On Universal Credit. Quitting work to care for partner

Db1977

My partner has severe mental health problems and left work back in March of this year.

I was caring for him since I was not working as also have child.

Couple of months ago we applied for universal credit as savings had fun dry and I had not found work.

We don't remember seeing any option to say I was caring for my partner when we registered for UC. It was briefly discussed with my work coach at my first interview with her.

We didn't even know me being a full time carer was even an option, no one has mentioned this too is and we are new to the whole benefits system so we're pretty clueless as to what we were doing. We sort of just went with whatever my work coach told me.

I recently found a job, but unfortunately my partner is becoming increasingly worse with me not being there to give him the help and care i had been. It just isn't going to work if I stay in my job. He has had these mental health problems for around 4 years and it has only got worse over that time.

My partner was recently awarded the enhanced daily living allowance of pip (he also has disc degeneration disease and osteoarthritis of the spine, but didn't get mobility even though he majorly struggles to get about). Whilst looking online about appealing decision we came across carer information. This is when we realised that I could have still stated at home and carried on caring for him.

We updated my universal credit account to state that I am a full time carer for him (meet all requirements, over 35 hours and he gets pip, etc...).

We called UC helpline to get clarification as I can't work and need to leave work due to my caring responsibilities, and wanted confirmation that there wouldn't be any issues with me quitting my job. We were informed that only a decision maker can do this, but the only way a decision maker would be able to tell us was after i quit.

It's all very worrying and confusing and hoping someone here could give any help or advice. I'm worried that they may not believe I care for him full time and stop money since I quit my job i just got.

Another thing is that he hasn't had his work capability assessment universal credit yet either. The doctors have just given him a new 6 month sick note.

mjrc

Hi Db,


There is no concrete rule about whether you leaving your job to care for your partner is a 'good reason' in the DWP's eyes. However if you can show to them that what you did can be considered reasonable, it is more likely to be considered in your favour.


What information could you provide from health/social care professionals that would explain the level of care he requires? Can you get someone like this to write a letter for you that you could use in case of a query about you leaving work?


In certain cases they will expect to see what you have done to try to fit in your caring responsibilities around a job. So are you able to detail any discussions you might have had with your employer about changing your hours/working arrangements to make it easier for you to manage?



You mention you also have a child but do not say how old. If you are also having to spend however many hours a week looking after him/her this should also be taken into account and could be worth highlighting.


Essentially the more you can do to paint a picture of your circumstances to show that it cannot be considered unreasonable for you to leave work, the better chance you have.


I hope this helps.


mjrc

poppy12345

mjrc wrote: »

Hi Db,


There is no concrete rule about whether you leaving your job to care for your partner is a 'good reason' in the DWP's eyes. However if you can show to them that what you did can be considered reasonable, it is more likely to be considered in your favour.


What information could you provide from health/social care professionals that would explain the level of care he requires? Can you get someone like this to write a letter for you that you could use in case of a query about you leaving work?


In certain cases they will expect to see what you have done to try to fit in your caring responsibilities around a job. So are you able to detail any discussions you might have had with your employer about changing your hours/working arrangements to make it easier for you to manage?



You mention you also have a child but do not say how old. If you are also having to spend however many hours a week looking after him/her this should also be taken into account and could be worth highlighting.


Essentially the more you can do to paint a picture of your circumstances to show that it cannot be considered unreasonable for you to leave work, the better chance you have.


I hope this helps.


mjrc

Sorry but i disagree here. The OP's partner is receiving daily living PIP. They are caring for the partner for at least 35 hours per week, therefore they don't have to have any reasons to give up working, other than they can't fit there work around caring for their partner or vise versa.

The OP can also receive the carers element of UC added onto their claim and will not be made to look for any work because of this. How they go about doing this though i'm not sure. I do know that there's others here that are more knowledgeable with UC than i am and i'm sure they will advise further when they see this.

mjrc

poppy12345 wrote: »

Sorry but i disagree here. The OP's partner is receiving daily living PIP. They are caring for the partner for at least 35 hours per week, therefore they don't have to have any reasons to give up working, other than they can't fit there work around caring for their partner or vise versa.

The OP can also receive the carers element of UC added onto their claim and will not be made to look for any work because of this. How they go about doing this though i'm not sure. I do know that there's others here that are more knowledgeable with UC than i am and i'm sure they will advise further when they see this.

Happy to be proved wrong but was working on the basis that it is better to be prepared in case of a challenge!


Payment of carer's element will be automatic once it has been done as a change by the OP.

calcotti

Unfortunately I think it is not as clear cut as poppy suggests (although it should be). It is true that someone looking after a qualifying person for 35 hours per week is entitled to be treated as a carer and receive the carer element. However the ADM https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/720645/admk2.pdf

Para K2221
To have good reason for leaving a job the claimant must show
1. they acted reasonably in leaving and
2. that their circumstances make it proper that public funds should support them.

Para K2222
There are no hard and fast rules as to when claimants have shown good reason for leaving or losing employment, because the circumstances in which they leave or lose employment are so varied. The DM should consider as a whole all the circumstances in which the claimant left or lost the employment1.

Para K2271 says
A claimant's personal or domestic circumstances may have become so urgent that the claimant will have good reason for leaving employment without having looked for other employment. But if there was no urgency, the claimant should have taken all reasonable steps to avoid leaving, or the claimant will not have good reason1. In some cases the claimant's reasons for leaving may show that the claimant is not available for employment.

I think the implication of this is that the OPs situation is persuasive but not conclusive and the DM retains some discretion as to interpretation of the facts.

Db1977

Our child is 3. He has learning and social delay so gets a 1 to 1 worker at his nursery ( he attends mornings only, term time). He is catching up with his peers now.

My partner has severe clinical depression, ocd and anxiety. Disc degeneration disease and osteoarthritis of the spine. These are his main issues, he also has high frequency hearing loss, recurrent indigestion (can leave his stomach painful for days after a bout), tinnitus and a few others I can't remember.

If I don't pester him to bathe he wont, last week at work, all he ate one of the days was a bowl of cereal and a pastie as I was gone most of day. He doesn't look after himself unless I'm there. He needs constant emotional support for his mental health throughout the day. Some days are easy, some are very hard.

Its very rare for him to get motivated to do anything like make a meal for himself or tidy up.

My caring responsibilities summarised would be, I do all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, tidying up, most of childcare (he is good with his son, but not himself). Getting him fed, out of bed, washed, trying to keep him active/getting out of house, etc... And emotional support for him.

I feel all these things must surely equate to meeting the requirements for caring for him. It is most certainly over 35 hours a week.

I plan on giving notice tomorrow but am asking if they could accommodate fixed days with only a few hours each day in the morning, otherwise I cannot continue to work. My contract is 16 hours, but they want me flexible as they need, as I just started i have been doing what they wanted but it's too much, my first fours weeks will be around 100 hours at all different days and times.

I'm thankful for all your replies.

calcotti

In your opening post you mentioned that your partner has not had his WCA yet. Has he completed a UC50 and is waiting for a decision or face to face assessment or has he not been sent a UC50?
If the former you could put a note in your journal asking for an update, if the latter you need to request that the WCA is started and why it is hasn’tBeen started previously.

If he was previously on ESA his WCA status should have been carried across to UC and. Further WCA not required.

mjrc

Db1977 wrote: »

I feel all these things must surely equate to meeting the requirements for caring for him. It is most certainly over 35 hours a week.

It does sound very hard.... Are you getting any disability benefits for your son?

I was going to suggest that the dates might be important as well, however this might be more for others reading this thread as you seem to fit in the first category below.

If the official** start date of the caring comes before leaving work, you would hope no penalty would be applied as there would already not be an expectation to be working (as poppy has said; NWRR conditionality group, for the technically-minded). ** for universal credit purposes

Or if it's the other way around, if the leaving work appears to come first, then the date of potential failure to maintain work is during a time when universal credit hadn't been made aware of the caring and a decision might have to be made about whether it was reasonable to leave.

Good luck with whatever happens.

Db1977

We do not claim any benefits for our son. He gets the 1 to 1 and some extra funding at nursery. Honestly don't know if he would be considered eligible or not and don't even now whatnot apply for to be honest.

My partner has completed the assessment from around a month ago (CAB) completed and posted it for him.

My partner left work in March via settlement as they had disseminated against him (mental health) settled by grievance procedure.

Up until then the only things we had was child tax credits, child benefit and his settlement. We lived off that whilst I was looking for work.

We claimed UC in june/july. He did inform his advisor he had claimed for pip and has just been providing sick notes. I spoke briefly with my advisor about his issues and my doing things for him and obviously child care. She did reduce the hours i had to look for work to 20 but nothing was ever mentioned about full time caring.

I landed my job around a couple of weeks ago, at the same time he was awarded pip. It was when we were looking at pip a few days afo (as he didn't get mobility) that we found out the carer information.

Realizing that me working was not good for him, we updated my account and stated that I have been caring for him full time since he left work. left a message for my work coach explaining i need to quit job due to caring requirements and that we didn't know this was an option to us, and no one mentioned it (had they off, I wouldn't have had to look for work).

As we got no response from her, we phoned the helpline as was told that the work coach can't answer that, only a decision maker, and they can only do that once I have quit my job.

Now I'm here.

annandale

There are people on uc who do shopping, tidying, cleaning, cooking and still have to jobsearch. Plus have childcare responsibilities as well. These may be caring responsibilities. But they aren't solely linked to the care you provide for him. Only in the respect that you are doing things that he can't do.

The work coach can't answer this. It is down to a decision maker.

Do you currently get uc as a couple? I honestly think you will need to get advice on what could happen if you are sanctioned and how long that sanction might run for. No one can tell you if you'll be sanctioned. You would need to quit your job. Submit your evidence and hope they find in your favour

WillowCat

calcotti wrote: »

Unfortunately I think it is not as clear cut as poppy suggests (although it should be). It is true that someone looking after a qualifying person for 35 hours per week is entitled to be treated as a carer and receive the carer element. However the ADM https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/720645/admk2.pdf

Para K2221
To have good reason for leaving a job the claimant must show
1. they acted reasonably in leaving and
2. that their circumstances make it proper that public funds should support them.

Para K2222
There are no hard and fast rules as to when claimants have shown good reason for leaving or losing employment, because the circumstances in which they leave or lose employment are so varied. The DM should consider as a whole all the circumstances in which the claimant left or lost the employment1.

Para K2271 says
A claimant's personal or domestic circumstances may have become so urgent that the claimant will have good reason for leaving employment without having looked for other employment. But if there was no urgency, the claimant should have taken all reasonable steps to avoid leaving, or the claimant will not have good reason1. In some cases the claimant's reasons for leaving may show that the claimant is not available for employment.

I think the implication of this is that the OPs situation is persuasive but not conclusive and the DM retains some discretion as to interpretation of the facts.

That is very true for most people in the all work requirements group. However we've already ascertained that the OP is a carer and hence in the no work requirements group. As the OP doesn't have any work requirements, she cannot be sanctioned for giving up work/not working.