Universal credit

DeeDeeM

hi all

i have a question regarding UC. I currently get ESA and PIP. I’m looking to move and have used my local authorities calculator. It says my area is part of UC and to receive housing benefit I need to apply for UC.

my question is that if I apply for it will there be any change to my ESA/PIP.

thank you

DeeDeeM

My ESA is income based. How do I go about changing it? I don’t really like speaking to DWP as it usually means I’ll have to go for another assessment.

poppy12345

You need to claim UC online, once your claim is successful then your ESA will transfer to UC. The DWP should honour your ESA award and place you in the relevant group for UC but this isn't always the case.



You'll need a tenancy agreement to claim the housing element of UC.

DeeDeeM

Thanks Poppy.

Will my SDP be affected as well?

I want to move closer to family and really need to keep every penny as the rent won’t be cheap

poppy12345

DeeDeeM wrote: »

Will my SDP be affected as well?

Yes, you will lose this as the premiums aren't paid on UC. However, there was an announcement back in June saying that all those that had to move to UC because of a change of circumstances and lost the SDP, they will be backdated at some point. No further announcements have been made regarding this and it could be sometime this autumn that we'll hear more but it could be several months, so it's not going to happen over night. In the meantime you'll lose the SDP if you move to UC.

Ineededaname

I'd also like to add add that although UC will honour your ESA rates (with the exception of the disability premium as mentioned)... it can take some time for this to all be processed. Your initial couple of UC payments would probably be a reduced amount.

If you do decide to claim UC make sure you don't close the ESA claim. Just leave it running for them to sort. Any gap in the claims mean your decisions won't come over and you'll have to start from the beginning with the health assessments.