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SDP and Work

ashes19

Hello

I’ve just been notified that I’m receiving £120 extra per month in relation to my lost SDP when I moved to Universal Credit in August 2018.

I’m currently thinking of starting some part time work (under 16 hours) but I cannot find any information about the UC SDP in relation to employment. Would I lose the extra £120 per month if I started work? I’m currently on UC LCWRA and PIP standard daily living, enhanced mobility.

Thanks in advance for any help

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Comments

poppy123456

Hi,

No because it doesn't work like that. As you have LCW then you'll receive a work allowance, how much you receive will depend on circumstances. If you receive the housing element with UC then your work allowance will be £287 per month. If you don't receive the housing element then your work allowance will be £503 per month. This means that you'll be able to earn that amount of money before you start to receive any deductions in your UC payment. Anything more than that then you'll receive a 63% reduction in your UC payments.

Also do be aware that if the work you do contradicts the reasons you're claiming LCWRA then this could go against you when you're next re-assessed and it could also prompt an early re-assessment.

ashes19

Thanks for the sound advice Poppy, I really appreciate it.

Works sounds like too much of a gamble in terms of my benefits when I’m not even sure I’m capable of it. I’ve had 2 unsuccessful periods of employment within the past 18 months. The first job I lasted a day, the second job 5 weeks. I had to resign on both occasions due to a relapse of my mental health symptoms. The rest of the past 10 years I’ve been unemployed due to mental illness.

On a positive note, it’s great news re the SDP, the £1440 back pay will allow me to transform my new flat into a home!

Best wishes

BenefitsTrainingCo

ashes19,

I'm really pleased about your SDP and the back pay. Just to stay that you have had excellent advice from Poppy. The work won't affect your new SDP payment at all.

However, it's always a risk carrying out work when you have LCWRA status and/or you get PIP/DLA. That's because you can usually be reassessed for these benefits whenever the DWP feel like it and if they think your work undermines the reasons you've got LCWRA and/or DLA/PIP then they might call you for reassessment, which as you know is really stressful anyway.

On the plus side you can work and keep your LCWRA status as long as there is no change in that LCWRA decision; your earnings affect your UC in the way Poppy has described.

Will

5imply_Ted

This is quite an old post but I looked it up after similar circumstances were raised under my own claim. After some soul searching I decided that if you don’t test yourself in the workplace like you ashes19 then you don’t really know whether you are capable of work or not. Having Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity and being capable of doing occasional work shouldn’t be mutually exclusive and I see no reason why UC should be restricted unless, as Poppy says, the work you do calls into question the reasons you give for claiming LCWRA (I would always advise liaising closely with your medical team and being fully prepared for that situation in advance). I must admit it’s a concern not knowing whether you will be able to engage in the job and knowing you can possibly be hauled back in for reassessment for your trouble but that is the system’s fault, not ours.

I have the opportunity to do some flexible work surrounded by medically trained colleagues with an initial target income of below my Work Allowance. What I would like to know before I take the risk is - will I lose my ongoing SDP if I find the work too much and attempt to go back to my previous claim?

poppy123456

5imply_Ted said:

I have the opportunity to do some flexible work surrounded by medically trained colleagues with an initial target income of below my Work Allowance. What I would like to know before I take the risk is - will I lose my ongoing SDP if I find the work too much and attempt to go back to my previous claim?

A little confused by your question because you mention the work allowance and SDP but the work allowance is for UC and SDP is not paid under UC because it doesn't exist. Are you claiming ESA?

5imply_Ted

Sorry I meant the ongoing transitional payments that were brought in alongside the compensation lump sums to replace SDP for UC recipients who lost out when making a Natural Migration.

poppy123456

No, you won't lose it for finding work too much. Not sure what you mean by going back to your previous claim? You have a work allowance and you can earn that amount of money before you start to see any deductions in your UC payments. Once you earn over that work allowance your UC will reduce by 63p for every £1 over your work allowance.

5imply_Ted

poppy123456 said:

No, you won't lose it for finding work too much. Not sure what you mean by going back to your previous claim? You have a work allowance and you can earn that amount of money before you start to see any deductions in your UC payments. Once you earn over that work allowance your UC will reduce by 63p for every £1 over your work allowance.

That's reassuring. There has been some confusion over whether finding work would trigger a 'change of circumstance', thereby automatically ending the ongoing transitional payments for those of us who have waited so long to have them installed in UC along with natural migration compensation.

poppy123456

Are other people confused? This thread is the only thread i've seen on scope asking this question.

As was mentioned earlier on in the thread you do need to be careful when working if you have LCW because if the work you do contradicts the reasons why you're claiming LCW/LCWRA then you could be re-assessed early and it could go against you. If they find you fit for work then your LCW/LCWRA extra money will stop.

5imply_Ted

Not sure about this forum poppy but myself and some others I have been in contact with on this subject are confused on the 'change of circumstance' being linked to 'automatic ending of ongoing transitional payments' question, as opposed to LCW/LCWRA payments which is why I posted on this thread, which I felt was closely related to the subject - to try to get some clarity.

I take it from your reply that there is no reason for concern regarding that particular issue unless, as you say (and as I reiterated in my first post) the work you do calls into question the reasons you give for claiming LCW/LCWRA. And even then, my question would be - would the ongoing transitional payments put into UC in place of SDP remain in the event of the claimant working but still being entitled to PIP/DLA?

poppy123456

Working isn't a change of circumstances for this reason but living with someone or PIP/DLA ending or someone claiming carers allowance or carers element of UC would be a change of circumstances.

5imply_Ted

Again, that's reassuring, and thanks very much for your knowledgeable assistance. It's good to know that, on the face of it, having limited capability for work, being able to work occasionally and being entitled to the UC equivalent of an SDP are not seen as mutually exclusive to each other. Of course, in practice, as you and the op have pointed out in respect to LCW/LCWRA, DLA/PIP etc the reality can be very different and there is often no allowance made for 'transitional' steps into the workplace without the stress of benefit cuts which cannot, in some cases be reversed.