Hi, I'm jenwithcrutches! I've been placed in the LCWRA group, how will this affect my ESA? — Scope | Disability forum
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Hi, I'm jenwithcrutches! I've been placed in the LCWRA group, how will this affect my ESA?

jenwithcrutches
jenwithcrutches Community member Posts: 2 Listener
Hi there 
ive a few questions about Esa and my assessment... I’m hoping I can get some clarification  

Comments

  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi and welcome to the community 

    Feel free to ask any questions and we will try and help 
  • jenwithcrutches
    jenwithcrutches Community member Posts: 2 Listener
    Thanks janer1967 ☺️
    My confusion is this.... 
    As of last year in July I had to give up my nurse job because  of an ongoing spine injury from many years ago... it got to the point that I couldn’t physically do the long hours standing etc. I applied for Esa  and I receive the assessment rate so far. 
    I applied for pip and receive standard living part only
    I applied for UC but only ever received one small payment (£52) when my partner was furloughed, but the rest of the time apparently not Entitled as I live with partner and his wages apparently stopped me from getting UC. 

    Recently I had my assessment on phone for capability to work... and today on my UC JOURNAL, I was sent a letter saying I don’t need to send any more fit notes and I’ve been assessed as limited ability for work and work related activity. 

    My confusion is... does this now entitle me to an extra payment ( £364.64)because I’ve not had hardly any other payments from uc  and if so when? 
    My next confusion is that I’m still waiting to see which group I’ll be placed into for Esa. The fact that the work capability assessment from UC states I’m of limited work and work related activities , does this automatically place me in the support group for Esa?? 
    I’ve only had one medical paperwork to send off and one phone assessment but it seems to be covering both ESA AND UC. 
    I’d appreciate clarification. Thanks
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi there 

    You will be entitled to the extra payment but you will only get it from esa so you will be in support group which us sane as lcwra in uc 

    You should get the payments back dated to 3 full assessment periods after you first claimed 

    You will not be on assessment rate for esa anymore and the 365 day limit to claim new style esa will not stand now you will continue to get esa until a new assessment takes place 

    I'm not sure of rates of esa payments 

    You still won't get uc if your partner earns over the limits as uc is a joint claim 
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    I'm not an expert on esa but I think the info is correct 

    I am sure others with more knowledge will put right anything I have got wrong 
  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,010 Disability Gamechanger
    edited May 2021
    You will be placed in the ESA Support Group and receive £228.20/fortnight. This should be backdated to the 14th week of your ESA claim.

    With respect to UC you will be entitled to have the LCWRA element included in the calculation of your maximum amount but you may still not be entitled to receive anything after the ESA is deducted and your partner's wages taken into account. Because you have LCWRA you will now have a Work Allowance which means that some of your partner's earnings will be ignored. If you have children included on the UC claim you will already have the Work Allowance included.
    The Work Allowance disregard is £293 if you receive the housing element, £515 if you do not.

    For UC, because you get Daily Living PIP, your partner can declare to UC that he cares for you. He would then get the carer element included in the UC maximum amount calculation - another £163.73/month. Once again, however, this doesn't mean you will be entitled to receive anything after deductions for ESA and earnings.
     
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
  • Cher_Alumni
    Cher_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,741 Disability Gamechanger
    Hello @jenwithcrutches and welcome to our online community.

    I hope the advice received has helped you better understand the process.  I find it confusing too!

    To clarify, because you're a dual claimant (e.g claiming UC and new style ESA) Universal Credit take the lead on assessments and such, which is why you've only had one assessment.  You might need to contact ESA because although they should automatically award the support group, they don't always pick it up.

    Just to advise: I've tweaked the title of your thread to expand on what it's about and also moved it to our ESA discussion category to help others spot it who might have the same question in the future.  

    Best wishes for the future.
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