LCWRA CAN I WORK PART TIME

Scotsandy1

Hi
I was awarded LCWRA less than a year ago,Which  I am very grateful the problem is I have always worked. Can any one give me advice if  I could work from home doing less than 16 hours a week without it affecting my UC benefits.The benefits i recieve are Standard Allowance,Housing benefit and LCWRA.

poppy123456

HI and welcome,

When you say housing benefit then i'm assuming you mean the housing element of UC.

Yes, you can work because you'll have a work allowance. As you're claiming the housing element then your work allowance will be £287 per month. This means that you can earn up to this amount of money each assessment period, without having any deductions from your UC. Once your earnings go above £287 per month then you'll have a deduction in your UC of 63% for every £1 you earn.

Do be aware though that if the work you do contradicts the reasons why you're claiming LCWRA then they could reassess you early and the decision could go against you.

Hope this helps.

janer1967

Hi I am a community champion at scope and I just wanted to welcome you to the community. Your query has been answered but if there is anyhting else we can help you with then just ask

Adrian_Scope

What sort of work are you looking to do @Scotsandy1? Best of luck with it and I hope you feel reassured that it's okay to work while on UC and claiming LCWRA.

Scotsandy1

Hi  
Working for a travel company as a home worker.
I had appointment with citazens advice and they advised me
not to do part time work as I would loose most of my benefits,
so am i am a bit confused what to do.

poppy123456

Scotsandy1 said:

Hi  
Working for a travel company as a home worker.
I had appointment with citazens advice and they advised me
not to do part time work as I would loose most of my benefits,
so am i am a bit confused what to do.

That's quite bad advice you've been given from citizens advice. The advice i gave above is absolutely correct.

Adrian_Scope

Hi @Scotsandy1. Can I ask, do you have a partner that works? I'm just wondering if CAB saw it as your work allowance was already used. If you can tell us a little more about your living situation (whether it's a joint claim or single, and if you get help with rent) we can help you with some figures. 

poppy123456

@Adrian_Scope thanks for that, that's one thing i didn't think of.

Scotsandy1

Hi Adrian
I am single and I house share,The benefits I receive are
Standard Allowance £317.82
Housing   Allowance  £325.00 (my share of rent)
LCWRA   Allowance  £336.20
I am worried that if I work less than 16 hrs a week my work coach 
will look into my LCWRA claim and I could loose the benefit.
Poppy mention Gamechanger ?

Adrian_Scope

Hi @Scotsandy1, thank you that helps clear things up.

Okay, if you were to start work and it contradicts the reason you claim LCWRA (for example you’ve told them you have a back so bad you’re unable to bend, or lift anything, at any time, and your job involves stacking shelves), then it could work against you if you are reassessed.

In terms of how much it would affect your UC, because you have LCWRA you have a work allowance, meaning you can earn £287 a month before it affects your UC at all. After that amount, every £ you earn lowers your UC by 63p.

So say you earned £400 a month, you’d get your £400 a month wages and your usual UC, but there will be a deduction to your total UC for wages, so for £400 wages UC would be lowered by £71.19 a month.

Scotsandy1

Thanks for that , I am serverely  blind my computer as a software Super Nova,
Which helps me a lot (magnifier and speech )so this job would be ideal as it only 15 hours a week,
which would not be to much strain on my eyes.
the wage is £600 a month,Regarding LCWRA do you get assesed again at a later date ? and having a part time job affect their 
decision 

poppy123456

£600 per month will reduce your UC by £197 per month but it does depend on how often you get paid and how much you receive during your assessment period.

For the LCWRA then you can be reassessed anytime from 3 months. Whether working will affect the decision will totally depend on whether the work you do contradicts the reasons you're claiming LCWRA.

mjh2222

Hi

I wanted to reply on this one instead of creating a whole new topic because my question is on the same topic.

I am trying to claim LCWRA, I am Autistic and have severe anxiety so I do delivery jobs (Uber, Amazon), this is because I can work alone on them.  Am I ok to claim LCWRA?  I was told that I wasnt allowed it because "I am doing some type of work".

I am appealing to the tribunal and my local MP now. 

Today I got a new doctors letter explaining how working with people effects me.  My work coach keeps booking me work search appointments and not taking my doctors evidence seriously it is a nightmare.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

calcotti

You can still report a health condition but will need a Fit Note from your GP saying that you have a health condition that limits your ability to work. However if you are earning more than 16 x NMW/week you cannot be referred for a Work Capability Assessment unless you are receiving a disability benefit (DLA or PIP).

I am not clear what you are appealing to a tribunal and your MP.

Your work coach has the power to turn off or reduce work search requirements at their discretion.

doyle0592

Hi I have a question please would anyone here know if I was to get job weather I would automatically lose my lcwra and my transitional payment thinking of trying something working from home but a bit scared to incase it's automatically stops I'm on universal credit joint claim with my partner  Thanks James

calcotti

doyle0592 said:

Hi I have a question please would anyone here know if I was to get job weather I would automatically lose my lcwra and my transitional payment thinking of trying something working from home but a bit scared to incase it's automatically stops I'm on universal credit joint claim with my partner  Thanks James

You would not automatically lose LCWRA. If you are referring to the SDP transitional element that would not be affected either. Your earnings may however reduce the amount of UC you receive. Because you have LCWRA the first £293 (if you are getting help with rent) or £515 (if not) are ignored. Above this there is a deduction of 63% of earnings. Note however that this is a joint allowance so if your partner is working may already have been used in which case your UC will reduce by 63% of whatever you earn.
If the work you do contradicts the reason you have LCWRA that might prompt areassessment.

doyle0592

Thanks for answering @calcotti there work I would be looking at doing would be working from home w

But was a bit concerned of the points I raised in the previous post also is there an hour's limit and would they trigger a reassessment just because I start work thanks James 

poppy123456

doyle0592 said:

Thanks for answering @calcotti there work I would be looking at doing would be working from home w

But was a bit concerned of the points I raised in the previous post also is there an hour's limit and would they trigger a reassessment just because I start work thanks James 

There's no limnit to the amount of hours that you can work. As calcotti has advised you will have the work allowance. Anyh earnings over this amount and your UC will be reduced by 63%.

No one here can tell you if the work you do will contradict the reasons why you claim ESA because we don't know anything about your condition.

doyle0592

@poppy123456 thanks for your answer. The reason I get lcwra is because I have a metal rod in my back and I have Asperger's syndrome the work I am looking at doing is a work from home job so I don't think it contridics the reason I'm claiming lcwra I hope it doesn't anyway thanks James

doyle0592

Would anyone be able to help me with some info If I was to start a Job working from home which would not conflict my reason  for claiming if I got called up for reassessment would they removey lcwra I put a message on my journal and they said of I was to get reviewed and was doing work at the time they think it would be removed. Greatful for any help thanks James

poppy123456

No one here can answer that question because we don't know the reasons why you were placed into the LCWRA group or how your conditions affect you exactly. Putting a message onto your journal isn't going to be helpful either because they wouldn't be able to answer that question for the same reasons we won't.