Am I entitled to pip, or esa, have been denied UC. How can I ensure I am awarded?

lpea
lpea Community member Posts: 25 Connected
in Benefits and income
I am a full time student who has a severe (although controlled with medication) mental illness. What benefits am I entitled to? Please help me as I am really stressed and constantly relying on mother whose on a low income. Ive have tried UC but got denied and had a work capability assessment done and sent back to ESA by me. 
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Comments

  • lpea
    lpea Community member Posts: 25 Connected
    Only sent ESA form back this week so waiting on hearing back from them. 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 59,145 Championing
    Full time Students that have parental support can only usually claim UC if they are claiming a disability benefit like PIP/DLA and they have already been assessed as having limited capability for work. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-students

    I'm assuming the ESA claim is a NI credits only claim because New style ESA is a contirbuions based only claim and you need to have paid NI contirbutions from working in the preivious 2 tax years.  Once the decison's been made on your work capability assessment if you have LCW or LCWRA then you will be able to claim UC providing you're claiming a disability benefit such as PIP/DLA. If you're not then you won't be able to claim UC.

    Unfortunately, UC is the only benefit available to you.

  • lpea
    lpea Community member Posts: 25 Connected
    poppy123456 said:
    Full time Students that have parental support can only usually claim UC if they are claiming a disability benefit like PIP/DLA and they have already been assessed as having limited capability for work. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-students

    I'm assuming the ESA claim is a NI credits only claim because New style ESA is a contirbuions based only claim and you need to have paid NI contirbutions from working in the preivious 2 tax years.  Once the decison's been made on your work capability assessment if you have LCW or LCWRA then you will be able to claim UC providing you're claiming a disability benefit such as PIP/DLA. If you're not then you won't be able to claim UC.

    Unfortunately, UC is the only benefit available to you.

    Thank you poppy123456.

    Would I be entitled to PIP? I have done the assessment for PIP back and didnt get it when I had limited capability for work a few years ago when I wasnt a student.

    Also the ESA team have sent me the work capability assessment form and I think are going to do an assessment over the phone or face to face so I dont know what's going on there regarding contributions which they havent mentioned after I sent them a fit note. 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 59,145 Championing
    I have no idea whether you would be entitled to PIP, that would depend on how your conditions affect you against the PIP descriptors. See link. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf

    Can you please confirm whether you're receiving any money from your ESA claim? I assumed that because you're a student then you wouldn't have worked in the previous 2 tax years to pay any NI contirbutions.
  • lpea
    lpea Community member Posts: 25 Connected
    poppy123456 said:
    I have no idea whether you would be entitled to PIP, that would depend on how your conditions affect you against the PIP descriptors. See link. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf

    Can you please confirm whether you're receiving any money from your ESA claim? I assumed that because you're a student then you wouldn't have worked in the previous 2 tax years to pay any NI contirbutions.
    Thanks again, 

    Im not receiving any money from ESA atm and yes I dont think I have paid enough contributions through part time work

    But if my application is being considered for Limited capability for work then doesnt that mean it's for an award?
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 59,145 Championing
    lpea said:
    poppy123456 said:
    I have no idea whether you would be entitled to PIP, that would depend on how your conditions affect you against the PIP descriptors. See link. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf

    Can you please confirm whether you're receiving any money from your ESA claim? I assumed that because you're a student then you wouldn't have worked in the previous 2 tax years to pay any NI contirbutions.
    Thanks again, 

    Im not receiving any money from ESA atm and yes I dont think I have paid enough contributions through part time work

    But if my application is being considered for Limited capability for work then doesnt that mean it's for an award?

    No, it doesn't. I beleive they send the forms anyway. If you haven't paid the correct amount of NI contirbutions then your ESA will remain a credits only claim and you'll never receive any money.


  • lpea
    lpea Community member Posts: 25 Connected
    poppy123456 said:
    lpea said:
    poppy123456 said:
    I have no idea whether you would be entitled to PIP, that would depend on how your conditions affect you against the PIP descriptors. See link. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf

    Can you please confirm whether you're receiving any money from your ESA claim? I assumed that because you're a student then you wouldn't have worked in the previous 2 tax years to pay any NI contirbutions.
    Thanks again, 

    Im not receiving any money from ESA atm and yes I dont think I have paid enough contributions through part time work

    But if my application is being considered for Limited capability for work then doesnt that mean it's for an award?

    No, it doesn't. I beleive they send the forms anyway. If you haven't paid the correct amount of NI contirbutions then your ESA will remain a credits only claim and you'll never receive any money.


    I see. Can you help me with what I can be entitled to then because I'm not even eligible for a student loan as an external student and cant work because of my disability?
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 59,145 Championing
    The reason you were refused UC is because you’re a full time student and students can only claim UC under specific circumstances. As you don’t receive a disability benefit such as PIP or DLA then unfortunately you won’t be able to claim UC even if you’re assessed as having limited capability for work.
    There’s no other benefits that you can claim because UC has replaced everything.
    Have another look at claiming PIP but you would need to get some expert advice before reclaiming because applying again with the same evidence you previously used will likely see another refusal.
  • lpea
    lpea Community member Posts: 25 Connected
    poppy123456 said:
    The reason you were refused UC is because you’re a full time student and students can only claim UC under specific circumstances. As you don’t receive a disability benefit such as PIP or DLA then unfortunately you won’t be able to claim UC even if you’re assessed as having limited capability for work.
    There’s no other benefits that you can claim because UC has replaced everything.
    Have another look at claiming PIP but you would need to get some expert advice before reclaiming because applying again with the same evidence you previously used will likely see another refusal.
    Thanks very much. Can you guide me to where I can get such expert advice? 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 59,145 Championing
    Start here https://advicelocal.uk/
  • lpea
    lpea Community member Posts: 25 Connected
    poppy123456 said:
    Start here https://advicelocal.uk/
    Thanks very much
  • lpea
    lpea Community member Posts: 25 Connected
    poppy123456 said:
    The reason you were refused UC is because you’re a full time student and students can only claim UC under specific circumstances. As you don’t receive a disability benefit such as PIP or DLA then unfortunately you won’t be able to claim UC even if you’re assessed as having limited capability for work.
    There’s no other benefits that you can claim because UC has replaced everything.
    Have another look at claiming PIP but you would need to get some expert advice before reclaiming because applying again with the same evidence you previously used will likely see another refusal.
    Hi again Poppy,

    I have done some research and worried my limited capability for work form sent to ESA might not be awarded as limited capability for work

    Do you know what I could do? 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 59,145 Championing
    You will need to be assessed first and this will very likely be either a telephone assessment or a face to face assessment. You could be waiting quite a while for this because the backlogs are huge. 
    Even if you are placed into one of the groups, if you haven’t paid the correct amount of NI contributions form working in tax years April 2018 to March 2020 then you won’t receive any money. Your claim will remain as NI Credits towards your state pension. 
    If it was me I’d concentrate on getting some advice to see if you’re eligible for PIP. 

  • lpea
    lpea Community member Posts: 25 Connected
    poppy123456 said:
    You will need to be assessed first and this will very likely be either a telephone assessment or a face to face assessment. You could be waiting quite a while for this because the backlogs are huge. 
    Even if you are placed into one of the groups, if you haven’t paid the correct amount of NI contributions form working in tax years April 2018 to March 2020 then you won’t receive any money. Your claim will remain as NI Credits towards your state pension. 
    If it was me I’d concentrate on getting some advice to see if you’re eligible for PIP. 

    I am just worried that I wont be offered a face to face or telephone assessment however

    I will definitely look into PIP aswell
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 59,145 Championing
    The work capability assessment will still take place even with a credits only claim. 
  • lpea
    lpea Community member Posts: 25 Connected
    I'm really struggling for money atm and been denied UC as a student. My mental health condition prevents me from work and I'm worried about how long PIP is going to take. I have done the work capability form for ESA, and sent it last week. Can I expect an assessment from ESA any time soon and which benefit is suitable for my current situation
  • vikingqueen
    vikingqueen Scope Member Posts: 1,582 Championing
          Poppy and Woodbine have given you all the advise on your other post. There really isn't anything else to add.
  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,371 Championing
    I believe Poppy has answered your query here: https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/83978/am-i-entitled-to-pip-or-esa-have-been-denied-uc-how-can-i-ensure-i-am-awarded

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 59,145 Championing
    There's no other advice to give you.
  • Cher_Alumni
    Cher_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,715 Championing
    Hi @lpea

    Just to let you know, I've merged your threads together to allow all replies to you to be kept in this one space :) 

    I'm sorry to hear you're struggling money-wise, are you managing okay for food, etc?  If you'd prefer to discuss this privately, please email the team at community@scope.org.uk.  Also, I see your mum is on a low income - has she checked her benefit entitlement using a Benefits calculator?  This will give an indication of benefits she is eligible for that she might not be claiming.

    Take care and please keep us posted with how you get on.

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