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Esa / uc migration

carla72c

My partner and I are having a really stressful time at the moment which is causing my already fragile mental health to leave me sick and in distress all the time.

We got the esa/uc migration notice, which we were understood to be a simple transfer and as we were both in receipt of esa(support group).

With help from my daughter applied and we received a identity appointment at a job centre. I asked for a biographical phone call as I suffer with agoraphobia and extreme mental health. My partner who is physically disabled attended. Even though uc sent a message in journal saying his was cancelled!. He did attend, the person who he saw laughed off the error in the system, saying ' oh yeh it does that'.

My partner has been sent a message saying he needs a claimant commitment appointment and provide fit notes as , according to them did not have a work capability assessment!. Even though he attended one on 12/12/2013 , and subsequently placed on esa support group after this.

Having added these details to the journal informing them of these details, no one has responded and we are extremely worried and its causing us alot of distress.

Appointment is scheduled for 14th August, so extremely soon.

Please can someone advise us on what to do next. This should be a simple transfer over according to the guidelines. But it is far from that.

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Comments

Kimi87

It's likely there is a delay in ESA confirming his previous award. As the number of migration letters has gone up so too have various delays getting information through the pipeline (ESA uses an old computer system so it doesn't talk to UC very well).

11 days isn't that soon, my advice would be to add a Journal note every few days until someone responds, repeating his ESA status at the time of migration and requesting the appointment is cancelled.

Worst case is he attends the appointment with proof of his ESA award, he should have had an annual uprating letter in April.

Please reach out to your GP for extra support as you are in need.

carla72c

Thank you Kimi87 for your comments. All help is appreciated.

Will esa have my assessment on file? His health assessment must be traceable somewhere or my partner wouldn't of been placed and awarded esa SG.

Kimi87

ESA will confirm both your awards with UC, as advised there are delays with this process due to the increased number of migration letters going out.

Please be aware in a couples claim only one LCWRA element is payable (£423.27).

LCWRA is the UC equivalent of ESA Support Group.

Both of you will still be in LCWRA with no work commitments.

carla72c

Thanks for that info.

Is the transitional payment element likely to match what we were receiving?

Thanks

carla72c

{images removed by moderator - personal information}

Albus_Alumni

Hey there @carla72c and welcome to the community.

I'm afraid I've had to remove the screenshots as they contained personal information, my apologies.

carla72c

Oh dear, sorry I didn't realise. Im not inputting myself . My daughter is helping.me.

Kimi87

Yes if your total UC award is lower than legacy benefits, Transitional Protection will be added to your claim.

This will ensure you aren't worse off at the time of transfer.

TP does erode over time as other elements go up or new elements are added to your claim.

If you had a major change of circumstances such as changing to a single claim, TP would end.

carla72c

Thanks kimi87.

Below is a cropped picture of what my partner received, as well as a message asking for a fit note.

Screenshot_20250803_160650_Chrome.jpg

Screenshot_20250803_160640_Chrome.jpg

Kimi87

I understood this morning and gave my advice accordingly 😊

carla72c

Thank you, we are just very stressed and what was portrayed as a simple uncomplicated process is not. We are thinking of calling Citizens Advice tomorrow explaining our problems with the migration process and hopefully be able to do a 3 way call for answers.

Will let you know of any outcome. Once, again, thank you.

unique

new to this group l have just had my migration letter to move over to Uc. A few friends have moved over already but instead of paying £10 a month for council tax now have to pay the full yearly amount of £1300. So are worse off is this correct. I currently receive Esa support group with the SDP l also receive Pip enhanced in daily living and mobility l live on my own in social housing which is paid by housing benifit. I have no other income apart from Esa support group and Pip

Would appreciate any advice thank you

Kimi87

Unfortunately that is correct.

Council Tax Reduction has come up a lot on the forum.

Council Tax Reduction is decided on at a local level.

Each local authority has different rules for this meaning it's very hard to advise on individual cases from here.

Legacy benefits used to passport to maximum CTR support, at whatever number that was in the area.

That's now ended.

Some local authorities do treat UC differently to legacy benefits and some people have seen an increase in what they need to pay towards CT.

It's not just UC, some local authorities now count PIP as income instead of disregarding it.

As each area sets their own rules they can also change who gets what support, with changes usually starting in the financial year (April).

MyHappy256

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1055267#Comment_1055267

I am also on ESA support with SDP, did my migration in July and told I will be notified of what amount I will receive for UC in August and payment 15 August, but today was payday for my bi-weekly ESA which was not paid, I presume they now know that I have applied for UC migration, I hope.

This is quite a chunk of money to be missing out of my bank account, luckily I have enough to live on at the moment, but worth mentioning the gap in payment, make sure you have enough to tide you over not receiving your ESA SDP for the period.

carla72c

Hi kimi87

Still an ongoing issue with this.

Apparently when my partner moved in he lost his support group status and he was not given national insurance credits or a reassessment for wca. This has been a legal case and I have the details about it from citizens advice bureau. I've added that my LCWRA should be upheld as I was given neither a reassessment or nat ins credits. Wrote in the journal. None of any previous messages has been responded to as of yet though . Its an exhaustive experience and causing sleepless nights and not eating.