WILL THE AMOUNT I RECEIVE CHANGE AFTER TRANSITIONING TO UC?
hi everybody,
i'm receiving: £298 + £25 + £162 weekly in housing benefit, tax support (greater london area) and esa (support group) respectively. will the amount i receive stay the same after transitioning to universal credit (just received the transitioning letter the other day)?
your input will be greatly appreciated as my rent is now higher than the housing benefit cap (the rent practically doubled since i moved in 13 years ago), so i have to use about half the esa money to top it up.
thanx
Comments
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If the money you get on means tested legacy benefits is higher than what you are entitled to on UC, you will get a transitional payment top up so you dont lose out at the time of migration.
However the TP does not go up with inflation, and if your entitlement to UC increase (such as annual uplift), the TP will go down by the same amount, so over time it gradually erodes.
I hope that makes sense.2 -
Just to add, if your rent increases, TP will erode accordingly.
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Hi,
Council Tax Support is not included in Transitional Protection. That could change after your migration. Each council has it's own rules for that so we can't advise on a National forum.
If you rent privately and are limited by the Local Housing Allowance, then that will still be the same rate as Housing Element on UC.
For your ESA, it looks like you currently get basic rate, plus Support Group, plus Enhanced Disability Premium. This works out as £700 a month.
When you migrate to UC, you will get basic rate plus LCWRA, which is £823 a month.
So you will be better off by £123 each month. This means there will not be any Transitional Protection in your case.
Just to recap - UC will be more than ESA. Housing Element should be exactly the same as Housing Benefit. Council Tax Reduction could change.
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thanx, but i don't quite understand what this means, did you mean: if my housing benefit increases? why would i get less funds if my rent increases?
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Because for every increase in your UC award, TP reduces by that amount.
UC was supposedly designed to be similar to working, such as the monthly payment. If your rent increases, I doubt your employer would up your salary accordingly.
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hi, that's very helpful. i hope your calculation is correct because i've heard some people get less funds when transitioning to uc.
is the transition from esa to uc automatic? uc website says that we don't need to send in medical evidence if we've already had an 'capability for work' assessment. do we need a new assessment for uc, or do the ones we had for esa in the past count (i had three previously)?
you input is greatly appreciated.
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You will not need any medical evidence or a new assessment. You only need to attend an ID interview at the Jobcentre. I was in and out in 5 minutes. I received a call the next day, iinforming me about NS ESA, which replaced CB ESA, and my commitments, which were to report any changes.
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For the rent increase, more specifically it is if the housing element increases, not everyone gets all their rent covered, as an example, my rent is £590, but my LHA rate is £540, if my rent was to increase to £650 tomorrow, there would be no change on my UC as it doesnt change that I am capped to £540 support, I hope that makes sense.
But if the housing element increases this falls into "an increase of UC entitlement" so would erode the TP.
It is possible to have higher housing support on legacy benefits vs UC, I was one of those people, on the really old housing benefit system, where LHA rate isnt used for calculating eligibility. But thats for extremely old claims.2 -
hi, thanx for your answer.
i am almost 64yo, what happens when i reach the retirement age? do i continue to receive those same benefits? i've heard that from then on my rent might be covered in full, is that correct?
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You're welcome.
Generally nobody should get less when migrating to UC because that is what Transitional Protection is there for.
People who had SDP with their ESA would get less on UC alone. So they get Transitional Protection which takes UC up to the same amount as their ESA & SDP was.
Some people do have to pay more Council Tax after migrating, but as said before, that is managed by the local council so we can't really advise on that.
There are also some cases where people get less due to changes that happen shortly after their migration, but that is rare and shouldn't apply to your situation.
You need to submit the claim for UC before the deadline on the letter yourself. However, you will then automatically be put into the LCWRA group of UC, which is the equivalent to Support Group on ESA. You will not have to go through another Work Capability Assessment for the migration.
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hi, thanx for your answer, it's greatly appreciated. i've put another question above, but haven't had it answered yet:
i am almost 64yo, what happens when i reach the retirement age? do i continue to receive those same benefits? i've heard that, from then on, my rent might be covered in full, is that correct?
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If you are still single and living alone when you reach pension age then UC stops and you should claim your state pension instead.
You can also claim pension credit to top up that pension amount if it's lower than the eligibility limit.
The reason I mention being single is that when people live with a younger partner, they continue on joint Universal Credit until both partners reach State Pension Age.
When Universal Credit stops, you will also lose the Housing Element and have to claim Housing Benefit through your local council again. I'm not sure about full rent being covered. Each council will have their own rules for Housing Benefit.
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thanx very much,
yes, i do live alone and rent privately for the past 13 years (lambeth, london). this is what i managed to find on the internet, but as it says "ai generated answer" i am not sure if it's reliable info. is there a way to confirm this:
"No, the benefit cap does not apply to pensioners in Lambeth or anywhere else in the UK. If you are over State Pension age, you are exempt from the benefit cap. The benefit cap only affects working-age individuals and families receiving certain benefits."
"Lambeth Council's 'Lambeth Tenants Handbook' confirms that the cap does not apply to those of pension age."
this is from the "shelter uk" web page:
"The benefit cap does not apply if you have reached pension age."
this is from the "gov.uk":
"You’re not affected by the cap if you’re over State Pension age. (If you’re part of a couple and one of you is under State Pension age, the cap may apply.)"
your help is greatly appreciated !!!
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Are you sure you're currently affected by the benefit cap?
Private rental is limited by the Local Housing Allowance, so that is usually the reason that we don't get our full rent paid.
The benefit cap doesn't apply to working age people who get the health element of UC as far as I'm aware.
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thanx for that, i really should look into it. if anybody else here have some additional info regarding this matter, your input will be greatly appreciated.
cheers
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