Forced UC or not?

radioactivepig

Hi,

Quick background, currently on Income based ESA, PIP and housing benefit. Husband gets CA for looking after me. We are in a full service area and have the opportunity to move to a nicer flat in the same local authority.
We were wondering if anyone knew if the move would trigger a natural migration to UC or not?
Some websites say that because we are moving in the same local authority it is a choice to stay on HB or go on UC, others say because its Income based ESA it would have to be a new UC claim.
As usual the DWP not making things clear and changing the rules every five minutes

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Craig1981

you are correct
as it currently stands, as long as you remain in the same local authority with no other changes to you IR ESA or carers, then there is a choice you can make to either apply for UC or remain on the benefits you currently have

poppy12345

radioactivepig wrote: »

Hi,

Quick background, currently on Income based ESA, PIP and housing benefit. Husband gets CA for looking after me. We are in a full service area and have the opportunity to move to a nicer flat in the same local authority.
We were wondering if anyone knew if the move would trigger a natural migration to UC or not?
Some websites say that because we are moving in the same local authority it is a choice to stay on HB or go on UC, others say because its Income based ESA it would have to be a new UC claim.
As usual the DWP not making things clear and changing the rules every five minutes

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Same local council and you don't have to move across.

calcotti

As Craig and poppy have said it's your choice. The important thing is not to close your HB claim because you cannot make a new one, simply advise your local authority that you are moving and give them details of dates, property details and your new tenancy agreement. Your Council Tax Reduction will be updated also.
Let DWP know you have changed your contact address for all DWP benefits.

Going by many people's experience your life will be simpler if you choose to remain on your existing benefits for the time being.

You can choose to apply for UC at any time should you wish to. If you did your income based ESA would end immediately and HB would end after two weeks, PIP and CA would be unaffected. You may get slightly more or slightly less money on UC - you can use an online benefits calculator to find out what the difference would be.

radioactivepig

Thanks so much for your replies :T

benstuart

From our experience you really do not want to voluntarily switch from ESA and HB to UC.
There apparently will be transitional relief if the DWP migrate you eventually.
Our current experience is that if you have to make a new claim, it will have to be under UC(if it is a full service area) and the reduction in benefit(depenent on circumstances) could be significant .

calcotti

benstuart wrote: »

From our experience you really do not want to voluntarily switch from ESA and HB to UC.
There apparently will be transitional relief if the DWP migrate you eventually.
Our current experience is that if you have to make a new claim, it will have to be under UC(if it is a full service area) and the reduction in benefit(depenent on circumstances) could be significant .

UC can result in a higher benefit award. It all depends on circumstances. I haven't done the comparison for OP's situation. However I support the view that it is easier to manage old benefits rather than UC