claiment commitment UC

ComfusedCarer

So I had my claiment commitment review at the job centre today. First time I've been in 5 years after being full time employed for the last 3 and a half year and caring for the last year and a half.

I have been caring 35 hours+ for my father who suffers with a rare mental condition called capgrass delusion along with diagnosed schizophrenia. Around about 10 months ago my mother who does not live with my father had a very severe stroke and has left her unable to use the left side of her body properly. This left me providing care for both but my father had his money reduced for me claiming the carers element off universal credit and it left him almost £70 a week shorter.

My mother lives with a partner (also severely disabled) so would not be entitled too SDP so I will be claiming the carers element from her when her pip claim finally comes threw (she applied well over 8 months ago for this and has received a letter telling her they have everything they need) 

I also work self employed for Amazon flex (driver) deliveroo and Uber eats (cyclist delivery) which allows me to be very flexible to work around my caring. Most of the time jobs will come threw on the go I.E I will receive an offer to work an hour before hand. I have explained my current situation to UC work coach today who totally dismissed everything I had told her and said they would have to wait untill my earnings report comes in to see if I am earning enough to justify me not applying for any job they want me to apply for up to 90 minutes away and have to attend weekly interviews at the job centre even if it means I lose out on potential work I could be doing instead. I explained this is not currently viable for me in my current situation with my caring responsibilities and to attend weekly appointments will decrease my earnings potentially. To which I was simply told you can only be considered for caring if you get the caring element which I have read different on bennefit websites stating that a work coach should take into account anyone who has caring responsibilities for up to 20 hours and over if they are not receiving the element.

I am not asking the job centre and my work coach to tell me to stop looking for work and to never be called in. I am just asking them to show a little bit empathy and understanding to my current situation. To take into account that I do provide regular care and that I do work on a self employed basis. My current claiment commitment that has been drawn up on my UC journal has no mention off my self employment or my caring role and they are just treating me as someone who has been claiming bennefits for the last 5 years or something.

I  am not being funny but I think the country would bennefit if there was no such place as a job centre and it went fully online/phone lnstead. The government would save millions on not having 100s of job centres all over the country which most of the time provide a useless service by untrained under pressure over worked work coaches who just see everyone as a checklist they need to check off their list no matter of there situation.

Anyways I have not accepted my claiment commitment and have writ the reasons why on my journal and asked for it to be ammended too my current situation. I understand not claiming the carers wlemt puts me in a work related group and they have to do their job but I know they also can if they chose to do so take your personal circumstances into consideration and stop silly things like weekly appointments and commuting 3 hours a day to work and back ect. I am just thinking about not claiming all together I would lose around £90 a month as after my earnings are declared and all this is all I get from them. 

poppy123456

You can’t be treated as a carer unless you’re claiming the carers element. 

If the earnings you receive each assessment period are more than £335 then you should be in the light touch group for work commitments. 

This was advised in your other thread here https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/89422/caring-and-universal-credit#latest

ComfusedCarer

Hi, I receive around £500 in earnings but claim milage on my assessment they send me each month which will sometimes entitle me to £200 or so back from them.

calcotti

ComfusedCarer said:

My mother lives with a partner (also severely disabled) so would not be entitled too SDP so I will be claiming the carers element from her when her pip claim finally comes threw (

Not necessarily true. If the partner receives a relevant disability benefit themselves and your mother is awarded Daily Living PIP then both she and the partner would be entitled to SDP if they are claiming a legacy style means tested benefit or Pension Credit. If you claim CA or the UC carer element she would lose that entitlement (although the partner could still get it).

ComfusedCarer said:
To which I was simply told you can only be considered for caring if you get the caring element which I have read different on bennefit websites stating that a work coach should take into account anyone who has caring responsibilities for up to 20 hours and over if they are not receiving the element. 

The Work Coach should modify your commitments to take account of caring responsibilities. If your caring is for less than 35 hours/week you would not be entitled to the carer element but your commitment should still be modified

See DWP's own guidance
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1046459/adm-j2.pdf

J2030 The requirements that a claimant may be subject to can be affected by their caring responsibilities. In this guidance the following terms are defined.

J2034 A relevant carer means
..2. a person who has caring responsibilities for a person who has an impairment.

J2085 The expected hours of work for a claimant 

1.who is a

1.1 relevant carer or

..and

2. where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the claimant has reasonable prospects of finding paid work

are the number of hours less than 35 that the Secretary of State considers is compatible with those caring responsibilities.

ComfusedCarer said: My current claiment commitment that has been drawn up on my UC journal has no mention off my self employment ..

I understand not claiming the carers wlemt puts me in a work related group ..

If UC were to treat you as gainfully self employed you would have no work related requirements but after 12 months you would be subject to the Minimum Income Floor (unless you claim the carer element) which means that your UC would be calculated as if you earned a certain amount of money each month even if you earned less. However that calculation should take into account reduced availability to work if you have caring commitments.

ComfusedCarer

Thank you calcotti for this advice. I will leave a note on my journal with the DWP section of advice you have supplied me with. I am so sick of people who work for the DWP but don't even know their own rules

ComfusedCarer

Hi, I have read threw the booklet of the link you provided and this example is like my own

Example 2
Kath has claimed UC. She is the carer for her elderly father who is in receipt of AA. Although Kath is  
caring for her father for at least 35 hours a week, she has not claimed CA and does not want to. With  
regards to her award of UC, Kath is placed in the no work-related requirements group and this means  
that work-related requirements cannot be imposed on her.
J2055 Where the claimant
1. has caring responsibilities for one or more severely disabled persons for at least 35 hours a week and
2. does not satisfy the conditions of entitlement to CA and it would be unreasonable for the claimant to  
comply with a
2.1 work search requirement including a limited requirement and
2.2 work availability requirement including a limited requirement
then work-related requirements cannot be imposed on them1

Does that mean if I am in similar circumstances to kat that I could be put back into a no work related group?

calcotti

ComfusedCarer said: Does that mean if I am in similar circumstances to kat that I could be put back into a no work related group? 

No. Kath is being treated as caring for 35 hours and therefore has no requirements. Her UC will include the carer element.

In order not to get the carer element you have to say you care for less than 35 hours and therefore you will not be placed in the no work related activities group. However your Claimant Commitment should still take into account your caring responsibilities for, say, 24 hours/week.