UC questions — Scope | Disability forum
Please read our updated community house rules and community guidelines.

UC questions

traceyb1966
traceyb1966 Community member Posts: 4 Listener
edited November 2018 in Universal Credit (UC)
Hi.  Just come across this site.   Question
I had been on esa support group for numerous years with my husband named on my claim.  He in june this year decided to go back to work so i contacted all i needed to and we put in a joint claim for UC.   Im fed up now as we are worse off.  Time thr bills are paid and thr way UC do their assessment on earnings we are worse off.  In october they said he would bring home £350 More than he actually did leaving us with that  shortfall which is a lot of money to lose.  I did query with them and they said that is what hmrc reported. Its crazy doing part of one one part of next as not a true reflection of take home pay.  Anyway question is can i claim for the new style esa.  I currently receive dla high rate mobility and low rate care or will that affect my UC.   Atm by the 1st of thr month all bills go out and we then receive no further money for up to 4 weeks  leaving us penniless and begging and borrowing for essentials like bread and milk

Comments

  • Eadiesmummy1
    Eadiesmummy1 Community member Posts: 90 Courageous
    I tried to do this, but they said i needed to try and get the LCWRA eliment of universal credit. You submit a fit note on your online journal, then if your condition is more likely to last 28 days they will send you a work capability assessment form (UC50)- fill that in and you will be invited to an assessment. If you are sucessful the LCWRA element will be added onto your claim within 3 months and you will be 328 pounds a month better off x 
  • Eadiesmummy1
    Eadiesmummy1 Community member Posts: 90 Courageous
    and sorry for not greeting you! @traceyb1966 xx 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,351 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi,

    Being able to claim New style contributions based ESA will depend on your NI Contributions from working in the previous 2 tax years. As you were claiming Income Related ESA then it's highly unlikely that you'll qualify for this.

    As stated in the above post, you can apply for LCWRA with a fit note from your GP. If the decision is LCWRA then you'll be paid the extra money from the 4th month of your claim (starting from when you submitted the fit note)

    Do you rent your home? Are you claiming the housing element in with your UC monthly payment? You'll need your tenancy agreement to be able to claim this.

    Council tax reduction isn't part of UC so make sure you're claiming this separately from your local council.

    When claiming UC there's an assessment period. Any wages received during your assessment period will affect the amount of UC you'll be paid. The more work your partner does, the less money you receive. If during the assessment period he's paid twice ( and sometimes this may happen) your UC payments will be reduced to zero for that month. The following month because no wages will have been received during the assessment period you'll have more UC payment.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • lizzieloz30
    lizzieloz30 Community member Posts: 57 Courageous
    Hello,

    Ive been submitting fit notes for most of the year on UC & only last month did they send me out a UC50 form to fill in. So just be cautious. I had to ring & go mad for them to send me a UC50 out. So that 28 day period of submitting fit notes, is aload of **** as far as I'm concerned. 
  • Pippa_Alumni
    Pippa_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,793 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @traceyb1966, and a warm welcome to the community! I hope the above guidance from our members is helpful.
  • traceyb1966
    traceyb1966 Community member Posts: 4 Listener
    Hi eadiesmummy1.  Thank you for the welcome and response.  I do get the lcwra bit of universal credits but due to my huaband working we lose 860 from our UC .  We are entitles to the full whack but every penny he earns after 200 we lose 63p in every £.  In october they said his take home would be 1501 but was i  fact 1144 so we lost 350. I queried it but as they assess part months it was what hmrc reported and we cant do nothing about it.  We get 285 max Universal credit  and pay full rent etc.  Our bills before shopping is around 1000 so not much left to play with.  It seems wrong that they taje the lwrca away from me as i can't  return to the workplace.  We were better off when we were on my esa support we we got wvery 2 weeks plus my dla and mobility csr which i still have.  It was the biggest mistake of agreeing for him to return to work 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,351 Disability Gamechanger
    Do you have dependent children? You say you pay full rent but do you claim any housing element of UC?  It will state in your online account a breakdown of what you claim. If you don't take your tenancy agreement to your local job centre then you won't be paid any housing element. I'd advise you to put all of your details into a benefits calculator and it will tell you approximately what you can claim.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • traceyb1966
    traceyb1966 Community member Posts: 4 Listener
    Yes we get the housing element.  the couple  element and the limited availability to work. But due to my husband's wages we lose approx £860 pm and receive around £285 pm of Uc due to husband earning £1200 pm or less.  What gets to me is the way they assess his wages. Ie. 16th october to 15th November.   So if you get a 5 week month during that period what they say you take home is  approx £350 more than his actual take home pay.  So will be interesting what they say this months take home pay will be.  Last month after all bills were paid including a mo ths worth of gas and electric i had 248 to do a months shopping and live. When in esa i spent a fortnight what i do a month now.Nd had money in the bank.  I keep a ledger of everything thst goes in and goes out so i know to the last penny where everything is going.  Hubby feels he has let me down by returning to work as we were a lot better off.   We sat down and worked everything out before he returned and everything looked ok.  I have queried the difference in his take home pay but it is what it is.  Every month they ask me for a fit note but as u transferred from esa support i don't need to supply one.  Also i had an updated medical earlier in the year as proof if not being able to work so that was taken on board.   Universal credits don't seem to benefit anyone  just make the poor poorer.  Apart from credit cards which i had to use to get us through the 5 week period and stay ahead if our rent we are nit in any debt atm but are borrowing money from family to survive with the essentials bread milk souds etc.   I regret agreeing with him about returning  to work. But now it is too late
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,351 Disability Gamechanger
    edited November 2018
    Have you checked you UC online account? This is really important!

    Something isn't right here. When you were claiming ESA which group were you in WRAG or Support Group? 

    As DWP are asking for fit notes this tells me that you're not claiming the extra element on your UC claim. When transferring from ESA to UC DWP should honour your ESA award and place you in the relevant group BUT this doesn't always happen, although you will be re-assessed at some point for UC and be sent the UC50 form.

    Have you put all of your details into a benefits calculator like this one?

    UC has an assessment period and those that are paid 4 weekly can sometimes have 2 wages within that assessment period. If this happens then your UC will be reduced to zero for that month because of the 2 wages. The following month you'll receive more UC because there won't be any wages for the next assessment period.

    Does your online account state LCW or LCWRA element?

    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.

Brightness

Do you need advice on your energy costs?


Scope’s Disability Energy Support service is open to any disabled household in England or Wales in which one or more disabled people live. You can get free advice from an expert adviser on managing energy debt, switching tariffs, contacting your supplier and more. Find out more information by visiting our
Disability Energy Support webpage.