Severe sight impairment and Mandatory UC from income support

mummabear1001

hi all this is my first post so please be gentle with me as this has probably already been a topic covered plenty of times. So I am severe sight impaired and I was on income support at a higher rate due to my sight impairment and brain damage. I was informed by the dwp that the mandatory change over to UC would be easy and I would receive the same amount of money and wouldn’t be any worse off. So this week I did the change over and this is when all of the problems started. First off I needed a fit note which luckily my GP did it straight away for me as I was starting to get distressed. Everything was accepted. Then came all of the messages saying to check into my login (3 messages today) now I am being told I will be send a UC50 form which needs to be completed! I rang them and was extremely upset as being sight impaired they are not inclusive and expect everything done online and then more forms once the UC50 capacity for work forms arrive (which they want done as quickly as possible or my claim will have to start again) I have once again been it touch with the Kent Association For The Blind for more help (they are fantastic) but being on a deadline once these forms arrive I may potentially not get them done in time! I am so anxious it is affecting my already fragile mental health. Has anyone else had to go through this with a mandatory switch?

Any reassurance would be appreciated

Kimi87

You will need to go through the WCA process I'm afraid, as transferring from Income Support doesn't offer any automatic entitlement to UC LCW/LCWRA.

If you feel you need support with your claim and have someone you trust, you can ask them to become your appointee

https://www.gov.uk/become-appointee-for-someone-claiming-benefits

mummabear1001

@Kimmy87 thank you for replying. Honestly the dwp are awful and they told me it would be straight forward and I would be covered by the transition period so I wouldn’t be any worse off. I will check out your link thank you ☺️

poppy123456

The WCA process is completely separate to Transitional Protection.

Were you claiming Income Support as a carer or because you have a child under 5? If it's because you're a carer, was it you that was the carer or a partner?

mummabear1001

@poppy123456 yes I am a carer for my adult daughter. I should of put that in my original post but my head has been all over the place since uc switch over. Will I still have to do the work capability forms do you know?

poppy123456

Oh no! This is what I feared it would be. This means that if you're found to have LCWRA then you will lose the carers element, as well as your Transitional Protection eroding. This is because the same person can't receive both carers element and LCWRA element at the same time. It would mean that you would be about £200 worse off per month.

There's an Upper Tribunal hearing regarding this but no decision has been made yet as far as I'm aware.

As a carer, you have no commitments so you didn't need to provide any fit notes.

mummabear1001

@poppy123456 I just knew there would be a catch 22 to this situation! Honestly it’s so stressful and you are allowed to claim pip and still be a carer for someone else. It saves the government money as otherwise it would cost a hell of a lot more to bring in outside carers that would have to be funded by other agencies. I looked on turn2you and calculated and it didn’t say anything about not being awarded the transitional due to being a carer. I am going to speak to the Kent association for the blind and see what they say in regards to my rights. I am a carer for my autistic daughter, she is my eyes and I am everything else so we manage together you know. If they drop my money by £200 a month I honestly don’t know what I will do as it’s already hard enough isn’t it

poppy123456

Unfortunately the carers element and LCWRA element not being paid to the same person is law and has been written into the UC Regulations 2013. Yes, I know you can be a carer and claim PIP, I do so myself.

Being a carer doesn't affect your Transitional Protection and it would still be included in your claim.

The issue is that TP erodes over time so if you become entitled to other elements, or other elements increase the TP erodes by the same amount. It's double whammy when your UC includes the carers element due to the rules with the LCWRA element so you end up losing the carers element and TP both at the same time.

Unfortunately, your rights will not overrule the law at this stage. Yes, I totally disagree with this rule but until the Upper Tribunal change that law, it will remain in place.

The only way forward for you at the moment would be to stop the work capability assessment process and just continue as a carer.

mummabear1001

@poppy123456 its crazy how they have different laws for different things and the laws come into force in advance of when they were deciding to roll out the new system as only they know their future plans and we just have to go along with it as we are seen as lesser due to being disabled. I will get in contact with them tomorrow and see what they say as I wasn’t even aware this was going to happen and the fit note request was not something I was expecting but my GP did signed off on my fit note so I could proceed with my claim.

I hope the upper tribunal changes the law but I know from experience even fighting for pip was a nightmare and my decision got overturned 2 day’s before my tribunal date as the dwp knew they had made a massive mistake and had to back pay 18 months. These things take years so in the meantime the most vulnerable suffer