Joint claim

Cat7

My partner and I made a joint claim last May,,I was on income based esa and he contribution based both in the support group, we have now migrated to uc and are way worse off, we were told we would still receive esa so we wouldn't be worse off but my esa has stopped because it is income based however my partner has been told he needs to make a new claim as his esa was stopped when we made a joint claim, that was last May, we didn't know this we just assumed what we got was both our esa together, is this right? As even if he makes a new claim or just gets deducted from uc, I'm really confused, thankyou for any advice anyone can give

Kimi87

It is correct that your IR ESA stopped when you claimed UC.

I do not know why your partners CB ESA stopped, it should have converted into New Style ESA and been deducted in full from your UC award.

You might want to investigate this

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

I doubt a new claim for NS ESA is possible because eligibility is based on recent sufficient NI Contributions made through work.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-employment-and-support-allowance#after-you-apply

You now are entitled to UC based on your joint circumstances as a couple. Within a couples claim the maximum number of LCWRA elements payable is one.

Mary_Scope

Hi @Cat7 and a warm welcome to the community!

I see Kimi has answered your question and given some good advice so I won't add anything else today but its lovely to have you here and I hope you enjoy your time on the community😀

Cat7

It was stopped last May when we made a joint claim,we didn't know until today when we called them to see what was happening with our esa as had been told it would still be getting paid, obviously my ir was stopped but we were told his contribution based was closed last year when we made a joint claim?

Kimi87

As I advised what should have happened is his ESA converted into New Style ESA, be paid every fortnight and a monthly amount deducted from your UC award.

So to confirm he hasn't been getting any ESA payments for the last year, and there is no deduction shown on your UC statements?

Cat7

Yes but I'm assuming that is my ir one as we were told he hadn't been paid since last May, none of us are getting any esa

Kimi87

Income related ESA ends when you claim UC.

CB ESA gets converted into New Style ESA, and deducted from the UC award.

So you are saying for the last year there has been a deduction on your UC statements, but your partner has not had any money into his bank account from ESA?

Cat7

We just migrated couple weeks ago to uc, we have only had one payment, our statement says there is a deduction of esa that we are not entitled to,called esa today they said his esa stopped last May and his last esa payment was then, that he would have to make a new claim for new style esa

Kimi87

By joint claim last May, do you mean ESA?

And then you migrated to UC more recently?

Not my area of expertise but I didn't think it was possible to merge ESA claims because that change of circumstances should have triggered a migration to UC last May.

I suggest you seek help from a trained benefits advisor to sort out what has happened.

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

Cat7

Yes it was an esa claim, i will go to the advice centre, thanks for your advice