Hi, my name is Monkey_4416! I am concerned about my daughter who has just migrated to UC

Monkey_4416

Hello everyone. I am concerned about my daughter who has just migrated to UC. She is physically and mentally vulnerable and in LCWRA banding. Her first statement lists what she is entitled to but doesn't make sense as after laying out her entitlement, the final figure was half of what was stated.

Kimmy87

Where do you feel is the discrepancy from what was expected, and what were you expecting etc?

Sometimes the first statement isn't correct and an element is missing, for example.

poppy123456

It's impossible to advise without more details..

1/ If she was previously claiming ESA was any part of that ESA contributions based?

2/ Is she single, living with a partner?

3/ does she claim for help with her rent?

4/ what elements are included exactly with her ESA?

5/ When she was claiming ESA did this include the Severe disability Premium?

Monkey_4416

My daughter was in receipt of EESA, Family tax credit (she is divorced with 1 student daughter.) Because of her physical and mental health, unable to work, rent paid direct to landlord. Uc stated an amount, which was similar to what she received prior to migration. Doesn't have any savings. But the amount on her first statement today is much less than what they told her she would receive, even after deducting rent.

Kimmy87

Is her award lower than her legacy benefits amount?

If so, it's possible something like Transitional Protection hasn't been calculated and added in time. This does happen occasionally.

Monkey_4416

We have called several times.but keep.getting different answers. I think I need to call them again. The statement gave the amount she was entitled to but then deducted some payments, didn't say why. She expected the rent deduction but no explanation was given for two other deductions. When I visit her tomorrow, I'll get her to screen shot the statement and discuss it further with you. Thanks for responding.

poppy123456

It's impossible to give any advice because you haven't answered some of the questions I asked in a comment I made yesterday. You can see those questions here.

1/ If she was previously claiming ESA was any part of that ESA contributions based? 

2/ what elements are included exactly with her ESA? Please ask her to look at her UC statement.

3/ Please can you tell me exactly what deductions there is. It should also tell you what the deductions are for, next the amount.

4/ When she was claiming ESA did this include the Severe disability Premium?

Monkey_4416

Hi. Thanks for your reply. I need first to get this info from my daughter first and will get back to you.

Monkey_4416

My daughter was receiving ESA as she is unlikely to be able to ever work. Not contribution based at any time. UC sent a message telling her to inform DWP she was receiving payment from UC and to cancel ESA. However, when we called DWP, they stated they already knew and couldn't fathom why we were asked to call them. When my daughter received her first statement yesterday, it was more or less what she received before migration. But UC deducted £587 plus, justifying this by saying she was still claiming ESA from DWP. She is extremely upset, cannot understand what is going on.

have been asked

Kimmy87

Was your Daughter ever on the old Incapacity Benefit?

poppy123456

You didn’t answer the question about which elements are included with her UC.

The £587 (should be £598.86) sounds like to me that it’s a deduction for ESA. This happens when part of your ESA is contributions based, which continues but reverts to New style ESA.

There’s many people that thought all of their ESA was Income Related but when migrated across were told that part of it was contributions based.

In this situation ESA will continue to paid at £276.40/fortnight. UC then top up her income.

Has she received any letters from ESA at all? Or any payments recently?

I’m trying to help but it is extremely difficult when you’re not answering all of the questions I’m asking you.

She could also get some expert advice from an agency near her.

Holly_Scope

Hi @Monkey_4416 Welcome! I hope you enjoy your time on the forum.

I can see you've received some feedback from members and you’re gathering some additional information so I won't add anything at this time. But if you do need anything, please shout 😊

I hope you don't mind but I've updated your post name with details of your question. Just to help others in the community who might be able to help or benefit from your post identify it when they're looking around the forum. I hope that's ok.

All the best,

Holly.

worried33

Hi the guys are asking about deductions because they can sometimes apply, you might get a deduction if qualifying for new style ESA, new style ESA counts as deductible income, so whilst the total amount of UC will be lower in this situation, the overall income would still be the same, as you would be getting new style ESA as a second benefit.

Monkey_4416

Thanks for all the feedback. We phoned UC a few times. Different personnel give contradictory info. Anyway, it seems that the deduction was because my daughter had apparently received ESA during the claim period, although it didn't actually add up to the amount deducted. My daughter was assured this would not be deducted on her next statement. We'll have to wait and see. Still not convinced as she has had misinformation several times. Migration has been very difficult and confusing . It has impacted on my daughter's health, especially her depression and anxiety. I'm sure there are many others who feel the same.

Kimmy87

People on here really do know what they are talking about, but without a few more facts and figures we can't advise correctly.

As you've discovered, the UC helpline often don't help very much at all.

If your Daughter was on CB & IR ESA (and there is a legitimate way if she ever received the old Incapacity Benefit, even if she never worked) then she is now on New Style ESA and it will be deducted in full each month.

Lots of people get confused by the deduction because it looks wrong.

NS ESA is £138.20 a week, but UC is a monthly benefit. There are 4.3 weeks per month.

To convert a weekly benefit from weekly to monthly, you multiply by 52 then divide by 12.

£138.20 x 52 / 12 = £598.86

Monkey_4416

Thanks for your reply. Sorry to be pedantic but are you saying that my daughter will more or less be getting the same, or similar amount, from UC as before migration?

poppy123456

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/956950#Comment_956950

You haven't given any information for anyone to be able to advise on that. If her UC entitlement is less than her previous benefits then her UC will include Transitional Protection so she won't be worse off when she migrated.

About the ESA, has she received any letters from them at all since she claimed UC?

It's very difficult to advise because you're still not answering some of the questions I've asked.

Monkey_4416

Ok. This is the first statement

Trans prot. 233.09

Award: 2191.30

Minus: 25 adv payment

Minus rent pay direct: 815.14

Minus: 598.87

Balance: 752.19

Uc asked us to inform DWP of migration - DWP said we didn't need to call as they would've been informed automatically by UC.

Is this helpful?

Kimmy87

The Transitional Protection means she isn't receiving less than her legacy benefits.

Do you understand the deductions now?

One for an advance payment she took out after applying

and

One as she is receiving New Style ESA.

The advance payment deduction will continue until the loan amount is paid off.

The ESA deduction will continue as long as she receives NS ESA.

She now has two sources of income, NS ESA topped up by UC.

Monkey_4416

Thanks for confirming this. I'm so glad of this site. Better advice and simply explained. I am truly grateful.

poppy123456

Thank you for providing that information, it helped us to understand her situation more clearly. To be clear, UC is part of DWP. It's DWP that administer UC payments.