ESA/PIP/SDP - Confused by new ESA letter.

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  • W348
    W348 Online Community Member Posts: 118 Contributor

    I am on ESA Support Group with SDP, whenever they move me over to UC - does this mean I will be worse off?

    Or is it the same amount but they are just changing the name to UC instead of ESA?


    With regards to brother who has had his migration notice letter and his ESA is ending in Feb. What’s the best approach here? Would he best waiting until January before applying for UC, so he can continue to get his recently awarded SDP for a few more months? Or does this not really matter due to the Transitional Protection that was mentioned above?


    Does moving over to UC from ESA also trigger another medical review?


    Appreciate the guidance navigating this. It’s quite stressful for me too, as I’ve only just gone through the headache of the PIP procedure a few months ago - and now this UC stuff to look at.

  • Kimmy87
    Kimmy87 Online Community Member Posts: 2,129 Championing

    You will not be worse off yourself, the advice I gave for your brothers claim applies to yours as well.

    It doesn't matter when he claims due to the TP.

    No, moving currently doesn't trigger a medical review.

    There are possible changes on the

    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/125539/wca-esa-to-uc-migration-policy

  • W348
    W348 Online Community Member Posts: 118 Contributor
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/940990#Comment_940990

    Thanks for your reassurance, I find this terribly confusing so not too sure how things will pan out.

    You say I won’t be worse off. I just want to be sure I am understanding you correctly. So when I move over to UC I will still receive the same amount as before, for both ESA and SDP?

    I was getting myself a little bewildered online trying to look this up.

  • Kimmy87
    Kimmy87 Online Community Member Posts: 2,129 Championing
    edited November 2024

    Yes, at the point of claiming UC you won't be worse off due to Transitional Protection. The amount of TP given makes sure you receive the same amount of money.

    TP will erode over time as elements increase annually, or if you entitlement to a new element.

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 63,188 Championing

    As your brothers ESA includes the SDP then I’d advise him to claim UC as late as possible, even as late as the final date on the letter.

    Although no one will be worse off on point of migration the TP does erode over time. This means if other elements increase or you become entitled to other elements, the TP decreases until such a time it will erode completely. Until eventually those that are claiming SDP will be receiving the same amount of money as those that don’t.

    This is my exact situation and when I receive my letter I will not be claiming UC until the very last day on the letter.

  • W348
    W348 Online Community Member Posts: 118 Contributor
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/943859#Comment_943859

    Ah, thank you again for you input poppy - so my first gut reaction was pretty accurate then, ultimately SDP will be lost. Kind of annoying as we’ve both only just recently got that.

    I’ve not had a UC migration letter yet myself but yeah, not looking forward to that.

    I’ll certainly pass along your advice and help brother to sort his UC move out as late possible then. I’ve still not seen his letter or UC form for myself yet, he’s just told me he has got it; with a deadline of Feb. He does have a mild learning disability too, so he wasn’t in the best of moods when I first explained I thought this could impact SDP.

    Obviously he only just got his backpay a week or two before this migration letter arrived. It kind of feels a little malicious on DWP’s part but I expect that’s probably just a coincidence.

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