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UC additional award - overpayment?

sarahfurness

Hello

My sister (very disabled) - I am her appointee- has migrated from ESA (income related and in the support group) to UC. Her award was incorrect initially. She was only awarded the basic rate of £400 (ish) . I questioned this and she was then given the full amount another £423- I thought this was the maximum amount. They said they were still waiting confirmation of my sister's payment from ESA and when they received this they would calculate the Transitional Protection Payment amount. I didn't understand this as I belived she was receiveg all she could .

This morning she was awarded another £700 as they said they had received info. from ESA. This gives her over £1500 a month. I rang and they said she would receive this until her circumstances change significantly. I cannot believe this is correct - please can someone explain this to me ? I believe they have overpaid my sister and am concerned that I still do not know the correct money she will receive.

If anyone could shed any light on this, I would be very grateful.

Thank you for reading.

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Comments

Venetia

What does the breakdown of her award state (on her journal)? It should show how the award is made up.

Is it back pay, by any chance? Given that her award was incorrect initially.

Girl_No1

If she rents, the total may include her housing element. Also, from whatever the total is, they will deduct whatever she will receive from ESA. Standard deduction for someone in ESA - Support Group is £609.05 per month.

sarahfurness

Thanks so much for your responses. Girl_No1 she she pays her rent to social it came out out of her care out of her ESA so i don't think the additional 700 is for this. She is not on housing benefit.

Ventia it says the £ 700 is transitional protection but this is supposed to be the same as her ESA payment was and it is more and on top of the current £800 for the sameperiod of time - I am told it will be paid monthly.

I suppose the question is woould it be possible for her to be given approx £900 more than she was on on ESA. Is £1500 a month a possible payment (it does not include rent)?

Thanks you for your replies.

OverlyAnxious

Hi,

Transitional Payment should take UC up to exactly the same rate overall as her old legacy benefits. This is to ensure that no-one is worse off at the point of migrating. (Though it will reduce over time, she won't get any extra from the April rates increases for example.)

It sounds like she was getting the Severe Disability Premium with her ESA. This adds around £300 of Transitional Protection. But I'm not sure where the rest has come from. It could be an error. Do you have access to any of her old ESA letters to check exactly which components of ESA she was getting? If you can post the list on here (either typed or photographed) then we can work out how much Transitional Protection she should be getting now.

sarahfurness

Hello

Thanks so much for your comment above- I have worked out that she the £700 (ish) is exactly the same as her previous award on ESA. So, this is correct for TPP. She did not get the Severe Disability Premium on ESA, so I think i will need to either pay back the £700 or the £800 (ish). However I believe she should get paid whatever is higher the original UC award or the TPP. Hope this makes sense.

All complicated by the fact she pays a contribution to her rent to social care from her benefits so I think if she was paid £800 (ish) i would have to inform the council and they would take more rent off her??- hope this makes some sense.

Thank you for reading.

Any thoughts on the above would be really appreciated.

Kimi87

Perhaps you need to speak to a trained benefits advisor to find the best way forwards.

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

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1060863#Comment_1060863

Ok, this is a strange situation. Most people who did not get SDP with their ESA will be better off on UC, so do not get Transitional Protection. UC basic rate plus LCWRA should be £823 in this case, no TP added.

Without knowing exactly what she was getting paid from legacy benefits, and seeing exactly how the UC statement is now being calculated, I'm not sure I can offer any further advice at the moment.