universal credit am i claiming the right amount

jjdd70

hi im here to ask for help,

I do hope i dont get negative feedback

here goes im uploading my universal credit statement for a couple when i claimed uc iwasnt sure if this was the correct way to claim.

or if my husband put in for lwcra and only i claim carers would we be worst off.

I thought when we were forced to go onto uc i would be better off but OMG council tax is so expensive i know everyone else has to pay this, but when i was on income support it was so easy

Rosie_Scope

Hi @jjdd70, Please don't be scared of negative feedback, we're all here to help. Universal Credit deductions can be a bit confusing unfortunately and it can often be difficult to see where you might be losing out. It might be a good idea to talk to a professional benefits adviser to make sure you're getting the most out of your claim. You can find someone local using Turn2Us's advice finder here: https://advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk/

Does your council offer any discounts to disabled people or people on lower incomes? Some councils don't, but it can vary depending on what area you live in so it may be worth enquiring with them to see if they can help make things more manageable.

OverlyAnxious

Hi,

This situation isn't as simple as it seems.

If you'd started a brand new UC claim, you would have been around £200 better off with one of you claiming LCWRA from the start.

However, because you get a large amount of Transitional Protection. It actually makes no difference to your total UC payment right now.

Second however…the Transitional Protection will eventually erode to the point where you get less than if one of you had been on LCWRA. That is likely to take several years though. There would also be no point in one of you claiming LCWRA when the TP fully erodes because the LCWRA rate has been cut by around £200, so is not far off the rate of Carers Element now.