Ruling on Severe Disablement Premium cuts

5imply_Ted

I read with interest and cynical hope the article on the following link:

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2018/june/changes-uc-transitional-protection-rules-those-or-who-lost-severe-disability-premium

This affects me having moved to a UC area from ESA SDP 9 months ago and in the process losing around £180 per month of benefit. Having looked into it a little further it seems that The Secretary Of State made a statement declaring that:

"...we will provide both an on-going payment to claimants who have already lost this Premium as a consequence of moving to Universal Credit and an additional payment to cover the period since they moved."

Does anyone have any more details of this, specifically:

i) Will the "additional payments" be to the value of the SDP that we missed out on since moving from ESA to UC?

ii) Do the "on-going payments to claimants who have already lost this Premium as a consequence of moving to Universal Credit" mean that the value of SDP will be added to the UC claimant's current award so that it is brought into line with the current ESA  equivalent?

iii) How, if at all does this affect the UC pledge to disregard income brought in from a lodger as opposed to the ESA system of Housing Benefit being deducted pro-rata after an initial £20 per week.

iv) The big one - why is this restricted to severely disabled people who are transitioning from ESA. How can the government justify such a HUGE cut in support for (in their own words) "those with substantial care needs", then, having lost a court case, release a statement to say that those of us who move to a UC area because of a "change of circumstance" could keep our SDP after all. And then, if I understand correctly, seek permission to appeal against their own statement and the court's ruling, "maintaining that there was nothing unlawful with the way the claimants were treated."

Anyone with any knowledge of this? Failing that speculation, gossip, guesswork.....

poppy123456

DWP haven't made any further announcements regarding this. It could be a while yet before anything further is done. Especially if the PIP ruling 6 months ago is anything to go by.

5imply_Ted

I think it might be relevant to bring this post back into discussion as my understanding is that there have been recent developments in Westminster. I'm not sure exatly what has been decided and/or legislated for but I'd like to ask the community, in particular @poppy123456 if they have any insights into developments regarding the issue.

poppy123456

5imply_Ted said:

I think it might be relevant to bring this post back into discussion as my understanding is that there have been recent developments in Westminster. I'm not sure exatly what has been decided and/or legislated for but I'd like to ask the community, in particular @poppy123456 if they have any insights into developments regarding the issue.

I believe that DWP are facing a new legal challenge regarding this but there's been no official confirmation except news paper reports.

Funky_raspberry1

I have yet to be moved over to UC, but I'm really scared. I live in a mortgaged house for which I get NO HELP with the mortgage. I am a single woman (49). I receive ESA (income related) with Severe Disability component, as well as DLA (High Care & Mobility). Now there's no 'Middle ground' with PIP - what if I'm re-evaluated in the 'low' scale? I stand to loose so much money! I say this because I read so much about claimants being down graded these days. I could end up losing so much money that I would not be able to afford to stay in my home. There is about £40-80k equity in my house if I sold (I don't want to sell).
My question is - realistically, what do I stand to lose when UC is implemented? 

poppy123456

Funky_raspberry1 said:

I have yet to be moved over to UC, but I'm really scared. I live in a mortgaged house for which I get NO HELP with the mortgage. I am a single woman (49). I receive ESA (income related) with Severe Disability component, as well as DLA (High Care & Mobility). Now there's no 'Middle ground' with PIP - what if I'm re-evaluated in the 'low' scale? I stand to loose so much money! I say this because I read so much about claimants being down graded these days. I could end up losing so much money that I would not be able to afford to stay in my home. There is about £40-80k equity in my house if I sold (I don't want to sell).
My question is - realistically, what do I stand to lose when UC is implemented? 

Hi,

PIP has replaced DLA and UC is totally different to PIP, PIP isn't part of UC.

When you transfer from DLA to PIP if you're awarded any rate of daily living PIP then this will still qualify you for the SDP.

When managed migration starts and people do eventually get transferred across there will be a transitional support protection in place so you won't be any worse off.

At the moment because you claim severe disability premium you won't be able to claim UC until sometime after January 2021 but it will most likely be a long time after that. As it's a long way off yet, possible a few years then i really wouldn't worry about that yet.

As you're still claiming DLA you could soon be invited to apply for PIP, i'd concentrate on gathering some evidence to support your claim and do some research into what the PIP descriptors mean because it's totally different to DLA. Having some understanding of what they PIP descriptors mean will definitely help you when the time comes. These links will help.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria#daily-living-activities

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria#applying-the-criteria

5imply_Ted

poppy123456 said:

I believe that DWP are facing a new legal challenge regarding this but there's been no official confirmation except news paper reports.

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2019-07-22.280278.h&s=managed+migration#g280278.r0

I'm personally a little confused about the meaning of Minister Tomlinson's remarks in the above link, specifically where he says

"From 24 July 2019, eligible claimants will be considered for backdated payments covering the time since they moved to Universal Credit".

This suggests to me that the amendment has gone through and eligible claimants are now waiting to be paid. Any details on the nature of this new legal challenge much appreciated.

5imply_Ted

As an aside, perhaps it would be more relevant to move this across to a UC thread now.

Chloe_Alumni

I have done this for you @5imply_Ted

poppy123456

@5imply_Ted The legislation for this came out about 1 month ago and is here. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/1152/made

Scroll down to schedule 2 and this is the part you need to read.

When i answered your query some days ago i didn't read back on your previous comment when you first asked the question, i answered in relation to the reports that have been made further to the amount that is being backdated to those that lost the SDP as it's possible it will return to court because of the lower amount being paid.

To make it easier to understand i'll copy and paste the part that applies here.

The Secretary of State must determine an additional amount of universal credit (“the transitional SDP amount”) which is to be payable in respect of each assessment period that precedes that determination and then for each subsequent assessment period that begins before the conversion day.

2.  The transitional SDP amount, calculated by reference to the date of the determination, is—

(a)in the case of a single claimant—

(i)£120, if the LCWRA element is included in the award, or

(ii)£285, if the LCWRA element is not included in the award;

(b)in the case of joint claimants—

(i)£405, if the higher SDP rate was payable and no person has since become a carer for either of them,

(ii)£120, if paragraph (i) does not apply and the LCWRA element is included in the award in respect of either of them, or

(iii)£285, if paragraph (i) does not apply and the LCWRA element is not included in the award in respect of either of them.

In simpler terms this means that if you do qualify for the backdated payments and you claim LCWRA element in your UC payments and you were claiming single person rate of SDP then you'll receive £120 per month backdated.

If you don't receive LCWRA in your UC payments then you'll receive £285 per month backdated (single person)

5imply_Ted

Thanks for the info @poppy123456  I thought it was 80 rather than 120 pounds for a single person on LCWRA so that's good. On the other hand, it's not close to the 180 lost when I naturally migrated to UC.

With that said, I'm in ongoing discussions with https://www.leighday.co.uk/Employment-discrimination/Current-cases/Universal-Credit-group-action who have taken my case (along with many others) with the aim of redressing the balance between the two groups (ESA and UC). Having collected all the evidence they are proceeding with legal action against the Government via a mass claim for full compensation on a no win no fee basis. Worth looking into for anyone having gone through similar disability payment cuts.

ps. Thanks @Chloe_Scope