Hi, my name is Prince123! i have a problem with uc. I am entitled to £1,750 per month as i am ...

Prince123

Hello, i have a problem with uc. I am entitled to £1,750 per month as i am disabled and housebound but only receive £294 as they have deducted my wifes state pension and my new style esa. I only changed from esa as i was told this was the only way to claim housing benefit. My current rent is £975 per month and i have to pay £500 a month for carers to come in and help my wife who is 77 to look after me. If i was only claiming uc and no other benefits i would receive £614 per month for both of us and then they deduct my wifes £800 state pension from that figure. This may sound like an Aprils Fool but sadly it is not. Can anyone help or advise please as i cannot afford to pay my rent, carers any more because of these deductions.

Kimi87

As a mixed age couple it's correct that to get help with rent you had to claim UC. The deductions are also correct unfortunately.

Have you asked your local authority for a financial assessment with regards to paying for the carers?

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/help-from-social-services-and-charities/getting-a-needs-assessment/

Are you claiming PIP as well?

Holly_Scope

Hi @Prince123 just wanted to pop and say welcome! I can see @Kimi87 has asked a few additional questions and they're incredibly knowledgeable so I won't add anything more, other than my little welcome 🙂

Prince123

Hi this is Prince123. Thank you Kimi87 for your advice. Yes i am receiving PIP and have been for 10 years and they cannot deduct that. I am also in the process of talking to the local authority re financial assessment. I still don,t understand why after my wife and i who have worked most of our lives paying into the system cannot get anything back when help is needed. I asked UC yesterday that if, hypothetically, my wife and i claimed UC but were not in receipt of any benefits apart from the state pension would they deduct the pension of £800 from the standard £617 that we would be entitled to from UC. The answer was YES which effectively means my wife and i would owe UC £183per month. If it wasn,t so pathetic it would be hilarious.

Kimi87

You wouldn't owe them money in that scenario, you would instead receive a zero award and after 6 months of no UC your claim would be closed.

Your wife is getting a state pension which is what she paid into the system for. You get New Style ESA which is what you paid into the system for.

As a mixed age couple you get UC, this is means tested so your wife's income reduces and your ESA income reduces the amount payable.

Prince123

Yes i am fully aware of this and when i signed up for UC it was not pointed out that it was means tested. I only asked for UC as i was told it was the only way i could apply for housing benefit which is true. The fact remains that i have a monthly income of circa £2,000 and outgoings of £1,750 a month before you take into account food £400 utility bills £200 credit cards £200 and unexpected costs, for example i had to pay for a 2nd hand recliner chair last week which i need to sleep in as the last one would not work anymore and due to my disability i very rarely leave the chair. The new chair cost £500 which fortunately i was able to pay for by credit card. That equates to outgoings of circa £3,000 without any help towards housing costs which incidentally would only cover half of the rent. The only way forward as i can see it is to wait to be evicted and homeless and then shoved into some property by the council which would be totally unsuitable for a disabled person with a 77 year old wife and all of the incredible stress and trauma that would result from such a scenario. I am sorry Kimi87 but there has to be a way around this after all sometimes rules are put in place which are not fit for purpose and need to be looked at again in certain cases. I cannot be the only one who is in this situation but i do have a voice. Imagine what would have happened if Mr Bates had not taken on The Post Office and accepted that rules are rules !!!

jamiebear

Hi there and I’m sorry to hear about your difficulties.

Can cab or any local charity help?

Also and please don’t shoot the messenger, I don’t know if you’re on a special diet but can you look at the food bill?

Prince123

Prince123

Hi jamiebear thank you for your advice. In my experience the cab are less than helpful and just refer you to other organisations who have suggested i contact the cab in the first place. On the subject of the food bill. I realise that spending £13 a day may sound a little high so i am going to cut our weetabix intake by half and go from 4 cups of tea a day each to 2 cups of tea a day per person which of course will result in a saving on milk and sugar. Obviously cofffee and walnut cake is now a thing of the past however beggars cant be choosers. If these drastic actions save us £3 a day then it will have all been worth it and will result in me having another £90 available to go towards my monthly rent and carers costs of £1,500 per month- problem solved!!!! Sorry for the heavy sarcasm but at this moment in time i need housing benefit and other disability benefits to which i am entitled without having my wifes state pension deducted from my entitlement resulting in me not being able to afford to pay my rent culminating in potential eviction.