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Hi, my name is slimjohn! It seems I can get some money from UC as well as ESA. Can anyone help?

slimjohn

Hi
I have been put into the support group of esa due to my health condition. After doing some searching it seems i can get some money from universal credit. Which i also claimed at the same time as esa. They have been giving me no money as my wife has a state pension and rhe esa takes me over my amount. Even though i have had the esa assesment and put into the support group uc are telling me that i need to be assessed by them and then wait 4 months after the decision. Can any one please help.
Thank yoy

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Comments

calcotti

If you have already been found to have LCWRA (ESA Support Group) then UC should not need to do a new assessment.

However I am unclear about your situation. When did you claim ESA? If it was new style ESA you claimed then your wife's pension should not make any difference - only pension income you receive could make a difference.

For UC both you and your wife will need to claim UC and her pension will be taken into account when calculating any UC entitlement. Have you used a benefits calculator to check whether you actually entitled to anything.

slimjohn

I had my first payment on 20th june 2022 so i presume its the new style. Had assesment and put in support group on 26th august. Even then uc said they had been told i had been in support group since june. Spike with esa they said they had no idea where uc was getting their dates from.due to it being 3 days into uc month they made the adjustment to be more than it was .not that it made any differance to them paying me any money so after 4 days of complaing on my journal i gave up. I was wondering if now
That im in the support group for esa that i get the extra money from uc aswell it does seem a bit confussing. Uc not will ing to commit. When i started uc they had my medical certificate from day one to say i was ill. Thats is how i lost my job after 21 years.
Also having a pip assesment monday its a real struggle to see what help we can get especially now eveyone is struggling. Its communities like this that keeps everyone going
Thank you

calcotti

slimjohn said:

I had my first payment on 20th june 2022 so i presume its the new style.

slimjohn said:

They have been giving me no money as my wife has a state pension and rhe esa takes me over my amount.

In your opening post I thought you meant you were not being paid any ESA. I now understand that you meant UC. That UC are not paying you is likely to be correct. You will have a maximum UC entitlement as a couple. Your ESA will be deducted and your wife's pension will also be deducted. There may be nothing left for UC to pay. Did you use a benefit calculator to check entitlement?

Do you (or your wife) get PIP or any other disability benefit?

poppy123456

Even with the LCWRA element included in the UC maximum entitlement your UC may still be reduced to zero because your ESA and the State pension is deducted in full.

Do you claim either PIP daily living or DLA mid/high rate? Do you rent or own your own home?

slimjohn

On using several different calculator sites. Would like to know the best one as they all say differant amounts .
But they also say that as i am in the support group for esa i am also allowed an amount ( some quoting £354.00 ) from uc .
Uc when asked are saying that i need now to be assesed by them and wait another 4 months. Its really confussing .
My wife is registered blind and as she is 71 and retired only getting state pension claiming attendance allowance.
Should uc go by my esa assesment as many of the other sites are telling me. I dont mind having another assesment just dont want another 4 month wait
Thank you for your help

poppy123456

You haven't answered my questions here.

poppy123456 said:

Do you claim either PIP daily living or DLA mid/high rate? Do you rent or own your own home?

It will of course also depend on how much your wife's state pension is.

calcotti

slimjohn said: Should uc go by my esa assesment as many of the other sites are telling me.

Yes they should.

Have you told UC that your wife is receiving AA. Because of her age and because she is entitled to AA she is automatically entitled to be treated as having LCWRA. That means that, from the fourth payment, she is entitled to the LCWRA element of £354.28/month. If she is getting that then you cannot be paid the LCWRA element because only one LCWRA element can be paid to a couple. However if you declare that you are caring for her 35 hours/week you will be entitled to the carer element (£168.81/month).

Your UC would therefore be the standard allowance £525.72 plus LCWRA (after the waiting period) £354.28 and the carer element £168.81. This makes a maximum amount of £1048.81/month plus help with rent if you are renting.

Your ESA of £117.60/week is deducted (£509.50/month). If you are not renting that leaves £539.21/month and if your wife's pension exceeds this amount (£124.43/week) then no UC will be payable.

slimjohn

Sorry poppy have not worked out yet how to respond to individual users
I have my pip assesment on monday and im in council rented property

poppy123456

That means there maybe some enitlement but it will depend on how much housing element you're entitled to and how much your wife's state pension is.

slimjohn

Hi calcotti
Yes when i applied for uc they were told my wife had aa due to her sight loss it did take me several attempts to explain to them at 71 was was not looking for work and why she did not need to attend a work coach. Didnt know she is entitled to tha extra payment uc never said
Yhanks i will get onto them. So far only had 3 periods so will wait until nxt month
Thank you

slimjohn

Hi calcotti
Even though my wife is 71 and a pensioner due to her having AA she can get the LCWRA payment. Wish i was able to look after her she helps me more since ive become ill at least with support and encouragement
Thanks for all your help
Really glad i joined the community found out more this afternoon than i have done in weeks or searching

calcotti

slimjohn said:

Hi calcotti
Yes when i applied for uc they were told my wife had aa due to her sight loss it did take me several attempts to explain to them at 71 was was not looking for work and why she did not need to attend a work coach. Didnt know she is entitled to tha extra payment uc never said
Yhanks i will get onto them. So far only had 3 periods so will wait until nxt month
Thank you

You may want to put a payment query in your journal asking whether your wife will have the LCWRA element included in the calculation in the next statement on the basis that she is pension age and receives AA. My sceptical mind thinks it quite likely that UC will not pick it up otherwise. You can refer to The Universal Credit Regulation 2013 regulation, Schedule 9 paragraph 5.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/376/schedule/9

Circumstances in which a claimant is to be treated as having limited capability for work and work-related activity
5. The claimant has reached the qualifying age for state pension credit and is entitled to attendance allowance, the care component of disability living allowance at the highest rate or the daily living component of personal independence payment at the enhanced rate

slimjohn said:

Wish i was able to look after her she helps me more since ive become ill at least with support and encouragement

I expect it's a case of you each looking after each other based on what you can each do. Caring can involve just keeping an eye on someone. If you are caring for her she should report this through the journal.

However, as noted in earlier replies, whether or not you have any UC entitlement will depend in the amount of pension she gets and how much help with rent you are getting. There may be no entitlement now but there could be some when the LCWRA element is added.

Are you claiming Council Tax Reduction - there may be some entitlement. Again, a benefits calculator would give you an indication.

slimjohn

Thank you for all your help .
Luckly the council was very quick to adjust the council tax. As i have a 2 bedroom property uc using the bedroom tax and thats what is giving me the nil payment.
Will definitely get back onto uc and ask about the LCWRA for my wife instead
Once again thank you for the link

L_Volunteer

@Slimjohn You are more than welcome. Our help is the very least you deserve.

Glad to hear the council was very quick to adjust the council tax. Good luck with LCWRA - please don't hesitate to let us know if we can do anything to help.

We are all here for you and you don't have to face this, or anything else, alone if you don't want to

slimjohn

Tried uc this morning
Left message on journal
Got back to me to say that as wife is a pensioner that she cant have LCWRA even when i quoted legislation
On reading it again it says something about a scotish ruling does this still count I'm in england
Any help would be great uc just stonewall you i dont want to push them to hard if im reading it wrong
Slimjohn