LCWRA query. Are we owed any back pay? Will the money we owe offset this?

lh8609

Hello everyone I’m new to all this and just hoping for some advice.

We have been claiming UC for a while now, couple with children both in work. Last December my partner fell ill with cancer and was signed off work with a fit note dated from 30th December.

I reported his health condition and fit note on Jan 1st and have reported fit notes since then with no gaps. Last weds (27th July) he finally got his decision and was awarded LCWRA. Our first payment of £354 is coming this week, I just wondered if someone could advise if we were owed any back pay?
I understand there’s a 3 month wait, our assessment period goes from the first-last day of the month, we get our statement on 1st and we get paid on the 7th of every month if that helps. 

Also we are repaying them a little bit of money back each month for an overpayment from last year. Is it likely if we are owed any money that they will offset this against what we owe them?

Thanks in advance x

calcotti

I would expect you to be entitled to payment from 7th May. Any arrears will be paid separately. They may seek to offset.

lh8609

Thankyou x

Tori_Scope

Welcome to the community @lh8609 Thanks for joining! 

It looks like calcotti has been able to answer your query. Please do let us know if there's anything you're unsure about.

I'm sorry to hear about your husband's cancer diagnosis. That must be tough for you all. Are you all coping okay?

lh8609

Thankyou! It was tough, we have 2 children each and a baby together. The baby was only 6 days old when we found out and it was literally days before Christmas. Then he lost his job 2 weeks later!
But he is on the mend now and starts a new job in the next few months. So we’re getting there Thankyou x

L_Volunteer

It sounds like it was really tough @lh8609. Really positive to hear he's now on the mend and starts a new job in the next few months which means you are getting there. Good luck with it all! If we can do anything else to support you, please don't hesitate to let us know 

lh8609

Thankyou! I only wish I’d found this forum sooner 

Tori_Scope

Gosh, that all sounds pretty stressful @lh8609! I'm glad that he'll be starting a new job soon. I hope things are all well with the children, too  

lh8609

They are all good Thankyou. So I messaged UC today and they replied saying they owe us £1053. I believe we owe them about £520 from an overpayment last November. So I’m just waiting to find out if they’re going to take that back or not.

Thanks for the advice  x

Tori_Scope

No problem @lh8609 Let us know what the outcome is!

lh8609

Still waiting! I put a note on my journal to ask if they’d consider letting us have the repayment as my maternity pay finishes on Thursday so it would really help us out. Can’t blame a girl for trying hey lol x

Ross_Alumni

lh8609 said:

Still waiting! I put a note on my journal to ask if they’d consider letting us have the repayment as my maternity pay finishes on Thursday so it would really help us out. Can’t blame a girl for trying hey lol x

Thanks for the update, sorry to hear you are still waiting. When did you put the note on your journal? Did you receive a response?

lh8609

Ross_Scope said:

lh8609 said:

Still waiting! I put a note on my journal to ask if they’d consider letting us have the repayment as my maternity pay finishes on Thursday so it would really help us out. Can’t blame a girl for trying hey lol x

Thanks for the update, sorry to hear you are still waiting. When did you put the note on your journal? Did you receive a response?

I only did it on the 4th. Maybe I’ll call them if I don’t hear back in the next few days. The extra money would really be useful while I sort out my return to work but if they want to take it they’ll take it won’t they 

Ross_Alumni

Hello @lh8609

Calling them sounds like a good idea, hopefully that goes well. Let us know how you get on  

poppy123456

It would be debt management you will need to ring regarding any debt you owe.

lh8609

Thanks I’ll give them a call. I suspect they’ll take it back anyway which is fine, it would just help us out massively right now.

poppy123456

They don't always do that, especially if you're already paying it back monthly.

lh8609

Thanks it’s definitely worth asking then

lh8609

As I suspected they’ve taken it all. £500 for a universal credit overpayment and the rest for 2 tax credits overpayments from 2015 and 2019 that I didn’t even know anything about! So that’s that 

bg844

Positive to that is they won’t be taking back what you owe them for even longer. If you are really struggling then why not have a look at other support available such as the Household Support Fund administered by your local authority. You can obviously phone and ask for a budgeting advance but if you already owe money it’s extremely unlikely you’d get approved. Or call debt management and work something out with them.

lh8609

We’ve already had help from the household support fund. Debt management said there’s nothing they can do even though I’ve never had a single letter about any of these debts so didn’t know about them they said it’s already been taken. We will just continue to struggle like we have the last 8 months, at least we will have the extra money on our monthly payments going forwards x