Uc help me please

ploddingAlong

Hi all.

I really need some help. Now it may seem simple to some people but after a car accident my brain just doesn't work like it used to and I sometimes struggle to understand basic things leading to alot of stress and anxiety.

Ok here we go, sorry this will be a long one......

I have been on esa for 8 years I recently found out I was receiving contribution based and income related in the support group with severe disability and disability premiums.

I got my migration letter and did the migration, I received a call telling me that I would continue to get the contribution part of esa but the income part and all the premiums would be taken over by Uc and that i might get the same amount but more likely get more money.

So I then got my esa payment which was £200 less because of the missing income part but it was 2 weeks later when I got my first Uc payment yet there wasnt any back dated money?

I wrote on my journal asking and was told my statement date was correct therefore the amount was correct as the computer cannot be wrong. So i had to apply for a loan to cover the missing money which they now take £20 a month of me to repay it.

I now get £281 esa every 14 days

£183 Uc on 10th and 26th of each month so 24 payments a year instead of the 26 payments I used to get with esa.

281+183= £464 i used to get £482 every 14 days but the Uc isn't every 14 days so over the year I'm getting less. 2 payments less a year plus £40 less a month all adds up when you are penny pinching as it is.

So again I wrote on my journal and was told that all my info was in the computer and the computer can't be wrong to which i said clearly it was wrong and that a human still has to put the info into a computer and they can be wrong, I then asked to speak to someone else like a manager. My case worker told me that he was fully in control of my claim and nobody was above him as he had the final say in what I get and that only my MP could go above him.

I then noticed I was paying back £56 a month for the £200 I borrowed not the £20 I asked them to take.

Eventually I got that sorted back to £20 a month so expected my payments to go up by £36 a month but it didn't. I contacted Uc customer service who agreed that my account didn't seem to add up and they would get the payment department to contact me, instead my case worker sent me a message just saying that as he had already told me my account is correct and he wouldn't be discussing the issue further. So I wrote back asking him to please explain how all this works because I am confused, another case worker then wrote back saying that as its April my rent went up by £40 pm so the £36 + the Uc April increase was taken to cover the rent increase and that's why my money didn't go up. Esa never did that! If my rent went up HB covered it and my esa wasn't effected so why is Uc taking the money off me? This other case worker then went on to tell me that my Uc would continue to decrease as my claim was adjusted due to changes in my circumstances -- what changes?

I told her that there wasn't any changes except my health getting worse but as I was told I'm on the maximum amount I didnt expect a change least of all a decrease. She said it would decrease because my Transitional protection will decrease until eventually stopped lowering the amount I will get. According to my new statement my Uc has now decreased by £10.

I'm just really confused by all this.

Will My Uc keep going down?

Why am I getting less Per month/year

Why is my case worker so rude and uncaring when I have explained a number of times that i do get confused and my parents deal with my money and bills because I get confused easily and then leads to stress - tears - panic and then anger and shouting.

Can someone out there please help me, even just explaining in simple terms how all this works will be such a great relief.

Thank you

Kimi87

When you claim UC ESA ends immediately, apart from one final payment (known as the run on payment).

There was no "missing money" from ESA because your ESA ended after you claimed UC.

There was nothing supposed to be backdated on your first UC award.

You actually got an extra payment of ESA which is not deducted from your first UC payment.

Your first UC payment is based on your circumstances for the previous calender month, known as the assessment period. You would have been paid for the whole month, so there was no missing money from UC either.

Transitional Protection is added if your total UC award is lower than legacy benefits at the time of transfer. It does erode over time as other elements go up or new elements are added.

It is correct that the increased Housing Element eroded your Transitional Protection, that is how UC works by design. That is why you didn't see any increase after the loan repayments reduced.

Things that erode TP are increases in current elements - such as annual rises, and new ones being added to the claim.

Eventually no one will receive any Transitional Protection and everyone will be on the same rates of UC no matter their circumstances when they first claimed. There are no disability premiums payable under UC as there were with the legacy system.

This is all how UC has been designed to work.

You may benefit from seeing a trained welfare rights advisor who can look at your award to check everything is correct.

https://advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk/

Does your rent get paid directly to Landlord?

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/134269/benefits-gone-down

Mary_Scope

Hi @ploddingAlong and a warm welcome to the community!

I see Kimi has answered your question and is providing some great advice so I won’t add anything new today but it’s lovely to have you here and I hope you enjoy your time on the community😄

ploddingAlong

Thank you for the replies. Seems odd that each year (April) my rent will go up so my money will go down, i will eventually have nothing as rent went up by £40 this year but Uc's inflation amount was £1.76p

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1030422#Comment_1030422

It's only the Transitional Protection that gets reduced.

If you look on your statement, it'll show how much TP you get right now.

Once the TP has gone, your UC won't get reduced by rent increases any more.

ploddingAlong

Great that's a relief thank you