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UC LCWRA question

phillo82

Hi everyone
New member here

Currently claiming Universal Credit in the LCWRA (the old ESA Support group). Not expected to look for work but recently I've thought about looking at trying just a few hours a week, hopefully working from home due to my health issues, there seems to be more WFH opportunities then when I had to give up work 5 years ago due ill health.

You won't be surprised to learn it was a battle getting LCWRA and I'm very reluctant to open a conversation with the DWP about this as they were very unsympathetic about my health issues prior to the award (kept trying to send me for warehouse jobs even though I have severe asthma and dizziness/balance problems). Obviously I don't mind losing a little bit of my UC if the work compensates for it but I don't them to get the wrong impression that I am "fit for work/all better" etc when I'm not and probably won't be.

Any thoughts/experiences welcome if anyone has done this would be appreciated.

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Comments

calcotti

There are no limits on working while getting LCWRA. All you have to do is report your employment as a change of circumstances through your UC journal. It will only be a problem if the work contradicts the reason you were found to have LCWRA. Because you have LCWRA you will have a Work Allowance which means some of the earnings received will be ignored.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-work-allowances/universal-credit-work-allowances

bg844

Quite a lot of people who claim LCWRA work full time, you will need to report the change to your work status on your UC account. As you do have LCWRA you will have a work allowance (an amount you can earn without deductions), this is £344 if you claim help with your housing costs and £573 if you do not, any further earnings after this amount will be deducted at 55p for every pound earned.

UC activity encourage claimants to work and take advantage of their work allowances if the claimant is able to. Starting work would not trigger a re-assessment, the date for your current award re-assessment will remain (bear in mind that LCWRA is an ongoing award until a new decision says otherwise).

Good luck in any future career, even if you try working and it gets too much- at least you have tried which is what matters the most.

L_Volunteer

Hi @phillo82. Welcome to Scope’s forum. It is great to see you have joined us. How are you at the moment?

Thanks for reaching out to us. I appreciate how much courage it can take to reach out, especially when finding things difficult and you are new.

I can see Calcotti and @bg844 have already responded to your thread. Do you feel these responses have provided you with the support you were looking for?

Please don’t hesitate to let us know if there’s anything else we can do to support you. We are all here for you and listening to you

phillo82

Yes thank you and thank for the replies.

L_Volunteer

Good good! You are welcome @phillo82