Esa migration confusion

pinkrose
pinkrose Online Community Member Posts: 169 Empowering

I'm am so sorry if this has been asked already but I've been searching and can't find a definitive answer.

I am on contribution based esa support group, with income related top up ?

Will I be migrated to universal credit ?

Will i be worse off on universal credit ?

I understand that migrations will be completed by January 2025.

Just need to know what to expect as im very unwell and need to be prepared.

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing

    Yes you will be migrated to UC because your ESA is part Income Related. Your contributions based ESA will continue as normal but be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. No, you will not be worse off.

  • pinkrose
    pinkrose Online Community Member Posts: 169 Empowering

    Thanks so much poppy, so just to clarify my esa contribution based will continue to be paid fortnightly ? And the income related top up will be changed to a universal credit monthly payment ? Am I correct in assuming this ?

    I'm so sorry to be a pain.

    Thankyou so much for being a great help !

  • pinkrose
    pinkrose Online Community Member Posts: 169 Empowering

    Oops sorry poppy. I totally get it now, one monthly uc payment with the esa cb deducted ? According to a government calculator if I go onto uc I should be £27 a week better off but I don't think that will be the case if they keep me on esa cb, along with uc instead of the esa ir top up .

    I will just have to wait and see.

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing

    Yes, that's correct. CB ESA fortnightly. The UC monthly, with the ESA deducted. You won't be worse off or better off by your CB ESA continuing. There are some advantages to claiming CB ESA along side UC. For ESA you will receive class 1 NI credits but for UC it's class 3. CB isn't means tested and UC is.

    Does your ESA currently include the Severe disability Premium?

  • pinkrose
    pinkrose Online Community Member Posts: 169 Empowering

    Once again, Thanks so much Poppy. No I'm not receiving the SDP at the moment. I'm not entitled as back home living with parents. So don't think I'm entitled to it.

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing

    No problem. You won't be entitled to SDP unless your parents are either claiming a qualifying disability their self. Or they are registered blind.

    If you are 25 and over because your ESA doesn't include the SDP if you claim UC now then you will be £120/month better off.

  • pinkrose
    pinkrose Online Community Member Posts: 169 Empowering

    Thankyou Poppy...so I can put in a claim now ? Would I still be keeping my esa cb in this instance ?

    Will I still be £120 a month better off if I wait until I'm written to by dwp for migration ?

    If I start the migration process now, Will I have to go through a work capability assessment ?

    I'm so sorry for all the questions....

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 5,743 Championing

    Yes you can put in a claim now.

    Yes, you would still be keeping your ESA CB.

    Yes, you will still be better off.

    No, no new WCA, ESA can take a few weeks to talk to UC, it is advisable to make a Journal Note immediately after claiming stating you currently receive IR & CB SG ESA.

  • pinkrose
    pinkrose Online Community Member Posts: 169 Empowering

    Thankyou so much Kimmy87.

    I really appreciate you taking the time to answer .

  • spb1612
    spb1612 Online Community Member Posts: 47 Contributor

    What is one expected to do during migration from ESA to UC? I am afraid I may miss a deadline or something when I receive the letter. Is the letter just to notify us or to act, such as completion of an application form.

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing

    When you receive the letter inviting you to apply you will have 3 months to claim so it's unlikely you will miss it.

  • ashy24
    ashy24 Online Community Member Posts: 16 Listener

    Can I just ask , I have just received my migration notice to uc. I am on cb esa in the support group so i am aware that i should be migrated to lcwra and i am on housing benefit. I know that I am unlikely to recieve any award of uc due to having 2 occupational pensions, but what I would like to know if anyone can help is this will I continue to get my esa as normal or will they migrate me to the new style esa and if so how does that work.

    Thank you.

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing

    Your CB ESA will revert automatically to New style ESA. You will be sent a letter once you've claimed UC. Don't be too alarmed with the letter you will receive from ESA because it will tell you that you need to attend an appointment but you will not need to do that. You will need to agree to your commitments but this can be done through a phone call.

    New Style ESA amount is the same as you receive now.

  • ashy24
    ashy24 Online Community Member Posts: 16 Listener

    Thank you poppy, when you say I will recieve a letter to attend an appointment what appointment will they say I need to attend ,I have heard that they may tell me to send in fit notes and will need a new wca is this the case and am I right in saying that that I do not need to supply fit notes or attend a new wca. Just one more thing as I have already said due to my occupational pensions being slightly higher than the combined amounts ie standard allowance, housing element and the disability element due from lcwra I think I should be entitled to transitional payment for my housing benefit otherwise I would be worse off is this correct and if so would my payment of new style esa be deducted from that transitional payment. I know this is a long post but I just need to understand the way this all works thank you.

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing

    The letter from ESA will very likely ask you to provide a fit note but you do not need to do that. Same for UC they will most definitely ask you to provide a fit note but again, this isn't needed. You will not need another WCA for either ESA or UC.

    The ESA is also deducted in full from any UC entitlement. The law says you shouldn't be worse off on point of migration but I'll be honest and say I do not know what happens about your pensions in this case.

    I would advise you to wait until the last minute to claim UC.

    The way TP works is they work out your entitlement to legacy benefits and compare that to your maximum UC entitlement and TP will make up the difference. Your ESA will not be deducted from any potential TP.

  • ashy24
    ashy24 Online Community Member Posts: 16 Listener

    Thank you very much poppy, I will wait until a few days before hand to make my claim. I had hoped to make it until I reached state pension age in Oct 25 when I would not have had to do any of this but at least i will only have about 8 months of this nonsense to cope with.