Advice on Carers Allowance & Universal Credits Please

2

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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    I agree, it's confusing. Glad you now understand. Happy to help :)
  • calcotti
    calcotti Online Community Member Posts: 10,001 Championing
    edited January 2022
    lelboy123 said:.. the message from the other poster threw me a bit..
    Sorry but I set it out as clearly as I could. Glad you are clear now.
  • AndrewHall
    AndrewHall Online Community Member Posts: 311 Empowering
    Which one is affected by earnings limit of £128 a week, Carer element or carer allowance?
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    If you claim Carers Allowance it will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement and there's also a maximum earnings limit of £128 per week (after deductions) https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/eligibility




    Carers Allowance, which was advised here.
  • lelboy123
    lelboy123 Online Community Member Posts: 52 Connected
    calcotti said:
    lelboy123 said:.. the message from the other poster threw me a bit..
    Sorry but I set it out as clearly as I could. Glad you are clear now.
    No sorry it was me. I read your message a few times afterwards & it's as clear as day. Just me struggling to get my head round this which thankfully I now have. Applied through my UC account last night so will see what happens.
  • Alex_Alumni
    Alex_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,538 Championing
    Best of luck @lelboy123 let us know what happens :)
  • lelboy123
    lelboy123 Online Community Member Posts: 52 Connected
    Best of luck @lelboy123 let us know what happens :)
    Ok latest is I updated UC that I now qualify for the Carers Element & I'm awaiting to hear back from them.

    I wanted advice on something else whilst I'm here regarding my wife. She injured her neck badly 8 years ago & has suffered with it ever since. So much so she has been rushed to hospital in the middle of the night once on gas & air as she was in agony. She's had physiotherapy, acupuncture & a couple of other treatments (all documented on her medical records) but nothing works. Over the past year it has got worse, so much so she had to give up her job & claim UC. This is my problem - her doctor keeps providing her with fit notes as the doctor can see that she is in no fit state to work however the Jobcentre claim she is. They have their own internal 'doctor' who hasn't even seen my wife in person just got her to fill in a questionnaire & off the back of that they have deemed her fit to work. Even her own doctor has said she isn't & like I said my wife has fit notes but the Jobcentre are ignoring them and expecting my wife to look for work which is in turn is making her neck worse. Is there anything we can do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated? She is in agony some night because she is under pressure to look for work & the stress is not helping at all right now. Thanks......
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    Because she's been found fit for work then it's correct that they will no longer accept the fit notes. A fit note doesn't automatically entitle anyone to limited capability for work.
    May i ask when was the decision made that found her fit for work? Has she requested the Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) for that decision? If she hasn't and the decision was made within the past 13 months then she can now request the MR.
    She should state which group she thinks she should be placed into and why. Then add a couple of real world examples of what happened the last time she attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to her.
    Has she had a look at the descriptors for each group? If she hasn't then she can see them here.
    For expert advice start here. https://advicelocal.uk/



  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    DWP do not have their own "internal doctor" The work capability assessments are completed by an outside company called "Health Assessment Advisory Service" these assess peoples ability to do any type of work. They then write a report and return it to DWP where a decision maker looks at this and all the evidence and then makes a decision.

  • lelboy123
    lelboy123 Online Community Member Posts: 52 Connected
    The decision was made last August. She did apply via the MR & was turned down again. Since then she has been looking for work but her neck has gradually been getting worse, not worse painfully just worse that she is in pain more consistently (due to stress of the Jobcentre on her back I think). It feels like they are dictating her life at present & seeing her in pain more often is just not fair. So if she has done the MR is there any other steps we can take because we are just stuck in a daft revolving circle at present? - Jobcentre require my wife to look for work, she has told them she can't, she gets a job because she is being pressured to do so & then within a couple of weeks of getting a job has had to quit 3 times because her neck is in agony. We've tried to tell them this is how it will go in the future but they ignore our side.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    Was there any reason why she didn't take it to Tribunal after the MR decision didn't change? This should have been her next step. She's still within the timescale to do this, however because her condition has got worse, they will not take this into consideration. They will only consider what her conditions were like at the time of the original assessment.
    She can report a worsening of condition but the fit notes needs to clearly state her condition has got worse or state a new condition. This will then prompt another referral for a work capability assessment.
    If the fit notes say the same as they did before she was found fit for work, they won't be accepted.
  • lelboy123
    lelboy123 Online Community Member Posts: 52 Connected
    DWP do not have their own "internal doctor" The work capability assessments are completed by an outside company called "Health Assessment Advisory Service" these assess peoples ability to do any type of work. They then write a report and return it to DWP where a decision maker looks at this and all the evidence and then makes a decision.

    Yes sorry I knew putting 'doctor' was incorrect but I wasn't sure of the correct title they use! I find it so wrong though personally. My wife's doctor has seen her in person numerous times, has looked at her neck, has seen her medical records & agreed she shouldn't be made to look for work. On the other side of things there is the Health Assessment Advisory Service who has never seen my wife once in person yet they override a Doctor. Seems like it should be the Doctor who has the final say.
  • lelboy123
    lelboy123 Online Community Member Posts: 52 Connected
    No she didn't take it to the tribunal. I just asked her why & she said at that point she was so tired of fighting it that she just gave up. So if we're still in the timeframe as you say then that is her next step? I fully understand that they would only base it off her report at the time. Her neck has only got worse since she's been under the stress of the Jobcentre being on her case every 2 weeks. If she does go via the Tribunal how does she do that? If you could point me in the right direction that would be so helpful right now!
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    There's information here on how to appeal to HMCTS. https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision
    She needs to state why she's outside of the 1 month.
    Before doing this she should get some expert advice to check if she qualifies for either LCW or LCWRA because not everyone does.


  • lelboy123
    lelboy123 Online Community Member Posts: 52 Connected
    Ok great thanks. I will do some research on LCW & LCWRA tonight and see if I can find some info to hopefully tell me whether she would qualify for either. I will certainly then advise my wife to appeal via the tribunal on the link you provided. 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    edited January 2022
    I posted the links above for the descriptors for both LCW and LCWRA please have a read.
  • lelboy123
    lelboy123 Online Community Member Posts: 52 Connected
    Yes thanks, will do. I maybe back on here tomorrow!
  • lelboy123
    lelboy123 Online Community Member Posts: 52 Connected
    Quick update on my original query on this thread regarding claiming for the Carers Element through UC. I applied 2 weeks ago & we have just had our payment amount come through for the month but nowhere on there is it showing anything about the carers element. Our money has gone up slightly but that is due to our rent going up this month so I updated UC. Does anyone know how long it takes for me to start getting the Carers Element? If it's supposed to be instant then they have mucked up & I will need to get onto them today. Thanks
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    edited January 2022
    lelboy123 said:
     I applied 2 weeks ago & we have just had our payment amount come through for the month but nowhere on there is it showing anything about the carers element.
    You don't actually apply for it, like you would do with carers allowance. Did you actually report the changes onto your journal? If you didn't and you used this link here https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/how-to-claim then you will have claimed for carers allowance.

  • calcotti
    calcotti Online Community Member Posts: 10,001 Championing
    Did you go to ‘Report a Change’ and report your caring responsibilities through that?