Hi, my name is Be_kind2000!

Be_kind2000

help please. I’m

Sisters appointee & she is currently receiving ESA in the support group along with PIP and housing benefit… she has mental health issues ie borderline personality disorder & also suffers from severe asthma & fibromyalgia. However due to her mental illness she sometimes (a lot of times) acts impulsive and puts herself in vulnerable positions so she ended up pregnant and wanted to keep the baby and everyone in the family is supporting her as she’s not fit to look after the baby on her own. She was entitled to severe disability payment included in her ESA just yo be clear however iv not found out she will not be entitled to any extra income for the baby as she is on esa & you can’t claim child tax credits or child benefit whilst on ESA.

Now I know she can change & apply for universal credits but when I’m looking at this for her it says you will get child benefit & child element but she will lose her severe disability payments due to the child elements which means instead of being financially better off and having added expenses for the baby she will

Now be worse off and have a baby to look after.. can someone please give me some advice on this like can you not claim child element & still get your severe disability premium. So basically she’s better off staying on ESA as moving to UC will make her her worse off even tho she has these added expenses of a new baby. So confusing please help thanks look forward to someone help me clarify this or anyone been in similar situation. Thank you.

poppy123456

Child benefit can be claimed and will not affect any of her current benefits. Once the baby is born yes she will need to claim UC if she wants extra money for the baby.

As her ESA includes the SDP her UC will also include some Transitional Protection. It's important to remember that she should not claim UC until the baby is born.

Please also note that those claiming Income Related ESA are being migrated to UC anytime from now up until December 2025 so she could also receive a migration notice in the post at anytime. Once that letter is received a claim for UC must be made within 3 months.

When she does eventually claim UC she will be entitled to the LCWRA element from the start of her claim.

Be_kind2000

hi, thank you so much for your reply. The baby is already born he was born in October but she’s been in hospital and it’s me who will need to deal with this for her. What I read was you can’t claim child benefit or child element while claiming esa, so that’s not true poppy you are entitled to child benefit? Xx

Be_kind2000

hi again poppy, it also states you will lose your SDP as it will erode with child element and all you will receive is an extra £25 to Make up the loss of SDP. I thought you would get what she receives now plus the child element added. Xx

Be_kind2000

Be_kind2000

Do you understand what I mean? I don’t understand how this is fair that she will lose her SDP reduced to £25 a month due to claiming for the baby when she struggles enough as it is right now without added extras now she has a baby to provide for. Surely they should still pay everyone what they are receiving plus add a child element without deducting his SDP & reducing it to £25 a month so basically that means she’s going to be only £25 better off than she is now with now a baby to provide for. It’s all very messed up xxx

Be_kind2000

however that does say if you add a child onto existing claim, so poppy does that mean that she will receive her SDP & also be entitled to child element if it’s a new claim and she’s not adding a child to it? I’m just so confused. Is this because UC has a max payment they pay you each month?? I have tried calling but never get through to them on the phone. And replies kindly appreciated xxx

Be_kind2000

surely someone on here been in similar situation and can help with this xxx

poppy123456

Please slow down. Your thoughts are not correct and you're misunderstanding it.

Child benefit can be claimed and it will be backdated to the date the baby was born.

That screenshot you posted above doesn't apply to her situation because once a claim for UC is made because the baby is already born she will be entitled to the child element from the start of her claim. This means there's no erosion of the SDP Transitional Protection with the addition of the child element.

Please note, that's it Transitional Protection and not SDP itself because this doesn't exist when claiming UC.

Your appointee will transfer over with you and you will be responsible for her claim. Once a claim has been submitted you should put a message onto her journal to tell them she's in the Support Group. It will take a few weeks for ESA to send her details across but once it's done her UC will be updated to include the LCWRA element.

You also need to make sure you give details of the baby and then the child element will be included.

Once a claim is made her Income Related ESA and housing benefit will continue for 2 weeks and then stop.

Does she rent her home from a private landlord or social housing?

Be_kind2000

Sorry poppy it’s just confusing, so is the LCWRA the new name for SD payment? So she will receive both of these elements after all and be better off as she will recieve the child element? Also it’s a private landlord she rents from? As I read housing benefit will also stop. But will that just be the same as she’s receiving now only added to UC?? One last thing should I make her claim now or shall I wait for the ESA to send her the letter to change over?? Thank you poppy xx