Universal credit and submitting fitnotes dont mean a thing! ESA scrapped ...

TELLIT01

auldblerk wrote: »

Ring UC (03456000723), trawl thru the robots and once you get a human being on the line, explain to them that you face an eviction and you can't afford to wait 4 to 5 weeks before seeing a payment and ask about a crisis loan to bridge the gap

There is no such thing as crisis loans any more. They have been replaced by Short Term Benefit Advances which typically can't be more than about 70% of any benefit due, and have to be repaid over 12 weeks by deduction from benefit.

auldblerk

TELLIT01 wrote: »

There is no such thing as crisis loans any more. They have been replaced by Short Term Benefit Advances which typically can't be more than about 70% of any benefit due, and have to be repaid over 12 weeks by deduction from benefit.

ask about a 'short term benefit advance' to bridge the gap ..

terminology .. I'm sure the people at DWP are intelligent enough to know the situation and what is requested once explained to them.

TELLIT01

auldblerk wrote: »

ask about a 'short term benefit advance' to bridge the gap ..

terminology .. I'm sure the people at DWP are intelligent enough to know the situation and what is requested once explained to them.

It's not simple terminology. Crisis loans could be quite large amounts of money, certainly far more than will be available through STBA. The rules around entitlement to STBA,and repayment, are also different to those surrounding Crisis Loans.
I've seen plenty of instances of STBA being declined, the claimant advised to contact their local council for assistance, the council then saying ask for STBA...

auldblerk

There is no such thing as crisis loans any more

Crisis loans could be quite large amounts of money


The above 2 lines are quoted from 2 different posts from you, your words and you have contradicted yourself.

NYM

I've no problem understanding what TELLIT wrote :think:

'Crisis loans could be quite large amounts...' doesn't suggest that they are still available.

auldblerk

Ha Ha, well, when you put it that way

dktreesea

There does seem to be a gap here.


To go on UC you need to be fit for work. Once you are on it, if you then get a sick note, for the first 13 weeks you just receive whatever you would normally be due on UC. Thereafter, the extra amount you get depends on whether you go into the work related activity group ( an extra £126.11 a month) or the support group (so no work related requirements) in which case you get an extra £315.60 a month.


You still have to do a work assessment to see if you are fit for work. So similar to ESA in that regard.


In our area which is a UC area, if you were at work and got sick (so not on UC to start with) then you would just apply directly for ESA, contributions based if you had worked for long enough, income based if not. UC wouldn't come into it because you need to be fit for work to qualify for UC.


If, on the other hand, you applied for UC due to being unemployed, they accepted your claim, i.e. fit for work, and then you became ill, then the claim for the sickness benefit parts of UC all remain within UC. You don't sign off UC and claim ESA instead.


So what happens, in a UC area, if you are applying for a benefit because you are unfit to work? Presumably, if not already on UC, you can still apply for ESA? Does anyone know? Should UC even accept a claim in those circumstances? I don't see how, given to get UC in the first instance you have to be fit for work.

pmlindyloo

dktreesea wrote: »

There does seem to be a gap here.


To go on UC you need to be fit for work. Once you are on it, if you then get a sick note, for the first 13 weeks you just receive whatever you would normally be due on UC. Thereafter, the extra amount you get depends on whether you go into the work related activity group ( an extra £126.11 a month) or the support group (so no work related requirements) in which case you get an extra £315.60 a month.


You still have to do a work assessment to see if you are fit for work. So similar to ESA in that regard.


In our area which is a UC area, if you were at work and got sick (so not on UC to start with) then you would just apply directly for ESA, contributions based if you had worked for long enough, income based if not. UC wouldn't come into it because you need to be fit for work to qualify for UC.


If, on the other hand, you applied for UC due to being unemployed, they accepted your claim, i.e. fit for work, and then you became ill, then the claim for the sickness benefit parts of UC all remain within UC. You don't sign off UC and claim ESA instead.


So what happens, in a UC area, if you are applying for a benefit because you are unfit to work? Presumably, if not already on UC, you can still apply for ESA? Does anyone know? Should UC even accept a claim in those circumstances? I don't see how, given to get UC in the first instance you have to be fit for work.

This is, in part true.

But there are some areas where you can apply for UC even if you are unfit for work.

The easiest way to find out if you are in one of these areas is to telephone the UC helpline on 0345 600 0723 (you can ask for a call back)

If you are in one of the areas where they are operating a full service for everyone then you will be eventually placed in a group according to your circumstances.

Read this about the groups:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/interview/claimant-commitment-what-group/

For those who have a fit note then they will be assessed in much the same way as if they were on ESA.

Just to confuse the matter, if you are entitled to a contribution based benefit then these fall outside the scope of UC and you would have to apply for this separately but alongside your UC. (In fact in some areas if you are also eligible for income based ESA then they tell you not to bother with claiming contribution based ESA as it would be same amount of money!)

It is also true that in some areas if you are already on UC and then become unfit for work you stay on UC and are assessed for the appropriate group even if your area does not have a full service operating.

A complete minefield so easiest route is to telephone the helpline.

pmlindyloo

And here's a link about the Advance Payment of UC.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/apply/get-advance-payment/

TELLIT01

Celifein wrote: »

Wasn't UC supposed to simplify the benefits system? :eek:

This is a system being introduced by Government. When did any change actually make things simpler, irrespective of the intent??:D

Currently it is a nightmare, even for people working on the 'Legacy' systems such as ESA, IS, JSA. There is no consistency in the way claimants are treated.
Some UC staff will state categorically that once a person is on UC they remain on UC. Referred to as 'lobster potting' i.e. once you're in you don't get back out. Others will say there are exceptions to the rules but aren't sure what the exceptions are.
When I worked on Income Support, the only way to get an accurate answer on whether any claimant had to remain on UC, was to phone the UC office where their claim was being managed - if you could find a number for it.
The underlying problem is that different offices are at different stages of taking UC claims. Some have been doing it for a couple of years and can handle quite complex claims, whilst others are still in the process of moving to UC and can only cope with very basic claims from single people.
"Simplified"??? You bet.:p