Will I lose my transitional protection if I stop receiving carers allowance

L4dyluck
L4dyluck Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
in Universal Credit (UC)

I currently receive the transitional protection on my UC payments as well as the Carers element. I care for both my daughters but only receive Carers allowance for one of them. I am considering giving up the carers allowance, as my own health is deteriorating & I’m now struggling. I am however concerned as to whether it would be classed as a significant change & therefore cause me to lose the transitional protection. Has anyone got experience or knowledge on this that could advise please?

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  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 8,169 Championing

    No it wouldn't be classed as a significant change of circumstances to end your TP, nor would your TP reduce because that only happens if your total UC award goes up.

    Turn2Us have a great guide.

    https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/information-for-your-situation/universal-credit-uc-transitional-protection/what-is-universal-credit-uc-transitional-protection

  • L4dyluck
    L4dyluck Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener

    Thank you for your response Kimi.

    This is all so confusing for me at the moment. I’m trying to work out what course of action I need to take so that I’m not going to get into trouble as I’m currently working caring for both my daughters even though my health is bad also. I receive PIP & UC with a carers element for one of them.

    The are both in the process of applying for UC themselves & want to make sure they receive all that they are entitled to as they should be put into the LCWRA groups. Will the fact I receive the carers element for one of them impact on her payments & if so what do I need to do? Should I be applying for theOCWRA group myself. I’ve no idea what I should & shouldn’t be getting & when I ask in my journal for advice they don’t bother replying.


    Sorry for the long winded post & all the questions. I’m so confused

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 8,169 Championing
    edited January 6

    Answering both your recent posts:

    One person cannot be paid 2 x Carer Elements.

    There is no financial benefit to claiming UC + Carers Allowance, but CA pays weekly which can help with budgeting, and it pays Class 1 NI Contributions (UC pays class 3). Whether that will be of any use is debatable.

    No you will not lose carer element if your Daughter is awarded LCWRA. As long as she continues to receive the qualifying benefit PIP etc, you can continue to get Carers Element.

    No your daughters UC payment will not be impacted by you getting Carers Element for her.

    You can go the LCWRA route yourself, but if awarded your Carers Element will end (the same person cannot get both CE & LCWRA), and your Transitional Protection will reduce by the difference between Carers Element & LCWRA.

  • L4dyluck
    L4dyluck Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener

    Thank you so much for explaining this Kimi, I really appreciate it.

    Just to be clear in my own head, me going down the LCWRA is of no real financial benefit to me as just like with CA anything I gain will be deducted anyway?

    Regarding my daughter’s application, can I ask what she should hopefully receive if she’s put into the LCWRA group. Currently she only receives the standard amount. Is there no additional amount given if you receive the higher elements of PIP?

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 8,169 Championing

    To correct my previous advice, there are upcoming changes to LCWRA element which would be relevant for yourself and possibly your daughters, depending on when they reported their health condition.

    https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/avoiding-april-2026-health-element-rate-cut-universal-credit-check-if-you-need-take-action-now

    If your daughters are already in the process of reporting health condition, Fit Note etc then the higher amount of £423.27 should apply.

    Otherwise the rate will be £217.26, which makes it possibly less worthwhile to apply yourself, as it would replace your Carers Element and reduce your TP by a small amount.

  • L4dyluck
    L4dyluck Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener

    Thank you Kimi.

    My daughter who I get CA for has been receiving UC on & off for the past 2 years. Whenever she has managed to get a job she closed her claim down as it was never explained to her properly what she needed to do so the automatic, if there is even one, process of sending her the WCA50 forms never happened so even though she’s provided them with fit notes from the GP they’ve never followed up on it, we’re currently in the process of getting that sorted.

    My other daughter is applying for the first time & has her initial telephone appointment tomorrow. We have requested a fit notes from the GP & are going to request the WCA50 when we speak to them so they hopefully won’t miss out 🤞🏽

    So just to clarify, if they both get put into the LCWRA group they should hopefully receive the standard amount, which for some reason she is only getting £389 not £400.14, plus the £423.27 & if that’s the case it’s not financially worth the stress for me to change my claim & apply for the LCWRA

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 8,169 Championing

    Unfortunately it's really not clear to me which LCWRA amount would apply, for either of them.

    There is information on the link, and you could also talk to a trained benefits advisor locally https://advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk/

    If you were to apply now yourself for LCWRA then I'm fairly confident the lower amount would apply.

  • L4dyluck
    L4dyluck Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener

    I thought the lower amount for the LWCRA doesn’t come into effect until after the 1st of April. So if my daughter only applied yesterday would that mean she’ll not be eligible for the higher amount?

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