If I stay with my mum for 3 weeks between moving house, will my benefits be transferred over?

kami24

If I move to another house will my old benefits be transferred over (Esa, pip, housing benefit) if I live at my mum's for say 3 weeks until I move will the council be petty and stop all my benefits!?? 

Ross_Alumni

Hi @kami24

Hope you're well.

Your PIP will reamin in tact, you'd need to just inform the DWP of your address change of course.

ESA and Housing Benefit are slowly being phased out and replaced with Universal Credit, but whether you are required to change when you move may depend on a few things. 

Are you moving within the same council area?

kami24

I'm Esa support group anyway and housing benefit 

woodbine

It's not upto the council and they can't stop your PIP or ESA, if you live at your mums you won't get HB, being in the support group means your ESA won't be affected if you move areas.

kami24

That's good to know as I've considered moving areas as I have personality disorder

kami24

If I am in the support group can they continue my housing benefit even if I'm at my mum's if I have to be whilst the old tenants move out of the flat I am going to have? Thanks 

[Deleted User]

Depends which Party your local Council are under, the Tories are known for being evil about this sort of thing, Labour are allegedly more forgiving.

kami24

True Mr Allen!!! 

calcotti

woodbine said:

...being in the support group means your ESA won't be affected if you move areas.

Being in the Support Group makes no difference. Entitlement to ESA is not affected by a change of address. 

calcotti

Kami, if there is a gap between your two tenancies I think this will break your Housing Benefit entitlement. However if you have signed a new tenancy you can ask your local authority if it is possible to keep the claim live for a few weeks even though nothing will be payable. I don’t know if that is possible but there is no harm in asking.

if your new address is in a different local authority it will not be possible to continue the Housing Benefit anyway.

if the Housing Benefit claim is closed then you will not be able to make a new claim and if you want help with rent you will have to claim UC. The act of claiming UC will end any income-based ESA you get (contribution based ESA would continue).

kami24

Would they really force you onto uc if you were on Esa support group and housing benefit and had like 5 days Gap???? 

calcotti

kami24 said:

Would they really force you onto uc if you were on Esa support group and housing benefit and had like 5 days Gap???? 

As I said in my earlier reply I don’t know if they can keep the claim live if there is a gap between tenancies. It’s not a case of what they may force you to do, it’s a case of what the Housing Benefit regulations permit. The ESA has no relevance to this.

kami24

But it does as Esa would be taken from you actually if you were forced onto uc from housing benefit isn't that so?? 

calcotti

kami24 said:

But it does as Esa would be taken from you actually if you were forced onto uc from housing benefit isn't that so?? 

What I meant was that the fact you are receiving ESA makes no difference to whether or not you can maintain the HB claim.

[Deleted User]

I lived with my Parents last year from the 8th of March till around the end of September, and my benefits weren't affected, this was enforced due to the first and second lockdowns.

woodbine

MrAllen1976 said:

I lived with my Parents last year from the 8th of March till around the end of September, and my benefits weren't affected, this was enforced due to the first and second lockdowns.

I assume you continued to claim all the benefits so your situation might have been different as you weren't giving up your tenancy? which is the nub of this problem

kami24

Hi again. If there is a tiny break between tenancies and I want to continue to claim severe disability premium if I am able to will I be able to claim it or transition into UC with the severe disability premium or is the government this cruel and have basically put disabled people in this predicament?? 

calcotti

This is all new but I think you would need to do the following.

When you move to your mum’s and your tenancy ends then your HB ends. Your ESA continues but you are no longer entitled to SDP (unless your mum and any other adult family members also get a disability benefit).

You sign your new tenancy and move in.

You contact ESA and get SDP reinstated (assuming you meet the conditions).

Then you claim UC and your award should include the SDP transitional element. 

Unlike the SDP itself, which is a fixed amount, the SDP transitional element is set at the start of the UC claim but will, in future reduce if any other elements payable increase. This means that if a future rent rise resulted in a higher housing element being paid it would also reduce the SDP element.

For a single claimant with LCWRA the SDP transitional element is initially £120/month.

kami24

How do I get a lanyard for shops etc sunflower lanyard 

Ross_Alumni

kami24 said:

How do I get a lanyard for shops etc sunflower lanyard 

Which supermarket is this for? It might differ, however in my experience you can just ask for them at the customer service desk. This may vary though, so it's always best to ask the supermarket in question, or Google it.