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Esa support group

hello20

Hello I was in esa claim for 3 years support group my partner was on the claim she moved out an claimed uc We recently decided to get bck together an esa said I need to claim on her uc but I’m already claiming income support esa support group an was recently had Assasemnt an put on support group can they not put my partner on my claim why do I need go on uc an will they pay my support group element on it will I need to be re assessed

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Comments

Adrian_Scope

Good morning @hello20 and a warm welcome to the community.

Unfortunately, what you have been told is correct. You can't add your partner to your ESA claim and will instead have to make a joint claim for UC.

When you are added to her UC claim, you need to be clear you already have a determined award for ESA and are in the support group. They should then put you in the relevant group on Universal Credit which is LCWRA. Moving to Universal Credit shouldn't prompt a reassessment.

I hope that helps but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Tinkerbell44

I did have to have an assessment to get my lcwra added onto my Univeral credit claim, even though I was on ESA support group and had just had my yearly assessment done I still had to have another to be given this element in my uc so you may have to have that done to get that element, but above is correct, you can’t take her on your ESA you will need to go onto her universal credit so she will need to report a change in circumstances and tell them that you are back together and you are on ESA etc, and then like I did have a reassessment to get the lcwra award added onto it.
hope you got it sorted!!!!
G

bi786

Tinkerbella44 how long did it take you to get your lwca awarded an did you have to refill in the booklet don’t mind asking what ilness u was awarded support group for

poppy123456

Tinkerbell44 said:

I did have to have an assessment to get my lcwra added onto my Univeral credit claim, even though I was on ESA support group and had just had my yearly assessment done I still had to have another to be given this element in my uc so you may have to have that done to get that element, but above is correct, you can’t take her on your ESA you will need to go onto her universal credit so she will need to report a change in circumstances and tell them that you are back together and you are on ESA etc, and then like I did have a reassessment to get the lcwra award added onto it.
hope you got it sorted!!!!
G

That's not what should have happened. When transferring from ESA to UC DWP should honour your ESA award and place you into the relevant group for UC but for them to do this you need to ask for the MPG1 form to be sent from ESA. If this would have been done then you wouldn't have needed the face to face assessment. However, if you sent in sick notes when you claimed UC then this would have started the LCW process off.

Advisers from DWP have had some extremely poor training when it comes to UC and very often make this mistake.

bi786

Tinkerbella44 how long did it take you to get your lwca awarded

poppy123456

bi786 said:

Tinkerbella44 how long did it take you to get your lwca awarded an did you have to refill in the booklet don’t mind asking what ilness u was awarded support group for

Everyone that is claiming limited capability for work and has been sending in fit notes without a break will need to fill out the work capability assessment form. You should be referred for the assessment 29 days after sending in your first fit note. Once you're referred you'll be sent the WCA forms.

BenefitsTrainingCo

hello20,

The advice from Adrian is correct. Unfortunately you do have to claim UC in a situation where a partner who is on UC moves in with you.

However, if you're already in the support group & getting ESA on the day your UC starts, then you should get an LCWRA (limited capability for work-related activity) element from day one of your UC claim. This is like the support component in ESA, but a bit higher. You don't get any other disability premiums in UC, so it's well worth making sure UC get this right and include the LCWRA element in your first award.

If you were claiming UC without having an LCW or LCWRA decision, or you were not on ESA on the day you moved to UC, then you'd have to present sick notes to have a work capability assessment. The problem is that UC will often seek to carry out a new work capability assessment, whether or not you already have an LCW or LCWRA decision. As Poppy suggests, sometimes this could happen because you've submitted sick notes even though technically you didn't need to (because you already had a valid LCW/LCWRA decision). But unfortunately it can happen anyway - the law makes it clear that the DWP have the power to reassess you at any time, even if you already have an LCW or LCWRA decision.

So to summarise - if you move to UC directly from ESA and you're in the support group, you should get your LCWRA element in your first award, and you won't have any work-related requirements (you shouldn't have to attend interviews at the Jobcentre once your UC award has been set up). If you get PIP daily living or DLA middle or higher rate care and your partner cares for you, then she may not have any work-related requirements either, and could get a carer element added to the award. She'd need to be caring for you for 35 hours a week. She doesn't have to claim carer's allowance (if she does, this will come off the UC award £1 for £1 so overall it's the same amount of money).

Will

BenefitsTrainingCo

Tinkerbell44,
It sounds as if you may be entitled to arrears of the LCWRA element going back to the beginning of your UC claim. This would apply if there was no gap between your ESA and your UC (your UC award star started on a day you were entitled to ESA in the support group).

If that applies to you, ask UC for a mandatory reconsideration. The regulation which means you should be entitled to the LCWRA element from day 1 of your UC claim is Reg 19 of the UC (transitional provisions) Regs 2014. As Poppy says, UC have had very poor training on this issue and it seems to keep happening!

Will

BenefitsTrainingCo

Tinkerbell44

Wow!! Ok thank you I will do that as I went from January until May not getting this element and sending in sick notes!! I did put a message in my uc asking then for this bit they just said something about a 90 day waiting period that everyone apparently has to go through before the lcwra is added on??
Thank you so much for this I’m going to message them now!!
G

poppy123456

Tinkerbell44 said:

Wow!! Ok thank you I will do that as I went from January until May not getting this element and sending in sick notes!! I did put a message in my uc asking then for this bit they just said something about a 90 day waiting period that everyone apparently has to go through before the lcwra is added on??
Thank you so much for this I’m going to message them now!!
G

The waiting period doesn't apply when you're already in the Support Group, which is the same as LCWRA.

hello20

Thank you everyone for your support unfortunately my partners uc credit has been suspended an will be closed in next 16 days can I add her on my esa claim bck if her accounts suspended an will be closed in next 16 days

poppy123456

hello20 said:

Thank you everyone for your support unfortunately my partners uc credit has been suspended an will be closed in next 16 days can I add her on my esa claim bck if her accounts suspended an will be closed in next 16 days

why has her UC been suspended? She can't be added to your ESA claim, you will both have to claim UC.

Tinkerbell44

Thank you so much poppy123456 and Adrian!! I have now put a message in my uc account and will let you know how I get on!!
G x

Tinkerbell44

hello20 said:

Thank you everyone for your support unfortunately my partners uc credit has been suspended an will be closed in next 16 days can I add her on my esa claim bck if her accounts suspended an will be closed in next 16 days

Why has it been suspended?? I know you definitely can’t add her to your ESA

hello20

It says there’s change in your circumstances

Tinkerbell44

Ok so they obviously know that your back together that’s probably what that is right Poppy123456??
you really should have told them / reported that to them before they found out, so now you will have to start a new uc claim as a couple you can’t add her to your ESA that’s for sure.
Hope you get sorted!!
G x

poppy123456

hello20 said:

It says there’s change in your circumstances

As Tinkerbell has pointed out, have you been living together and didn't report the changes?

hello20

No we haven’t been living together it’s cause we both have joint Tennancy

hello20

She lives with her family atm there few issues in family we r sorting out sorry for late reply