from. Reading through that it seems like there are some gaps in your fit notes.

  • boyblue
    boyblue Community member Posts: 15 Listener

    Thanks for the replies.

    @poppy123456 Thanks poppy. My friend isn't moving in the same local authority she will be needing to claim the HB. she is just worried about how long she will be without money.

    There are no gaps in the fit notes they have had fit notes that cover from the day I made my UC claim till present, where there was a gap earlier in the year, because the notes I had sent via mail went missing??, I have given them duplicates and they were accepted.

    @Kimmy87 Thanks Kimmy. I have no idea if I claimed the ESA. I asked about claiming it a number of times but I never got a definitive answer. I was led to believe that after supplying sick notes then you automatically move to ESA have a WCA then get put in a work group. Told you I was confused!! lol and as much as you have both tried to help, I'm still confused!

  • Kimmy87
    Kimmy87 Community member Posts: 1,340 Trailblazing
    edited November 3

    You have claimed Universal Credit, which replaced Income Related ESA.

    You need to apply separately for New Style ESA (which replaces Contribution Based ESA) using the link I posted.

    New Style ESA is not administered by Universal Credit.

    Entitlement does depend on NI Contributions within a certain time frame, so you may or may not be eligible.

  • boyblue
    boyblue Community member Posts: 15 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/935621#Comment_935621

    Thank You.

    Does that mean that my "3 full assessment periods" starts only from when I have completed the application?

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 61,768 Championing

    You have access to a journal, why are you sending fit notes through the post? When providing fit notes you should log into your journal and click provide a fit note and then provide the details of that fit note.

    Fit notes must be continuous, which means once one ends you must provide another. With the gap, yes it was accepted but it will be down to a decision maker to decide whether to accept that gap when deciding when the extra money is paid from, if found to have LCWRA.

  • boyblue
    boyblue Community member Posts: 15 Listener

    @poppy123456 because at the time i was unable to use my journal.

    I know that they should be continuous, so despite them having the sick notes for the period they are still able to say I wasn't sick? If that's the case then I haven't even been 2 weeks in my assessment period as my GP does not deem Fit notes a "priority", rightly so, and will take for ever to actually complete them. they are invariably late. Also due to my condition on occasion I have forgotten its due. 🤷

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 61,768 Championing

    Part of the rules are, fit notes must be continuous without any gaps. You'll need to wait until a decision is made and see what happens. If they don't accept the gaps, you can try explaining what happened and see what they say. More often than not, they refuse.

  • durhamjaide2001
    durhamjaide2001 Scope Member Posts: 11,976 Championing

    I don't know anything about your situation but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry to hear that you had lots of back and forwards and I hope you get sorted soon. Keep us updated please

  • boyblue
    boyblue Community member Posts: 15 Listener

    Thank You!

  • boyblue
    boyblue Community member Posts: 15 Listener

    So I have had my decision following my WCA last week and I have been assessed as having LCWRA. I had to accept new commitments etc.

    There was however no mention of when it will be paid from so I have no idea how long I may have to wait for the additional money.

    Thank You for being here everyone.

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