Could someone spare me a few minuets please. ESA and PIP to UC.

MECKenzie

Hello,

Im hoping someone could please spare me a few minuets because im rather worried that im not going to be able to manage if i think i have understood this correctly. I’ve received a letter telling me i need to migrate some point in March I think it said but im struggling to understand what income I’ll be on this once I do.

I’m just going to be blunt because I know no other way. So this is as follows…

my current income that I’m on is…

ESA = £481.10 (2 weekly).

PIP = £737.20 (monthly).

housing costs (its paid automatically)

Single person council tax reduction

im both physically and mentally disabled and as from 2013 I cannot work. I also have carers who come in to help and I have to pay for this through the local government.

I don’t understand all these abbreviations but I believe I’m on the support group thing for my ESA, I believe it’s income related, where I don’t look for work. For my PIP I’m in the high category for both the daily living aspect and mobility aspect. As I say, I also have carers that I have to have to come and help me multiple times a day and for this I pay around £383.65.

On top of this, I have my housing paid for me. I’m 35 years, registered disabled both physically and mentally, I’m wheelchair bound / housebound. I live alone and I am the only person on my claim with zero savings.

I struggle to wrap my head around things and understand things properly so this is why I have been blunt. If ive posted or said anything that goes against the rules of posting by stating how much I currently get, then I apologise. That being said I need someone to be just as blunt with me please.

Someone told me I’m going to be over £500 worse off and this has seriously got to me because it’s not exactly a bed of roses for me.

I would very much appreciate a response if someone could spare a few minuets for me, thank you very much in advance for your time.

Kind regards

Damon.

poppy123456

You haven't been blunt and you haven't done anything wrong. In fact you've given a lot of information, which is really good for me because it means I can advise you without needing to ask you any questions.

Your PIP will not be affected because that isn't part of UC and continues as normal.

As you're in the Support Group you'll be entitled to the LCWRA element from the start of your claim. You will not need to provide any fit notes and will not need another work capability assessment. Once you submit a claim for UC your Income Related ESA and housing benefit will continue for a further 2 weeks and then stop.

When you migrate to UC if your entitlement is less than your current benefits you'll be entitlement to Transitional Protection, (TP) which makes sure you're not worse off at the time of migration. However, the TP will erode over time, so if other elements increase or you become entitled to other elements the TP decreases until such a time it will erode completely.

As your ESA includes Severe disability Premium you'll be entitled to TP with UC.

If any part of your ESA is contributions based, this will continue as normal at £276.40/fortnight and it will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

Help with the rent will be through UC known as housing element and I would expect you to be entitled to the same amount. The only difference will be your rent will be paid monthly in with your usual UC amount. You can ask UC to pay your landlord directly if you prefer that.

Council Tax reduction also isn't part of UC but it will be recalculated based on your UC entitlement.

Citzens Advice also have a help to claim phone line, which will help you through the process if you need it.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/claiming/contact-us-about-universal-credit/

I hope this helps and if you have any further questions or there's something you don't understand please just ask.

MECKenzie

hi poppy,

thanks for the responce, could I ask what LCWRA actually means please?.

also my ESA I believe is income related not contribution based.

I’m sorry that I don’t understand everything but could you please just write it in another message saying (given the information I’ve provided) something like…

Universal credit per month = £…..

Please do not include any rent monies but just given the information I’ve provided above could you please tell me what my monthly income would be (to the best of your ability) again, not including any rent monies please as I’m trying to find out how much I’ll be on compared to what I’m on now and given I don’t pay my rent, I never see that money so please if you wouldn’t mind I just need to know the total outcome.

I understand that my PIP will be unaffected so will remain at 737.20 (ish).

sorry for being a pain it’s just I’ve asked so many people and nobody has been able to tell me.

My current total right now is…

ESA (income related, including disability premium) £481.10 per 2 weeks.

so total ESA monthly = £962.20

PIP total monthly = £737.20

subtotal (not including rent or council tax deductions)

£1,699.40 per month.

thank you for your time and effort.

kind regards

Damon.

poppy123456

Even though you said all of your ESA is Income Related, part of it could still be contributions based and many people do not realise this until they migrate to UC.

LCWRA = Limited Capability For Work Related Activity, which is the same as Support Group for ESA.

Your UC will include standard allowance single person 25 and over.. £393.45/month + LCWRA element £416.19/month = £812.64/month.

Then your UC will include Transitional Protection because your UC entitlement will be less than what your current benefits are but I'm afraid I can't advise with that because it's to complex for my brain right now. There's some benefit calculators now that will include Transitional Protection if you fill them out correctly, you could try that.

Your current ESA amount is not £962.20 when you work it out as a monthly payment because there's 4.3 weeks in a month, not 4 weeks. Therefore your current ESA payment as a monthly figure is £1,042.38. To work out the monthly figure you times the weekly amount (£240.55) by 52 then divide by 12.

PIP will not be included in the calculation for your UC entitlement because that's a separate benefit.

Please be aware that the TP will erode when other elements increase or you become entitled to other elements. This means that when you claim UC your benefits will be frozen until the TP erodes completely.

As you need to claim UC by sometime in March this is before the benefits increase in April 2025 so when benefits increase your UC will not increase, it will remain the same. As other elements increase your TP will decrease by the same amount leaving you with exactly the same money. PIP will increase because it's not part of UC.

MECKenzie

Hello Poppy,

Thank you immensely for all of your help and support. I suffer from EUPD/BPD/SPD and essentially there is more than me in my body, theirs 4 of us and so it’s hard to understand things at time so I think that’s why I didn’t understand the first time around.

that being said, thank you kindly once again and you truly are a god send. The amount of stress that has just lifted off my shoulders and the worry has been resolved by you spending 5 minuets to read my book (my post - haha) and then 5 mins replying to me. Given the fact of how many people would have asked very similar questions that you’ve talked them through, that’s a lot of people with less stress, less worrying and are able to just catch our breath…. And so honestly…

thank you very much indeed.

Kind regards,

Damon.