Hi, my name is charger7! ESA support group and UC50 form

charger7
charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

I've heard people in the support group of ESA transfering to universal credit are getting sent uc50 forms as a means to see what people can do can someone please tell me if I'm wrong

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  • Rachel_Scope
    Rachel_Scope Posts: 1,656 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Hi @charger7 and welcome to the community. I found this information:

    If you migrate from ESA to UC, then any existing decisions about your ability to work should migrate with you.

    If you are in the ESA Work-Related Activity Group (WRAG), you should be awarded the Limited Capability for Work element when you move to UC. If you were receiving a payment for being in the WRAG group (because you were placed in that group before 6/4/2017) you will receive a similar payment on UC.  If you are in the Support Group for ESA, then you should be awarded the Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity element when you move to UC.  This is currently worth £390.06 per month.   

    These elements will apply as soon as your claim starts, and you should not have to wait for the ‘relevant period’ (three months) that a new UC claimant would generally have to wait for before they can receive these elements. 

    I'm not sure if people are being sent UC50 forms but I'm sure one of our members will be able to share their experience.

  • charger7
    charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

    Yeah thanks for the info and if I receive UC 50 form I'll let everyone know

  • charger7
    charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

    Thank you Rachel for all the info I'm starting my claim tomorrow I'll see how things go

  • Morgan_Scope
    Morgan_Scope Posts: 541 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    How did you find the claim process @charger7? Let us know if there is anything you are unsure of or need help with.

  • charger7
    charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

    I've submitted my claim just waiting to see what happens now found it quite easy to do online had a bit of help with questions off citizens advice and what to say with me been in support group about work search bit stressful at times but will update on here soon as I hear anything incase other people have to do the same

  • charger7
    charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

    Hi I had telephone assessment over the phone had to apply for New style ESA and UC they told me I don't have to look for work placed into lcwra group but what surprised me this time every time I've wca assessment I've getting a letter to how long my award would be this time Got nothing like that so it's making me think that because of the new green paper coming out in the spring that they have definitely got plans for disabled to look for work because I have not received an award length which means they can get me in at any point next year when they please I hope I'm wrong but strange how I have not received an award length by letter and they are removing mobility descriptor next year moving the goal posts to suit them I'm an amputee but because I can Push myself about in wheelchair it won't count no more so the Vibe is they planning getting as many people off with mobility problems as possible

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 62,397 Championing
    edited December 8

    If part of your ESA was contributions based, this will continue but it will revert to New style ESA, you do not have to claim it yourself. You will receive a letter in the post at some point to tell you.

    Income Related ESA will continue for 2 weeks and then stop. If all of your claim was Income Related and you haven't worked in the previous 2 tax years you won't qualify for New style ESA.

    You won't receive any letters for UC in the post because everything will be through your journal, including any letters. I wouldn't expect you to receive a letter telling you that you've been found to have LCWRA because you were already in the Support Group.

    For UC you won't know what your entitlement is until you have your statement at the end of your first assessment period. Assessment periods start on the date you submitted your claim and last for 30 days each month. For example, if you submitted your claim on 15th Nov your assessment periods each month will be 15th to the 14th, with payment date being 21st of every month, unless payment date falls on a weekend or a bank holiday and then you'll receive payment on the last working day before. A day or 2 after the end of each assessment period you will receive a statement on your journal, this will include all the elements you're entitled to, any Transitional Protection you maybe entitled to, as well as any deductions, if applicable. It will also tell you how much will be paid into your bank that month.

    As for an award length, LCWRA and Support Group are both ongoing awards and I wouldn't expect there to be any details of award length on any letters you receive. There's no changes at the moment for the WCA and if there will be, it will be quite sometime before any changes will happen, it will not be done overnight.

  • durhamjaide2001
    durhamjaide2001 Scope Member Posts: 12,377 Championing

    thank you for sharing this link with us as it means I should be able to help more community members

  • charger7
    charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

    Yeah thanks for that yes it's contribution based I didn't have to fill UC 50 form out and have been placed in group that doesn't need to look for work only thing that's bugging me I waited weeks expecting a form with my New award to see how long was entitled to get it, that's why I didn't put a comment on here until I was sure about award form but didn't get one and with changes next year in the spring it's gets you thinking

  • charger7
    charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

    Yes it's says in my journal that they will let me know on the 16th how much I will be getting and Will be paid on the 20th so you're probably right that everything will be through my journal now

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 62,397 Championing

    It's not a new award though because you were already in the Support Group for ESA when you claimed UC.

    If it's a letter from ESA that you're referring too then I would expect you to receive one from them with a breakdown of what's included in the calculation but there won't be anything on there to tell you how long the award is for. They never state that on any letter because it's an ongoing award, until a new decision says otherwise. It has no end date.

    Your ESA fortnightly amount will be £276.40. The amount deducted from UC for the ESA will be £598.86/month. This is because ESA is a weekly benefit and UC is monthly. There's 4.3 weeks in a month, not 4 weeks. To work out the monthly deduction you times the weekly amount by 52 and then divide by 12.

  • charger7
    charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

    Yeah thanks for the info and if anything changes I will let people know on here cos I've been reading what the government is targeting for the back to work plan next year it's listed 8 conditions they're targeting for the back to work plan from mental health and muscular skeletal etc and dunno if people watched the program on channel 4 last week dispatches it looks like the government are hell bent on revamping the sickness benefits come spring next year

  • Kimmy87
    Kimmy87 Online Community Member Posts: 1,637 Trailblazing
    edited December 8

    Labour have said they are committed to the welfare cost savings they inherited from Tories, but that they will be achieving it their own way.

    They haven't yet released their plans, as you say Spring is the earliest we can expect to see what direction they want to go.

    Please provide a source that confirms what you've written about 8 conditions being targeted?

    That sounds to me more like the defunct plans from previous Conservative Government.

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 62,397 Championing

    What ever changes are planned it will be quite sometime before they will be put into place. You keep saying next Spring but the changes will not be put into place by then.

  • charger7
    charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

    Yeah probably will take time to implement it ive read it on Yahoo news it's only a Day old if you want to read it

  • charger7
    charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

    It's on Wales online dated 7 th December about 8 conditions the government are targeting for back to work plan if that helps

  • Kimmy87
    Kimmy87 Online Community Member Posts: 1,637 Trailblazing
    edited December 8

    https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/eight-health-issues-dwp-want-30518505

    Thank you I've read the article.

    Let's see.

    The Labour blueprint have identified some conditions driving up the cost of PIP.

    PIP is not even an out of work benefit.

    There is no suggestion that these conditions will be targeted as a reason to remove PIP from people.

    Mental health and seven various MSK conditions are mentioned- that's where the headline 8 comes from!

    Speculative, sloppy and ill informed journalism IMO. Article has very little substance.

    Perhaps it was an AI written article!

  • charger7
    charger7 Online Community Member Posts: 17 Listener

    Yeah possibly but I had to let people know as bad as it sounds I just hope it's all scare tactics and not buttering us up for whats to come

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 62,397 Championing

    This is one of those articles where you should just pass on by and not read it.

  • Rosie_Scope
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 4,654 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Hi @charger7, Kimmy's made some great points about this article. It's always best to be very wary of what you read on certain news websites. Some local sites especially those ending in 'online' or 'live' can contain very misleading articles that are often written to get people feeling worried or angry.

    The headlines are designed to get people clicking to bring in money and aren't usually drawn from any solid information sources. That article from Wales Online uses another newspaper as one of the sources of it's information, which in turn uses another newspaper as its source. Both those source newspapers are writing similarly misleading articles with not much to back up their claims. All of them are owned by the same company.

    We don't yet know what the government have planned for sickness benefits, so anything you read from now until the government release more information is just speculation. It can be pretty alarming to read these headlines, but it is best to avoid reading too much into them if you can.

    We hope to have some more solid information from the Government in the Spring 😊