Working dilemma, advice welcome
hi
I have a dilemma. I was assessed for support group as long covid hampered my health for two years. I have recently been diagnosed with CVID a hereditary immunity disease which means I have no immunity and will not recover.
However, I am divorced with an older daughter and was working permitted for a while one day pw but just can’t afford to continue. I tried but can’t afford to pay new mortgage, heating, bills, food etc on pip and esa.
I was approached on LinkedIn and offered a three day week role that wd cover costs but would need to leave support group and am concerned, as always ill with breathlessness, chest infections, fatigue, financial anxiety resulting in insomnia, that the role may not last and I will loose support group £ forever.
But - needs must and verbally accepted role for the money although am not healthy.
Advice welcome - thanks
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Are you on New Style ESA?
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Why would you need to leave the Support Group? This is an ongoing award until a new decision says otherwise.
Will you be working less than 16 hours per week and earning no more than £183.50/week? If so then you can do permitted work and continue to claim ESA.
If you'll be working 16 hours or more per week and/or earning more than that amount then yes your ESA would stop.
You can check entitlement to Universal Credit by using a benefits calculator. If you claim UC before your ESA ends then you'll be entitled to the LCWRA element of UC from the start of your claim. There's no maximum amount of hours you can work while claiming UC.
You will have the work allowance, which means some of the earnings you receive will be ignored before any deductions apply. If you claim for help with the rent it will be £404/month, if you don't it will be £673/month. For every £1 of earnings over those amounts your UC would reduce by 55p.
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hi
I don’t pay rent as have a mortgage. I don’t think I can claim for this. The role is min 3 days a week so would be over thr limit. Thanks for your help so far.
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Help with the mortgage would be a loan only, which needs to be repaid back. This doesn't prevent you claiming Universal Credit. (if entitled)
Working 3 days per week may not stop your ESA if it's a total of less than 16 hours per week.
If your ESA is Income Related then there should be some entitlement to UC. The work allowance will also help due to the earnings disregard BUT you must claim UC before your ESA ends, otherwise you lose entitlement to LCWRA element.
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thanks my esa is not income related but support group esa. The role is 24 hours pw, so would be hard for me. I think I would get lcwra by am not on universal credit or new style esa as yet. Do you know if I need to apply to change? I am thinking there has to be an easier way to live than trying to rely on my health to pay bills. I have been unwell nearly three years but can’t pay bills. Thank you
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Regardless of group your ESA is either Income Related, Contribution Based, or both.
Unfortunately the letters rarely make sense so it can be hard to tell.
Universal Credit has to be applied for.
Citizens Advice offer a Help to Claim service.
If any of your ESA is CB, then upon application to UC it'll be switched automatically to New Style ESA, and deducted in full from UC award.
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Support Group can be Income Related or Contributions based/New style. If your ESA is more than £138.20/week then at least part of that will be Income Related. This would mean there's very likely some entitlement to UC.
To start a claim for UC you can apply online by filling out the form. See link.
You must make sure you apply before you starting working those 24 hours.
Citizens Advice also has a help to claim phone number.
Are you claiming a disability benefit such as PIP?
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my esa is contribution based, I wasn’t sure if I would get income based as have lodger - I do get pip though. I am thinking I might withdraw from job as still unwell. It’s just the uncertainty of ongoing bills that are not covered by benefits.
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If your ESA claim started after December 2018 then it's highly likely New style ESA and for this, there's no Income Related top ups.
If it's the old contributions based then for the Income Related top then income from a lodger would affect that.
You could still claim UC to top up your income, if your ESA is New style. The ESA would be deducted in full from any UC entitlement but income from a lodger is ignored for UC purposes. If you didn't start working 24 hours per week then your ESA would continue alongside UC.
Your UC would include the following…
standard allowance £393.45/month
LCWRA element £416.19/month. Total amount before deductions = £809.64/month.
ESA deduction £598.86/month. Total UC payable = £210.78/month + £276.40/fortnight for your ESA.
If you start working 24 hours per week then ESA would stop but as I advised you could still claim UC. Your work allowance would be £673/month, which means that amount of earnings you receive will be ignored.
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