Esa to Uc migration

sd100

hi hope all is well , I just had 1 question about the migration. I am In the process of managed migration as I have commented before.

when I contact esa the automated voice online tells me I am expecting my next payment on 6th of feb im still a bit confused because I was told I won’t get my UC or any money until the 21st of feb In my journal.

Would I be right in thinking I will still be receiving g an ESA payment on the 6th of feb as its a different benefit than UC, or should I not expect any payment from esa on the 6th of feb?? Only confused because it would mean I havnt had any break in payment from esa since I switched over to UC. My last payment from esa was in 23rd of jan so being told getting my next payment 2 weeks late has thrown me off as I expected a period of no payments hence why I took an advance from UC.

Kimmy87

When you apply for UC, your ESA runs on for two weeks afterwards

So you'll get one final payment, although this isn't always the full amount you normally get.

sd100

Yes I said £349 I’m expecting on 6th of feb when I usually am paid £480 every 2 weeks, so I should be expecting this £349 on 6th feb then should I expect there will be a break 2 week after 6th of feb where I get nothing?

poppy123456

I see from a previous thread that your ESA was part contributions based so this will revert to New style ESA. This means you will continue to receive ESA payments at a reduced rate of £276.40/fortnight and will be paid on the same day of the week as you've always received it. So your next payment for ESA would be 6th Feb and will be the 2 week run on but at a reduced rate than your usual payment.

Your next payment after that on 20th Feb will the the New style ESA payment of £276.40 and that will be paid every fortnight.

Your UC payment is 21st of the month but in that there will be a deduction of £598.86 for the ESA and that will show in each UC statement going forward.

sd100

Hi Poppy so will I be losing any money then? I don’t understand why they are deducting 598 from my first uc payment?

Eont leave me much at all if they do that when I get my first uc on 21st.

I thought esa new and uc were 2 seperate things why deducting from uc?

am I missing something here?

Kimmy87

You won't be losing any money.

New Style ESA is deducted in full from your UC award.

£598 is the monthly equivalent of NS ESA, it's a weekly benefit so the numbers may look wrong but are right because there are 4.3 weeks in a month.

But you will still have the ESA payments going into your bank account.

£276.40 every fortnight as Poppy advised.

Your income will be NS ESA topped up by Universal Credit.

Yes they are separate benefits, but some benefits are deducted in full from UC and NS ESA is one of them.

sd100

it’s already gonna be a reduced rate of esa cos I used to get £480 every fortnight on my ir esa , I’m just confused where the rest of that 480 every fortnight will be going moving forward and how much should I expect my first up payment to be if I you might know?

sd100

ah I see could you tell me approx what I should be expecting on my first ever uc payment ?

sd100

as in if they will pay me esa new 276 every fortnight what will my uc monthly payments be?

Kimmy87

You will receive £276.40 a fortnight in New Style ESA. No premiums are paid with NS ESA like the old IR ESA.

I don't know what other elements will make up your claim, but UC LCWRA (ESA SG equivalent) plus UC Standard Allowance pays £809.64.

So even with the deduction that leaves £200 odd in Universal Credit. Plus any Transitional Protection you are entitled to.

You could try a benefits calculator

https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

sd100

well I use to get sda top up on my ir esa if that helps?

What amount is the transitional protection for me if I was esa ir and sda ?

sd100

those benefit calculators make no sense to me sorry, would just be good to know what I might be expecting that’s all.

Is transitional protection the ads I used to get then?

sd100

sorry sdp* not sda

Kimmy87

If your UC award is lower than your legacy benefits, another element called Transitional Protection will be added so at the time of transfer, you aren't worse off.

This will increase your UC award so you won't get less than on legacy benefits.

Your first UC statement will be available 4-6 days before your payment date.

TP occasionally is missing from the first statement.

sd100

I’ll pretend I understand everything haha, thanks Kimmy if possible I will try to get back here once I find out what I’m getting and can be advised if it’s normal or not appreciate your replies.

poppy123456

It will all become clear once you have your first UC statement, providing they calculate your TP in time for that statement and they don't always do that. If this happens it's usually done quite quickly afterwards and your statement will be recalculated.

Don't forget that you'll also have your fortnightly reduced ESA payments as well as your monthly UC payments.

sd100

thanks poppy if being really honest I don’t understand the other thing where people say TP will erode over time?

I mean why will it erode does it mean inflation is eroding it? And benefit Rises in future will erode it.

cos that sounds like not getting anything extra when that time comes, once eroded what is gonna cover that extra support we were all getting?

Kimmy87

Turn2us has a good explanation for TP eroding.

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/information-for-your-situation/universal-credit-uc-transitional-protection/when-will-my-universal-credit-uc-transitional-protection-end

poppy123456

One example of it eroding is when benefits increase, therefore from April when benefits increase you will not be any better off financially because the TP erodes by the same amount as the increase.

For your ESA this will increased but the deduction from UC will also increase so overall your total benefits entitlement for ESA and UC will remain the same.

sd100

Hi poppy yes I thought that may be the case, but if benefits increase which they do anyway year on year, doesnt that mean the extra sdp we were getting dissapears, i dont know if im explaining myself right.
but that was extra money that was being given to us as extra support, just because benefits will rise in future which was gonna happen anyway, why is the extra support we were getting vanishing? Will there be something else that comes in its place to replace it?

sd100

hope I explained it right what I’m getting at? When benefits rise why would they erode the extra support, surely the extra support should rise in line with the other benefits and not be eroded. What kind of skullduggery is that?