SDP

janejr

Hi can anyone please advice me I have a dilemma. Four weeks ago my daughter became my carer as I get severe disability premium. Three weeks ago I moved house to be nearer to her. I didn't realise I had to make a new claim for Universal credit as I was no longer in receipt of SDP. I thought there was nothing wrong and that my claim for ESA with the SDP meant I did not have to make a new claim and only found out today when a lady from the council phoned me about my rent. I know if I move to universal credit my money will drop and I won't get nearly as much to live on. If my daughter stopped being my carer now and I got my SDP back could I continue on my ESA claim would this be allowed. I'm so scared of getting things wrong and all this has sent my anxiety threw the roof leaving me in agony. I broke down when she told me on the phone. I live in fear of getting things wrong with the DWP please can anyone help me

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community glad you have joined us.

Try not to worry it will all get sorted I will tag in someone who will be able to give you the best advice @poppy123456

Hope you get it sorted 

poppy123456

Hi,

May i ask what group you are in for ESA? and since you've moved house do you still live alone or classed as living alone?

janejr

Hi poppy1234  I get extra money because I'm in the limited capability to work support group and also get disability income guarantee. I'm single and live alone.

poppy123456

Unless you're claiming the SDP then you will need to claim UC for help with the rent. Your ESA Support Group award will be honoured in UC and you'll be placed into the LCWRA group and receive the extra £341 per month. Also the standard allowance for UC has increased by approximately £80 per month, until April 2021. You definitely won't be worse off than you are now as you're not currently claiming the SDP. Even without the extra standard allowance rate UC LCWRA (support Group) pays more than Support Group for ESA. So for UC you would receive the standard allowance £409.89 + LCWRA £341.92 and then your housing element on top of that.

May i ask why your daughter claimed for the Carers allowance because obviously doing this made you worse off at the time.Potentially she could cancel the carers allowance and you could then claim the SDP again but how long it will take i don't know and how will you manage to pay your rent in the meantime?

janejr

Hi again Poppy1234 what upsets me as well is my daughter spoke to a man from the DWP about this when I first moved up here and he said as long as I had the entitlement of SDP but not the money as my daughter had it but the entitlement I don't have to change from my ESA. I even phoned ESA and told them I had moved address. Tried to get it right and now look at it I'm in debpt with my rent as it's not been paid. What a mess

poppy123456

You don't have entitlement to it though because your daughter claims carers allowance for looking after you. I must admit also that speaking to someone from DWP for advice isn't the best idea.

If you claim UC then you'll be able to request an advance payment but be aware this will need to be repaid back from future payments. Of course UC is paid monthly, with the first payment 5 weeks after you claim.

janejr

Poppy123456 your surely an angel from heaven thank you so much for your support I could cry I feel so relieved ❤️ thank you thank you  xx

janejr

Hi poppy123456 does me going on UC mean my daughter will lose he entitlement to the carers premium that she gets now. 

Adrian_Scope

Hello @janejr. Can I ask, have you put your claim in for UC yet or are you still receiving ESA? If you're still receiving ESA and haven't put in a claim for UC, it could be possible for your daughter to stop claiming Carer's Allowance and for you to have SDP re-added. But it depends where you are in the process. 

janejr

Adrian Scope hi there I thought about doing it that way but could take weeks and I would have to pay rent or get in arrears.  Scared I would lose my home

poppy123456

I don't understand why your daughter claimed the carers allowance to start with because that made you £65 per week worse off.

janejr

Hello @poppy123456 I've just been informed that ESA will pay me £113.55 a week because I was in a support group I actually phoned them as thought it was a mistake as I've put in a claim for UC now. She said UC will be paying me my living costs and the payment they are making is a contribution based ESA which is different from what i was getting as it was an income related ESA payment. Does UC pay me as well and how much will they give me as £113 is a big drop from my original payments. I'm very confused by them I thought me ESA just stopped and UC would pay me in 5weeks when it was all sorted out. I used to get SDP but that stopped because my daughter became my carer. Please can you tell me this is right

poppy123456

This is because part of your ESA is contributions based which isn't part of UC. As they advised you, you will still receive the £113.55 every fornight. This will be deducted in full from your UC entitlement. The amount that will be deducted from your UC entitlement is £492 per month. You will then receive the rest of your money monthly for UC. Your UC will look something like this.

Standard allowance over 25 £409.89 + LCWRA £341.92 + your housing element. Then the deduction of £492. UC payment will be £259.81 + whatever your housing element is (per month) (ESA £113.55 every fortnight)

Don't forget the standard allowance of UC will reduce by about £80 from April 2021 where it will return to its normal amount, as previously advised.

Hope this helps.