Am I entitled to the cost of living payment?

colin1970

#same

poppy123456

colin1970 said:

Hi, I was entitled to UC during the assessment period but didn’t get any as the ESA amount was more than the standard UC entitlement it’s just that the LCWRA element didn’t kick in till a few days after the assessment period was valid, does this provide more information or is it basically the dMe

You weren't entitled to a payment though because your ESA was deducted in full from any UC so your UC was reduced to zero. A nil award means no entitlement to the first CoL payment.

colin1970

Thank you, what about the second payment in the autumn, is there a separate assessment period for that? Just wondering 

poppy123456

They criteria hasn't been annouced for the 2nd payment of £324 yet.

calcotti

Not qualifying due to deduction because of ns-ESA is particularly harsh.

colin1970

Hi Calcotti,
yes I agree that not qualifying for is harsh, especially since I’ve missed out by a few days, my next assessment period after the specific qualifying period started 22nd may till 21 June, if I’d have been a few days earlier in the end date, then the LCWRA would have ‘kicked in’ and it wouldn’t be nil. The other annoying thing is that the government are singing about helping 8 million of those most in need but when you actually look at their own statistics as of feb this year, not including things like PIP there are 8 million claiming benefits but it’s 6 million on UC and a further 2 million on ESA, so they aren’t actually helping the full 8 million

calcotti

colin1970 said:

..my next assessment period after the specific qualifying period started 22nd may till 21 June, if I’d have been a few days earlier in the end date, then the LCWRA would have ‘kicked in’ and it wouldn’t be nil. 

That's quite a long way off because you would have had to get the LCWRA in a payment period which ended within the qualifying period (26th April to 25th May).

woodbine

It might be an idea if Scope made details of the COL payment a "sticky"

poppy123456

calcotti said:

Not qualifying due to deduction because of ns-ESA is particularly harsh.

Yes, completely agree.

colin1970

I assume no one has heard if the government is having a rethink or are having any pressure put on them with regard to ESA and CoP
i know an MP raised this in the commons and was told it was because ESA is not means tested, which seems to me to be a cost saving cop out as most people since about 2017 ish I think are on new style ESA
So around 20% of those ‘most in need’ won’t get any assistance which to me just doesn’t seem right

poppy123456

I can't see how they can include those that claim a contributions based benefits. For those claiming NsESA like yourself, they can look at claiming UC to top up their income but it would depend on their circumstances.

New style ESA is not means tested so i don't know how the government can decide who's on low income and who's not. Someone claiming this could have savings/capital and still be entitled to the ESA.

calcotti

colin1970 said:

i know an MP raised this in the commons and was told it was because ESA is not means tested, which seems to me to be a cost saving cop out as most people since about 2017 ish I think are on new style ESA

That isn’t the issue. If you had claimed ESA in 2017 in similar circumstances you would have still only got contribution based ESA only and not income based ESA so would still not have qualified.

The anomaly here is just that had you never claim new style ESA in your case it looks as if you would have got UC which would have entitled you to CoL.

However the practical difficulty for DWP would identifying claimants who would have got UC if not getting ns-ESA as against those who would not have been able to get UC anyway. So I although I think it unfair I do understand why the situation arises.

colin1970

Yes I see the complications, nothing is ever straight forward, especially nowadays 

calcotti

HDT84 said:

my UC payment dates are the 16th of every month. 

Assessment period 10th April till 9th May I received £0 universal credit as my salary was over the threshold 

assessment period 10th May till 9th June I received £400 universal credit. 

Unfortunately you will not receive the CoL payment for this instalment.

Entitlement for CoL is established by UC entitlement for the assessment period that ends in the period.

calcotti

HDT84 said:

Ah ok :-( I wasn’t too sure as my 2nd assessment period ended within the government guidelines. 

No it didn’t - you said it ended on 9th June which is outside the guidelines.

foxmagic5

My message has been deleted 

Tori_Scope

Hi @foxmagic5 Your comment hasn't been deleted, don't worry. I made it into it's own post, which you can find here. 

Apologies, I meant to let you know, but clearly forgot!