Found out i been missing ton money
Long story short.
Got my dreaded UC migration letter so.used entitledto calculator.
I get esa support group and comes to £318.50 ebery 2 weeks. But entitled to says i should be gettimg £204 a week!!
Took me AGES to.work out its to do with carers allowance?
Nobody gets carer allowance from me since my mum passed away in 2018. Not ebne had social.worker or ANY SUPPORT at all since. I have learning difficulties as well as my mental health issues so had no idea what to.do and no idea i was entitled tonmore money.
This doesnt exist on UC anyway.
Question is. Is therr anything i csn do NOW ro.try get this extra momey BEFORE my migration to uc?
Been struggling to pay off debts since my mum died as ive had no supoort to deal.with anything. Ans been sucidal due to struggling to live. (my esa and permitted work and dla income is only £200 over my bills. I only get £200 to pay for all food all birthdays and Christmas stuff and over £7000 debt (£3900 left to pay still)
But i been told due to my permitted work 10.hours week once migrsted to.UC i will loose ALL council tax support as well as some uc allowance. Im fine about uc allowance as i would be better off BUT my main issue is the extra £98 month bills on council tax. I dont mind oaying it if i has the extra income ive been missing out (and kept that on UC) i would prefer it to be honest.
I will be £98 month worse off due to oaying that but also lose £32 a month from UC reductions from working 10.hours week but also onve a year will lose over £300+ due to i get paid 4 weekly.
Is there antthing i can do.or someone can talk to and see if i csn get any backpayment im owed?
Bit upset that i could got £204 a week since 2018 and ive come close to being homless and im living on tins of beans at moment trying to pay off debts and not being above to pay for a carer or social worker for support with home life and budgets. That extra money (i get £159.25 week not £204)
That £44 a week could paid off my debts long before now but also could helped pay my friends (who are my current carers) foe their help and support. As nobody gets carer allowance I could also used that money to help pay someone to come once a week to discuss my care needs and check on me or i couod used it for disabled grouo outings and autism groups.
Is there anything i can do now uc migration notice (i must apply 4th april to match the double pay month at work told by citizen advice so im not worse off in the bad month but i officially have until.17th april)
Or is it too late to say "i dont have anyone getting cater allowancd since 2018 can you change my.esa to correct allowance and backpay at least some of it"
I dont want tontriggler thr move to.uc yet i need to somehow save up tons of money 23to avoid being unable tonpay rent again.
Already had to borrow £300 off a friend and i will have 3 weeks of no income after my las2t esa/housing benefit payments when i start uc migration.
Any advice is appreciated as if i can get thr extea payments before uc, the citizen advice said i get to keep that as transitional protection for about a year or so.
All I want is to be debt free and able to actually afford proper carer whej i need to (my esa and Dla do not even cover my bills as it is)
Sorry for rant. Im just mega stressed and disheartened tomfind ive been struggling more for no reason being underpaid benefits for 7 years as nobody told me.
Only thing dwp said to me is my dla and esa will now go to my bank account instead as i no longer have an appointee since she died. They said nothing about as she got carers allowance and its now ended i could get more income to help
Comments
-
The only other disability premium payable with Income Related ESA is Severe disability Premium (SDP) and this is £81.50/week.
You must also be claiming a qualifying disability benefit such as PIP daily living or DLA mid/high rate care. You need to be living alone or treated as living alone.
If all of those apply to you then you need to ring ESA and ask to claim SDP. You will need to fill out the form over the phone, which will take about 15 minutes. A decision maker will then need to take a look and make a decision. If entitled then it should be awarded fairly quickly going forward and your ESA will increase to £240.55/week and not £204/week. So it’s more than what you thought it was.
It will likely take several weeks or more to make a decision on any money that’s owed as it’s going back several years.
When do you need to claim UC by please?0 -
17th april but citixen advics suggest i apply 4th so when i get two paydays from my current permitted work, its same.month i will get less UC so i dont struggle with budget.
I get highest care of DLA and low mobility and live alone (my friends visit often as my carers but nobody has had carers allowance for me since 2018 when my mum passed)
0 -
What dates are your wages expected in April? I'd advise you to ring ESA tomorrow if possible to claim the SDP and please make sure you ask for it to be backdated to the date you started to live alone, if you remember.
Your friends visiting often is irrelevant.
0 -
Checking the entitledto page.
I should currently be on this:
Esa 90.50 week.
Support group £47.70 -
enhanced disability premium £20.85
But im not getting thst £20.85 (if i say someone has carer that vanishes. But as nobody has carers apparently im supposed to be getting thst £20.85 a week?
Trouble is i dont want to move to uc yet due to thr 3 week pay gap until ive saved up enough tp pay rent and council tax first. As dont want take.on more debts or ask for advance as thats another loan i have to repay.
0 -
* by carers i mean carers allowance to look after me
Sorry not.sure how to edit a post. Apologies my.typing isnt the best
0 -
Enhanced Disability Premium is an Income Related ESA top up. It doesn't have anything to do with Carers Allowance.
0 -
In your first comment you said your ESA is £318.50/fortnight. My calculations say that this includes the EDP. In your ESA letters it will be shown as Disability Income Guarantee but it's the Enhanced disability Premium.
Your ESA claim is made up of the following..
ESA £90.50
Support Group £47.70
Disability Income Guarantee (EDP) £20.85
Total weekly amount £159.05 (fortnightly £318.10) which is pretty much what you said you received.
The £20.85 has nothing to do with carers, this amount is automatically paid when in the Support Group claiming Income Related ESA.
The extra amount that's paid if you live alone and no one claims carers allowance for looking after you is Severe disability Premium and this is £81.50/week. Which will increase your weekly amount to £240.55/week (£481.10/fortnight)
The other disability premium which is £42.50/week is not payable when claiming ESA.
You need to do as I advised and ring ESA to claim the Severe disability Premium.
1 -
To be clear once you claim UC the SDP is no longer payable, including all other disability premiums. When you claim UC if you're work off when you migrate your UC will include Transitional Protection BUT this does erode over time so when other elements increase the TP decreases.
0 -
Yes im aware of thaw t thTa why i want to see if i can get the amounts correct first before i mobe to uc? Even if they cant do the transitional protection if i get backpay ill be able to get my.fincancez sortef.
(ps doubled checked and it IS £240.55 a week im entitled to!)
I just worry if i ring up they will just move me to UC anyway. I want to do it on a date im ready (i have appointment with citizen advice 4th april to help me do this so im already prepared for it, just wonfer if thered a way they can add my missing backpay and add the missing esa money on before yhe move. (even if i loose it again from 4th April, i can at least pay money i owe my carers for their time and effoet to come wash up and help with housework out of their own time between their own jobs.
Either way om uc im worse off by £54 month due to council tax support ending as uc pays slightly more then esa month by month and my local council say houaijg benefit isnt income but housing element of uc is.
But i hope the dwp esa people can at least check if they have underpaid me as nobody gets carer allowance for me and even if just a one off backpayment for past 6 to 12 months (doubt they will pay 7 years) least i can then prepare for the change and pay my carers owed money.
Just feel terrible all these years asking for more and more free help and more debts and trying to scrap by. Just gutted nobody told me years ago as i could used that £80 week extra to oay my friends/carers for their hard work.
Sucks being disabled. Wish was a cure. Just feel im a burden to everyone so if i get backpayment i wont keep it for myself anyway (except 3 weeks worth of rent for the 3 week no income gap when housing benefit ends) its to go to people i owe and pay off loan i was forced to take out just to get by (ill then be better off regardless even if i lose all the disability premiums on uc, income will be less.. But my bills will drop too then.
I just worry if they say "ah ok but we will.now.move you to uc today instead of giving you the owed esa money"
My circumstances are the exact same for past 7 years. Just i veen missing the sdp money.
0 -
The only way you can move to UC is if you make a UC application.
When you ring ESA to apply for the SDP, you will be speaking to ESA not UC.
The ESA staff cannot make you move early to UC.
0 -
But yes sorry math isnt my best i foegot to log into entitledto and only showed basic rates but the weekly amouny was £80ish higher a week.
Says my total income 4 weekly shpuld be for past year 1511.52 (im getting 1185) think that inlcudes council tax support (obviously years before be less due to inflation)
Right now my bills each month are £1460 so thats why im struggling! (costs of everything including £10 a day budget for food) the main reason i have permitted work to get over my outgoings. (once i sort my debts ill save £250 month, citizens advice and houaing debt advice are regularly checking and helping. Just annoyed to find this £80+ a week that could helped massively. (again dont care if i lose it again UC as long i can get things rebalanced as im used to living what i have now. Just hope whoever i speak to keeps me on esa until do migrstion and gives some backpay.
Fingers crossed! If in doubt ill get citixen advice or a carer to help when i ring.
0 -
Going forward as I advised the SDP should be awarded quite quickly if you ring to claim it. If you fill in the form and return it, the decision will take longer.
It will obviously take longer to pay anything that's owed to you. Once you claim UC it will not be more than your ESA is once the SDP is included. Your UC maximum entitlement should be the same as your ESA with SDP included due to the Transitional Protection.
You can't be "moved" to UC by applying for SDP, that just isn't going to happen.
Another thing to be aware of is that if you claim UC before the 8th April then your Transitional Protection will erode slightly when benefits increase. This is because those claiming UC will not start to see the increase until around 14th May, which will be for assessment periods that start on or after 8th April 2025.
0 -
I get highest level of DLA for care and low level for mobilty and yes i live alone in a 2 bed flat (soemtimes my friends need to stay over as my carer but its not often enough to be exempt from bedroom tax)
I need to apply by 16th april i think? But due ti permitted work paying 4 weekly i need apply on 4th april so when UC pay me less foe the two paycled it falls in same month i actually fo get two pay days in a monyh. (citizen advice said to apply 4th april or 4th march or 4th feb. As long its on the 4th to start my assessment period on.
(so likely 4th april is when ill apply as i need to try and save up. To pay 3 weeks rent during the gap. Even if i get 6 month backpay i can pay my friends money i own and pay some debts off)
Should i ring them tomorrow? (i need find my esa letter for the number)
Should i tell them i just found out i may be entiyled to more due to my mum passing 2018 and nobody get carer allowance and ask if thry can add this and ask how much backpay can they provide?
I just dont want to mess myself up before migration (doing migration latest i can a si need try save over £500 myself to afford rent and council taxes as soon my legacy benefits all stop) so i appreciate any help!
(wish i knew back in 2018 i should seen a welfare help and i 100% know they wont backdate that far but never crossed my mind as used to others doing it for me as my housing association doest.housing and council forms)
Ps: unrelated but i assume i need tell council when i start my uc claim or do i tell my housing to tell the council?
0 -
As Poppy advised several times you need to ring ESA asap.
Tell them you want to apply for SDP over the phone, no one got carers allowance for you after your Mum died on X date in 2018 and you didn't realise until now you might be eligible for SDP.
The phone number is 0800 169 0310.
Backpay and eligibility will be looked at when the application is processed, not when you apply on the phone.
If they award SDP but don't backdate to when you became eligible in 2018, you can ask for them to look at that decision again (known as a Mandatory Reconsideration). If they still don't change it, you can take it to an independent appeal tribunal.
0 -
What dates are you expecting your earnings up until 17th April? I asked you this in a previous comment but you didn’t answer. If you can tell me what dates those earnings are expected I can advise when the best time would be to claim UC.
Citizens advice are not always correct with the advice they give.
0 -
I
Gotpaid3rdjanandnextis31stjanIthisfridayfriday.Yhenitsevery4weekslaterCitizenadbicrsaythatmeansUCwillcounttwopaymentsinDecembermeaningigetlowerUCinJanuaryutwshpuldpay2mdand30thjanDecember20shouldApologisApologisApologisesimissedmissesomemessagebyyourselfandothothersastheydidntshowuppriperlyproperly.imbrowsingonmyphoneandclickedthebuttononmmyemailtoshowrepliesandsomedidnshowuporinordeordeorderorder0 -
Sorry but I’m not sure what happened to your last comment but it’s impossible for me to read that.
0 -
sorry on my laptop now - website seems to bug on my phone - looked fine when typing but went odd after postde — here it is again
""Got paid 3rd jan and next is 31st jan this friday. then its every 4 weeks later Citizen advice say that means UC will/should count two payments in December 2025 meaning i get lower UC in 10th/11th January when i should get paid 2nd and 30th of january 2026.
Apologise if i repeated anything in above comments i missed some messages by yourself and others as they didnt show up properly im browsing on my phone and clicked the "someone replied" button on my email to show replies and some didn show up or in order
""
Sorry not sure why its playing up - i'll make sure to onyl use the website on my lapotp now on!!0 -
thanks for your help and listing the number - got my national insurance and other info ready - just writing notes down so i dont forget what to inform/tell them on phone. -
0 -
Thank you and no problem at all. When you’re paid every 4 weeks from your employer there will always be 1 month a year where you will receive 2 lots of wages, unfortunately this can’t be avoided.
With entitlement to the SDP sounding certain based on the information you have given then I would advise you to claim UC on or after 8th April. If you claim before this date then your Transitional Protection will reduce when benefits increase. This would mean that you would not be any better off financially with the annual increase. If you claim on either 8th or 9th April then it would mean you would only receive one lot of earnings during that first assessment period.
UC is based on earnings received so the more earnings the less UC you will be entitled to. The less earning the more UC you’re entitled to.
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 14.3K Start here and say hello!
- 6.9K Coffee lounge
- 73 Games den
- 1.6K People power
- 109 Community noticeboard
- 22.2K Talk about life
- 5.1K Everyday life
- 71 Current affairs
- 2.3K Families and carers
- 831 Education and skills
- 1.8K Work
- 450 Money and bills
- 3.4K Housing and independent living
- 908 Transport and travel
- 663 Relationships
- 66 Sex and intimacy
- 1.4K Mental health and wellbeing
- 2.3K Talk about your impairment
- 847 Rare, invisible, and undiagnosed conditions
- 894 Neurological impairments and pain
- 2K Cerebral Palsy Network
- 1.2K Autism and neurodiversity
- 36.1K Talk about your benefits
- 5.6K Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- 18.6K PIP, DLA, ADP and AA
- 6.7K Universal Credit (UC)
- 5.1K Benefits and income