Confused about a few things.,

borninthe80s

Hi, I got my migration letter from ESA to UC on Dec 13th and I have until 13th March to claim. I have an appointment on the 3rd February to put a new claim in, at a community advice centre, but I have a few questions the advisors are unsure of, and i was wondering if you could help me, as it's stressing me out.

I'm due an ESA payment on the 4th. I got told that would be paid, as normal, but would be my last payment. Does that mean that

1) I won't get the 2 weeks ESA run on? So I will be without any income for 5 weeks (or until my claim is assessed) I definitely won't get any payment at all on the 18th?

2) I claim housing benefit so I'm wondering if, my last ESA payment is the 4th, will my housing benefit stop then?

3) I know I can claim an advanced payment, does anyone know how much they take back to pay debts?

4) Also, I won't have to pay the money I get on the 4th back? I am 100% entitled to that payment?

Sorry if my questions sound silly, or obvious, but the move to universal credit is making me very anxious. I have a lot of trauma around money (my mum had bipolar. She was thousands of pounds in debts, and as a kid, bailiffs were always coming to the house. Also, I was in an abusive relationship, where my ex partner had addition issues, and would steal money from me and, in the end, I wasn't allowed money) I basically have no one who can lend me money (I'm estranged from my family and don't have many friends) so im basically responsible for myself and have to make sure i can survive for 5 weeks.

Thanks,

dream

i keep geting them letter for u/c i rang numer on leter i did to told why did i ring for coz the letter saed i had to i have adhd autsim and rt and copd but them letters can stress us out

poppy123456

1/ No, 4th Feb will not be your last ESA payment, you will receive 1 more after that. Same applies to housing benefit, there’s a 2 week run on.

2/ Answered above.

3/ At the moment it’s 25% of your standard allowance. From April it will drop to 15%.

4/ No, you will not have to pay that money back that you receive on 4th. Same will apply for the 2 week run on and housing benefit run on.

Due to the 2 week run on it will only be 3 weeks without money.

Does your ESA include the Severe Disability Premium?

Jimm_Scope

Hey @borninthe80s, welcome to the community 🙂 I can't think of anything to add to the answers you've already received but I just wanted to add that your questions are not silly or obvious. There can be a lot of information in a very short time when it comes to migration to Universal Credit. I hope we can ease some of the anxiety around it all. It's certainly understandable to have concerns with what you've had to experience before.

If you have any other questions please do just ask away 😊

borninthe80s

Thank you for the replies. The lady I spoke to, who made the appointment, said I wouldn't get any ESA payments after the 4th, and that would count as my run on, so it's helped a lot to know that i do get a 2 week run on.

I think the old system was easier to understand, but I find universal credit so confusing so thank you for making me feel a bit better about my migration.