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Transitional protection

Juthbert

Hello,

Partner Received migration letter with a deadline of 18th December. He receives IR ESA,Support group and carers. I receive CB ESA Support group.

We did the migration on the 6th Dec, applying as a couple.

They have said that I do not qualify for TP due to a change of circumstances. We queried this on the journal but got no response, so, along with our bank statements that had been requested, we sent previous tax credit statements ( ended years ago), showing that we had claimed that benefit as a couple.

We've still had no reply to our question re TP, and have today had our first payment statement,which is only for £85.

We thought that as long as we migrated over by the deadline date, TP had to be added. Can anyone clarify/advise please?

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Comments

Kimi87

Transitional Protection is added when UC entitlement is lower than legacy benefits. It isn't always on the first statement, as UC rely on bits of information coming in from other departments.

What elements and deductions are shown on your payment statement please?

If you choose to post a screenshot, please make sure any personal information such as names and address are not visible.

Juthbert

My partner received a payment of ESA at the end of Dec which we expected would be taken back.

Kimi87

Thank you.

The first ESA deduction was a one off, next month your UC should increase by that amount.

The second deduction for ESA & Carers are all correct. Both are deducted in full from UC.

The numbers may look wrong, but only because a weekly benefit has been converted into a monthly one, there are 4.3 weeks in a month.

With regards to TP.

Is the amount before deductions lower than your entitlement under legacy income related benefits?

Juthbert

I'm not sure, I get confused because my partner gets the carers deducted from his ESA. He said that even with the esa deduction being a one off, the UC payment is less than if he'd been kept on IR ESA.

poppy123456

Did your partners ESA include the Severe disability Premium single or couples rate? For this you would both need to be claiming a qualifying disability benefit such as PIP daily living or DLA mid/high rate care or be registered blind. No one must have been claiming carers allowance for looking after you.

Your tax credits award that ended years ago is irrelevant.

Juthbert

My partner claims carers for his daughter. No one claims carers for me. I was awarded PIP in October.

Ah, we thought the coc they gave as not qualifying for TP was that they were implying we hadn't claimed as a couple before. I'm thinking now that we have wrongly assumed we wouldn't lose money because we had migrated within the time frame?

poppy123456

His ESA was income Related and that should have had you named on his claim because it’s a means tested benefit. For this reason the would have known you were living together when ESA sent your details across.

If your partner wasn't claiming a qualifying disability benefit that I mentioned above, there would have been no entitlement to SDP. TP is only included if your UC entitlement is less than what your previous benefits entitlement was.

Don't forget you need to include your ESA and your partners carers allowance in with your total monthly income.

I don't see any help with the rent on your UC statements, do you own your own home?

Juthbert

All I can see on his statement is an income disability guarantee, but I think that's something to do with carers? Yes, I own the home.

Thank you both for your clarification, I'd wrongly thought that as long as yiu migrated over within the time frame, that you didn't lose money. It appears the UC is going to be £214 less than what his monthly income was on ESA 😔

poppy123456

You shouldn't be worse off at the time of migration. If your UC entitlement is less than your previous benefits then it will include Transitional Protection.

The disability Income Guarantee applied to his ESA and this would have been the Enhanced Disability Premium, which is automatically included with Income Related ESA if in the Support Group.

How much ESA was he receiving every fortnight? Your situation was complicated because you were receiving CB ESA and he was claiming Income Related.

If you think the UC is incorrect put a message onto your journal to tell them. They don't always calculate TP in time for your first payment. When this happens it's usually calculated shortly after you receive that first statement. Once it's done the statement will be recalculated.

Does your partner claim either PIP or DLA? If so what award does he have please?

Edit to add, don't forget that for this month they have deducted an extra £192.90 because of that extra ESA payment he received. If you add that back on then next months UC payment will be £277.90/month.

Juthbert

He received £245.50 ESA fortnightly and £81.90 carers weekly.

He doesn't claim PIP or DLA. I was awarded enhanced for PIP on both daily living and mobility in October and received a large back payment, which has been disregarded.

Yes, I've told him that £192 will be added next month.

Sorry about all this, we're just so confused with it all.

poppy123456

When you were both claiming ESA I would have expected you to be named on your partners claim and for your CB ESA to be counted as income and reduce your partners ESA by the same amount as what your ESA was. Is this what was happening?

I don't have time right now to do the calculation.

You should still put that message onto your journal. You can also get some expert advice from an agency near you. This link will tell you what's local to you.

https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

Juthbert

I don't think his ESA payments changed, I was working and only claimed and put in the support group Febryary of last year. Thank you for your help, much appreciated.

poppy123456

Have you always lived together? Were ESA aware that you were living together when you were working? As your partners ESA was Income Related then you working would have affected that. There would only have been a £20/week disregard for your earnings and then their ESA would have reduced £1 for £1. If you were working more than 24 hours per week there would have been no entitlement to Income Related ESA.

As they were receiving carers allowance as a separate payment then I would expect all of their ESA to be Income Related. If it was part contributions based they wouldn’t have received any payments because of overlapping benefit rules and they would have just had an underlying entitlement to it.

Juthbert

We moved in together early 2018, and he informed all his benefits ( we ended up having to repay some tax credits). I'll have to try and find his statements from those years, to see if the payments have changed. Unfortunately he mislaid his paperwork from before living with me.

Now I'm worrying we will have more to repay.

poppy123456

I’m sorry to have worried you. It’s just some of the information you’ve given has sent alarm bells ringing.

UC said that because it was a change of circumstance you’re not entitled to Transitional Protection, you were working, your partners ESA amount.

It’s a complex situation and also difficult to advise because there’s so many questions I need to ask and this could take a while. I can’t see any of your partners paperwork for his ESA either.

For this reason I’m going to advise that you get some expert advice from an agency near you.

Your partner will need to take his paperwork from his ESA claim, if he still has it from when you moved in. If he doesn’t have it he can make a Right Of Access request to DWP to ask for the information they hold on him. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-your-personal-information-from-the-department-for-work-and-pensions

If changes were reported when you moved in and he told them you were working there should be proof of all of this when requesting that. If an official error was made by DWP then you will not have to repay anything back to them, if there’s an overpayment.

This link will help you find an advice agency local to you. https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

Juthbert

Thank you for your advice. It has set alarm bells ringing for us as well and we are now both worrying and thinking all sorts,because when we first moved in, I had only just moved to the area and was not working at that time. I didn't start employment until we'd been here about a year. He's now panicking that he informed of the change of address, but not that I'd started working. We are scared we could get into a lot of trouble. Thank you again.

poppy123456

You’re welcome. It does make sense now that you’ve said you weren’t working when you moved in together.

When he reported the changes at that time his ESA should have been recalculated to add you onto the claim as his partner. This may have happened.

If changes had been reported when you started work I would have expected a recalculation and potentially no further entitlement to ESA, if you were working more than 24 hours per week. Even if you were working less than that your earnings could have still reduced it to zero.

How many hours per week were you working?

It still doesn’t make sense why they said as it’s a change of circumstances there’s no TP but they have been known to give incorrect advice many times.

I hope you get to the bottom of this and have everything sorted.

Juthbert

I was initially working 16 hours per week, which increased over the years to 25 hours, until I had to be signed off sick and eventually awarded LCWRA last year. I'm quite a worrier, so made sure he informed his benefits that he had moved in with me, and changed his address. At the time I started working, we'd just been informed his father had stage 4 lung cancer which resulted in end of life care, following that we lost my mum and I was then seriously assaulted at work, which has led to me being unable to work at the moment. I know we informed of moving in together, but in all honesty cannot remember informing them I'd started work. I know thats no excuse. Could we be subject to more than having to pay it back? I've been googling and have seen mention of having to go to court and possible prison sentences! I'm catastrophising it and until this migration, thought we had been compliant in everything.

poppy123456

Thank you again for that information. I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through!

When you started working 25 hours per week there definitely wouldn’t have been any entitlement to Income Related ESA. Whether there was any entitlement when working 16 hours would depend on your earnings. There’s only a £20/week disregard for you as you weren’t the main claimant at that time. Therefore ESA could have reduced to zero.

It’s unlikely they will take you to court and you wouldn’t be sent to prison if there is an overpayment. You wouldn’t have a small fine on top of any overpayment and this is usually £50. I think the worst thing you can do is to Google any further.

Juthbert

Thank you for the reassurance and advice. Hopefully we will find out what's going on soon.