willing to answer all questions in regards to UC.

DomDev

Hi UCExpert,

im wondering if you can offer some advice in regards to my situation. My girlfriend (who currently claims ESA and PIP) just had a universal credit meeting to see if she could receive housing benefit as well because this falls under UC now. This is because we are relocating to another town and so require help paying for housing requirements. I'm a student who will be getting a student loan around the time we want to move (mid september) but her current benefits don't allow her to save enough money to help pay for deposit/first month rent etc. The people in her meeting today told her they wouldn't be able to give her housing benefit until she was already in the new place AND they also cut her payments she currently gets by nearly 200 a month also delaying this payment date by nearly 3 weeks..? Do you have any advice to give on our situation at all? 

UCExpert

Hi Dom, you are best to speak with CAB office regarding this as although id like to help I can only deal with specific questions as I would need to know all your details first. please bare in mind that uc will use your student finance as an income monthly.

local authorities can help with deposits as well.

DomDev

Okay thank you - citizens advice didn't really seem too helpful when we spoke to them and just said to apply for UC - which we've done but shes now in a worse off position.. I heard of a thing called discretionary housing payment, which apparently can help with money towards a deposit/rent shortfall. is it worth contacting the council of the place we're moving to and seeing if they can aid us with deposits etc? Also thats insane that UC will use my student loan as a monthly income?! It can just about support one person not two

poppy123456

Student loans are counted as income for all means tested benefits and it's always been like this, even if you decide not to take the student loan it will still be counted as if you've taken it.

A discretionary housing payment is there for shortfalls for those claiming either housing benefit or the housing element of UC. It's not there to help with deposits for first month rent or bonds.

lydia5683

Hi im on lcwra due to mental health and work 10 hours a week, the dea told me that I can work and stay on lcwra but will have to persuade the decision maker and couldn't give me any more info.

It says in the guidelines that you there needs to be substantial risks to be on lcwra or to score enough points.

 I really struggle at work even with reasonable adjustments so I was wondering how to stay on lcwra even when working with an example if possible.

Someone from the scope helpline told me he couldn't really give an example and it depends.

I also want to know the minimum jobsearch hours required if happily found ffw with a mental health condition. If the person cannot meet these hours on a regular basis due to depression as an example but does some jobsearch can the work coach change the hours or will they be sanctioned.

Sorry for the question length. I hope to have a reply.

poppy123456

lydia5683 said:

Hi im on lcwra due to mental health and work 10 hours a week, the dea told me that I can work and stay on lcwra but will have to persuade the decision maker and couldn't give me any more info.

It says in the guidelines that you there needs to be substantial risks to be on lcwra or to score enough points.

 I really struggle at work even with reasonable adjustments so I was wondering how to stay on lcwra even when working with an example if possible.

Someone from the scope helpline told me he couldn't really give an example and it depends.

I also want to know the minimum jobsearch hours required if happily found ffw with a mental health condition. If the person cannot meet these hours on a regular basis due to depression as an example but does some jobsearch can the work coach change the hours or will they be sanctioned.

Sorry for the question length. I hope to have a reply.

LCWRA is an ongoing award until a new decision says otherwise. Reviews are also suspended anyway.

LCWRA is not about scoring points, you need to satisfy at least one of the descriptors, or substantial risk as you correctly mentioned. You can see the descriptors here. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/universal-credit-uc/uc-faq/limited-capability-for-work-related-activity

There's no maximum amount of hours you can work when being found to have LCWRA and if you start working you need to report a change of circumstances and tell them you're working.

However, if the work you do contradicts the reasons why you were found to have LCWRA then yes it can go against you the next time you're reviewed. Lots of people work while claiming LCWRA without any issues.

It will be impossible to tell you whether the work you do contradicts the reasons why you're claiming LCWRA because we don't know how your conditions affect you or what reason you were found to have LCWRA.

If you're found fit for work in the future, what will be expected of you with your claimant commiments will depend on your circumstances.

UCExpert

[Removed by moderator*] 

*For more information about why we removed this, please consider our online community house rules.

lydia5683

Hi I have used the benefits and work guidance regarding my wca and the link that was provided for the answer to my question seemed correct. I would like to know UC Experts own point of view if some of the information may be incorrect

poppy123456

lydia5683 said:

Hi I have used the benefits and work guidance regarding my wca and the link that was provided for the answer to my question seemed correct. I would like to know UC Experts own point of view if some of the information may be incorrect

I can assure you that the advice I’ve given you in my comment above is correct. 

UCExpert

poppy123456 said:

lydia5683 said:

Hi im on lcwra due to mental health and work 10 hours a week, the dea told me that I can work and stay on lcwra but will have to persuade the decision maker and couldn't give me any more info.

It says in the guidelines that you there needs to be substantial risks to be on lcwra or to score enough points.

 I really struggle at work even with reasonable adjustments so I was wondering how to stay on lcwra even when working with an example if possible.

Someone from the scope helpline told me he couldn't really give an example and it depends.

I also want to know the minimum jobsearch hours required if happily found ffw with a mental health condition. If the person cannot meet these hours on a regular basis due to depression as an example but does some jobsearch can the work coach change the hours or will they be sanctioned.

Sorry for the question length. I hope to have a reply.

LCWRA is an ongoing award until a new decision says otherwise. Reviews are also suspended anyway.

LCWRA is not about scoring points, you need to satisfy at least one of the descriptors, or substantial risk as you correctly mentioned. You can see the descriptors here. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/universal-credit-uc/uc-faq/limited-capability-for-work-related-activity

There's no maximum amount of hours you can work when being found to have LCWRA and if you start working you need to report a change of circumstances and tell them you're working.

However, if the work you do contradicts the reasons why you were found to have LCWRA then yes it can go against you the next time you're reviewed. Lots of people work while claiming LCWRA without any issues.

It will be impossible to tell you whether the work you do contradicts the reasons why you're claiming LCWRA because we don't know how your conditions affect you or what reason you were found to have LCWRA.

If you're found fit for work in the future, what will be expected of you with your claimant commiments will depend on your circumstances.

This is completely wrong 

lydia5683

Thanks I remember reading the benefits and work guidance before and the site recommends not seeking advice from dwp as they frequently give incorrect info

poppy123456

lydia5683 said:

Thanks I remember reading the benefits and work guidance before and the site recommends not seeking advice from dwp as they frequently give incorrect info

That's correct. When you ring a DWP department you're speaking to someone from a call centre, not someone from DWP. DWP are not benefits advisors they only administer the benefits.

Adrian_Scope

Good morning

I have removed a number of comments from this discussion because they breached our house rules (or related to the breaches).

As has been mentioned, we strongly recommend that members do not use private messages to seek or share advice. The public forum is a better place for these discussions because:

1. Posts and comments are monitored by moderators, which ensures that the conversation remains in keeping with our community house rules.

2. The wider community can provide input and share their own experiences, which can provide a more diverse range of perspectives.

3. Private messages can be misleading or inaccurate because there is no way for other members to provide corrections or alternative viewpoints.

UCExpert said:

This is completely wrong 

@UCExpert, if you think that someone shared wrong information, it would be helpful to either explain what you believe to be wrong with it or to report the mistake to us and explain what's incorrect.

Please also look out for an email from the team.

Finally, I just want to wish you a warm welcome to the community @lydia5683. I'm sorry that there has been some conflict on your first query here, on the whole we are a very supportive and helpful community. 
Hopefully UCExpert can get back to us with what he believes to be incorrect, because as far as my own understanding of LCWRA and working goes, I would agree with what @poppy123456 has said.