New Style ESA and Universal Credit

calcotti

Incidentally by I am not clear why you have asked about the Voluntary Class 2 contributions because in your opening post you said that your husband had continued to pay these even when his earnings were low.

As previously advised, if you intend to apply for UC there is no financial gain in him applying for ESA because the UC payable is reduced by the ESA received.

UC is one benefit. When you apply you disclose all of your circumstances and the UC will then include the appropriate elements - you don’t choose which bits to apply for.

If your husband wants to be referred for a Work Capability Assessment he needs a GP Fit Note - a consultant letter will not do. A consultant letter may be useful supporting evidence later but being extremely vulnerable to coronavirus makes no difference to UC entitlement - it is limitations on ability to work that matter.

As soon as you apply for UC your Tax Credits will stop.

baconandegg

Thank you. I thought he'd paid the Class 2 contributions because he said he thought he had. He's now checked his online NI record and he's got the equivalent of 35 full years but nothing for 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20. 

poppy12345

I don't understand the need to pay those NI contributions when the New style ESA is deducted £1 for £1 from any UC entitlement. Although there's a 5 week wait for first UC payment you can ask for an advance payment but this will need to be paid back from future UC entitlement.

calcotti

Although he has 35 years of NI contributions it would be sensible to get a State Pension forecast to see if he is already on target for a full pension or whether it is worth paying for some more years.

baconandegg

On my contributions based ESA I do some 'permitted work'. What happens when we are getting universal credit? Does it mean I can't do that permitted work anymore or can I continue?

poppy12345

Permitted work doesn't exist under UC. Instead, it's a work allowance because you're in the Support Group for ESA then you'll have LCWRA under UC. The work allowance is £292 per month if you claim the housing element and £512 if you don't claim the housing element. This means you can earn that amount of money each month before you'll start to see the 63% deductions.

baconandegg

Thank you.

Sorry if the following has already been answered and I've not understood - it is very complex, thank goodness for this forum!

I haven't needed any kind of 'fit note' from a GP for many years as I've been in receipt of contributions based ESA and DLA since 2011. In applying for UC, will I need to get a 'fit note' within 7 days from the date of the application or will I automatically be placed in the UC LCWRA group? And, it's the UC LCWRA group I get put in (initially I thought the DWP would move me into the new style ESA group, but if I wanted that to happen I need to put in an application for new style ESA)?

I realise there's no immediate financial benefit to new style ESA over UC, but is there any good reason for me to apply for ns ESA (aside from the fact that I can because I have the NI contributions)?

calcotti

You are entitled to be placed straight into the LCWRA group but it takes awhile for UC to get the information from ESA (ludicrously). Your UC application will be much smoother if you can get a Fit Note from your GP.
In respect of claiming new style ESA it isn't relevant to you. Because your ESA is contribution based you will continue to receive it even after you claim UC and you have no need to claim new style ESA.

baconandegg

Thank you.
It's a shame I won't be able to carry on with my permitted work as it's more generous than the UC work allowance.

calcotti

baconandegg said:

Thank you.
It's a shame I won't be able to carry on with my permitted work as it's more generous than the UC work allowance.

You can carry on with the work but you won’t get to keep as much of the earnings.