Marriage and Effects on Benefits - UC, ESA

JoBloggs21

Hi there guys, I hope you can give me some advice please because I am finding it quite confusing as to how my situation could end up being. I have tried my best to figure it out myself....

I am over 25 and on universal credit, I do not work. 

I receive:

Single over 25 element

2 Children Element

Full Housing Costs

Carers element (for 1 child)

 

Disabled child element

My partner and I would like to get married and him move in with me but we are unsure how our financial situation will be if we do this.

He lives on his own and receives: 

Income Based ESA - Support Group  (claiming for over 5 years)

Disabled Premium of £68 a week. 

Daily living PIP component - Standard rate.

Full HB and Council tax reduction

I think from what I can gather we would have joint couple element, he would lose the disabled premium and ESA would run alongside a joint UC claim but they would take off pound for pound that amount?

Would he also get a sickness/disability element added on to UC?

Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated because as much as I would love to marry my man, neither of us want to be struggling financially.
Thanks guys,
Jo

calcotti

His income based ESA will end completely. If he has any contribution based ESA entitlement that part will continue but will be deducted in full from the UC.

He would be entitled to the LCWRA element of UC.

The maximum UC would be:

• Couple over 25 element
• LCWRA element
• Carers element (for 1 child)
• 2 Children Element
• Housing element
• Disabled child element

poppy123456

Hi,
If all of his ESA is Income Related then this will end completely if you live together. 

If part of his ESA is Contributions based then this will continue. This will then be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. 

Your UC will continue with the same elements you have now apart from the standard element would be couples instead of single person. You would also have the LCWRA element on your claim, this is equivalent to Support Group. 

JoBloggs21

Thank you for taking the time to reply poppy, it's much appreciated!

JoBloggs21

Thank you calcotti also, your post wasn't showing until now. Seems we would be slightly better off living together which is surprising. Thank you so much for giving me a clear understanding guys

calcotti

JoBloggs21 said:

Seems we would be slightly better off living together which is surprising. 

The extra money on the UC claim will be less than his existing ESA payments so your joint income as a couple will be lower than your two separate incomes added together. However you will have only one set of fuel bills to pay, only one water bill and some other joint bills may be lower than two separate bills

JoBloggs21

calcotti said:

JoBloggs21 said:

Seems we would be slightly better off living together which is surprising. 

The extra money on the UC claim will be less than his existing ESA payments so your joint income as a couple will be lower than your two separate incomes added together. However you will have only one set of fuel bills to pay, only one water bill and some other joint bills may be lower than two separate bills

I'm not sure how I worked out we would be slightly better off, my head obviously wasn't working right.
When I add up those elements you said we would receive, even though we would be worse off it doesn't seem that bad. BUT when I put it through a benefits calculator - Entitledto, it takes off a few hundred pounds " Taken off for unearned income (benefits and savings)". Neither of us have savings and we would be exempt from the benefits cap. It works out through them as he would lose everything and I would only have £152 added on as a joint claim. 

Alex_Alumni

Hello there @JoBloggs21 and a warm welcome to the community I'm so pleased to see you feel reassured by our members. Whatever you and your partner decide is best for the future, I wish you the best.

I've moved this discussion into our benefits and financial support category, as it will be really helpful for everyone to read, and easier to find there. 

Do let me know if there's anything you're still unsure of, and I'll do what I can to help.

Please feel free to explore the forum if you would like, the best way to browse is by using our categories page. Hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend!

calcotti

As I see it, it's fairly straightforward.

Your UC maximum amount goes up by the LCWRA element £343.63/month and the difference between the single person allowance and the couple allowance (an extra £185.07/month). So your UC maximum amount goes up by £528.70/month.

His ESA is currently £198.60/week which is equivalent to £860.60/month. This will all effectively be lost because the income based part stops and any contribution based part is deducted from your UC.

Between you you will therefore lose £331.90/month (£76.60/month). 

Above amounts are the 21-22 amounts. rates are increasing from tomorrow.

I have ignored his HB and CTR which he will also lose but as he will no longer be paying rent or CT on his existing property that isn't relevant.

poppy123456

A benefit calculator is only as good as the information you put into them.

calcotti

poppy123456 said:

A benefit calculator is only as good as the information you put into them.

 ...and can be confusing to use.

Jo, I would always recommend using at least two benefits calculators. Apart from some slight rounding errors you should get the same answer from both, if you don't it's likely that something has been entered incorrectly. Entitled and Turn2Us are the ones I would suggest. PolicyinPractice, in my experience, seems to be less reliable.

JoBloggs21

calcotti said:

As I see it, it's fairly straightforward.

Your UC maximum amount goes up by the LCWRA element £343.63/month and the difference between the single person allowance and the couple allowance (an extra £185.07/month). So your UC maximum amount goes up by £528.70/month.

His ESA is currently £198.60/week which is equivalent to £860.60/month. This will all effectively be lost because the income based part stops and any contribution based part is deducted from your UC.

Between you you will therefore lose £331.90/month (£76.60/month). 

Above amounts are the 21-22 amounts. rates are increasing from tomorrow.

I have ignored his HB and CTR which he will also lose but as he will no longer be paying rent or CT on his existing property that isn't relevant.

Thank you once again both, that is how I thought it should go also. At the moment I receive £1542.08. I understand what you're saying poppy so I've done it again on 2 different calculators and they are both the same. This is what it shows when I add him:

Universal Credit

£1668.81 / monthly

We estimate your monthly Universal Credit award will be £1,668.81.

Universal Credit payment summary (monthly)

Standard allowance £525.72

Housing £416.00

Children £667.47

Disability or health condition £354.28

Total before adjustments £1,963.47

Taken off for earned income (your salary) £0.00

Taken off for unearned income (benefits and savings) £294.66

Total adjustments £294.66

Total payment for the month £1,668.81

Universal Credit payment detail (monthly)

Maximum Amount

Standard allowance £525.72

Child element (for 2 children) £534.58

Additional amount for disabled child or qualifying young person £132.89

Limited capability for work element £0.00

Works out at only £126.73 more than what I am ready getting with him losing quite a lot.

poppy123456

Does your UC at the moment include the carers element? I don't see that in the calculation above? I'm assuming you're claiming carers allowance, which is deducted in full from your UC.

calcotti

Jo, I suspect that you may have put the LCWRA element into the calculator as if you are entitled to it. If you do this you cannot receive the carer element and that is why it hasn't been included. You need to be sure that it is your partner that you enter as having LCWRA and that you are entered as the carer, then both elements should be shown.

The carer element will increase the total by £168.81/month.

The calculation includes deduction for receiving Carer's Allowance - do you actually receive CA? If not you should ignore the deduction.

calcotti

Jo, in your previous post you are not comparing like with like.
£1,542.08 is your UC maximum amount.
You should be comparing this with the new maximum UC amount not with the amount adjusted after the deduction for CA.

So you should be comparing it with £1,963.47, an increase of £421.39. However as noted the carer element is missing. The calculation should look like this.

Single person maximum amount at new rates.
Standard allowance £334.91
Housing £416.00
Children £667.47
Carer element £168.82
Total = £1,587.20 (maximum UC amount)

Couple maximum amount at new rates.
Standard allowance £525.72

Housing £416.00

Children £667.47

Carer element £168.82
LCWRA element £354.28
Total = £2,132.29 (maximum UC amount)

The difference is a gain of £545.09/month. Which has to be set against the loss of ESA at £204.75/week (£887.25/month). A net reduction therefore of £342.16/month (£78.96/week).

This calculation is a few pounds different to my earlier one because this one is using 2022-23 benefit rates whereas I used 2021-22 rates previously.

The actual UC received will be less after CA and/or ESA are deducted (if applicable) but it makes no difference to the total monthly income.