Changing over to UC....Bit confused

Denny1972
Denny1972 Online Community Member Posts: 23 Connected
in Universal Credit (UC)

Hi all,

I just received a letter informing me and my husband that we have to migrate over to UC by 09/01/2025.

Just some info regarding what benefits we get:

Myself:

Income Support

Child Benefit (for my 11 year old son)

Child Tax Credit (for my 11 year old son)

Carers Allowance (full time carer for my husband)

My Husband:

Income Support

PIP (Enhanced Daily Living & Enhanced Mobility)

We also get full housing benefit

We also have another son who's 19 years old and is in full time work and also lives with us, we do not take any house keeping money from him as his struggling enough as it is.

The letter says we have to do a joint claim as we are husband and wife, so we have to create two accounts, one for me and one for my husband.

Would the claim look like this:

Myself:

Income Support, Child Tax Credit

My Husband:

Income Support

Correct me if I'm wrong but i don't think Child Benefit + PIP has to be put on the form?

Also does Housing Benefit have to be put on the form, if so do i have to put it down for just my UC account or do i also have to put it down for my husbands UC account?

Same goes for Child Tax Credit, do i just put it on my account or do i also have to put it on my husbands UC account?

Does my Carers Allowance have to be put on my UC account?

Sorry for the long post but I'm totally confused.

And advice would be most welcome

All the best

Den

Comments

  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Online Community Member Posts: 5,731 Championing

    You are correct that PIP, Child Benefit and Carers Allowance remain as separate benefits, they aren't being migrated to UC.

    Carers Allowance gets deducted from UC in full. But you can claim the Carers Element of UC as well.

    The joint claim wording seems to be a bit misleading. When one of you makes a claim, you will get a code which the other person enters when starting their claim, so you don't double up on things like housing costs and child costs.

    You do need to put housing costs down as they will now be paid as part of UC under the Housing Element. No longer paid by the council as Housing Benefit.

    Also just for reference, you don't specifically have to mention each legacy benefit that you were getting. UC will be calculated using the new UC elements so just put down your current circumstances and they'll work it out.

  • Denny1972
    Denny1972 Online Community Member Posts: 23 Connected

    @OverlyAnxious many thanks for the reply but i have some more questions, still a bit confused….sorry.

    You said Carers allowance remain as separate benefit but then you say Carers Allowance gets deducted from UC in full?

    Does that mean that my Carers Allowance gets cancelled and i have to re-apply for it via UC?….if so will it effect any money my husband gets?

    Also the part when my husband enters the code when he does his application does that mean questions like Child Tax Credit and Housing benefit will be missing/un-tickable/greyed out?

    Really sorry, I'm terrible with things like this.

    All the best

    Den

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 8,426 Championing
    edited October 2024

    You will continue to receive Carers Allowance as normal, as a separate payment, and the amount of that payment will be deducted in full from your UC award.

    The numbers may look wrong, but that will be because CA is a weekly benefit and UC is a monthly benefit, there are 4.3 weeks in a month.

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing

    Carers allowance is deducted in full in the same way it is now from your IS. When filling out your part of the form you need to report being a carer and the carers element will be included.

    As a carer you will have no work commitments. However, your husband needs to make sure he reports his health condition and provides a fit note within 7 days of that. He must continue to provide fit notes without any gaps until a decision is made on the work capability assessment. (WCA) He will be referred for the work capability assessment, usually around 29 days later but can sometimes take longer.

    A work coach has discretion to either turn off or reduce commitments while waiting for the WCA decision. Some do and others don't.

    I don't think he will need to answer the questions about housing, child etc. This is because once the linking code is used it will join both claims together.

    Your UC will include standard allowance (couples) child element, housing element and carers element. If your UC entitlement is less than your current benefits then it will include Transitional Protection. (TP) If your husband is found to have Limited Capability For Work Related Activity (LCWRA) this will increase your maximum UC entitlement by £416.19/month. However, if your UC includes TP this will erode with the additional LCWRA element so whether you'll be any better off will depend on how much (if any) TP is included.

    Your IS and housing benefit will continue for 2 weeks once you submit the UC claim. Tax credits will stop completely.

    Due to Christmas not being too far away you may want to consider waiting until the new year to claim.

    Citizens Advice have a help to claim phone line and you can contact them for help when you plan to claim. They will help and guide you through the whole process.

    https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/contact-us/help-to-claim/

  • Denny1972
    Denny1972 Online Community Member Posts: 23 Connected

    @poppy123456 Many thanks for your reply, very useful information.

    Quick and last thing i forgot to mention is that my husband is not capable for work due to his health, he has Degenerative Disc Disease, Psoriatic Arthritis in his fingers, feet, back, Autism.

    Due to all his health problems he cannot leave the house without being accompanied by someone, 99% of the time me.

    Does this effect anything you have put in your reply, i.e Fit Note/LCWRA etc etc

    Jeez this is a mindfield

    Thanks

    Den

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing

    You're welcome. Those conditions and PIP award will not automatically entitle him to LCWRA and he will still need to go through the WCA. There's more information here.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-if-you-have-a-disability-or-health-condition-quick-guide/universal-credit-if-you-have-a-disability-or-health-condition

  • Jimm_Alumni
    Jimm_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,713 Championing

    It really can feel like a minefield at times @Denny1972. I do hope that you feel a bit more certain now that you've had some answers. Do let us know if you have anymore though!

    You can also read more about Universal Credit and moving to it on our advice pages here: Moving to Universal Credit and transitional protection | Disability charity Scope UK

  • Denny1972
    Denny1972 Online Community Member Posts: 23 Connected

    Thanks all, i think i have a better understanding of it all now, i used to have someone i knew who had some kind of knowledge of this stuff and helped me over the years, she has now passed away so now I'm pretty much on my own.

    Hence why I'm on here.

    Thanks again

    Den

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