Help regarding LCWRA.

VickyHodgskin

Hi there,

Around March we applied for universal credit as my partner was possibly losing his job as covid/me being high risk and his work being an office with a thousand people and them not letting him work from home. I am disabled and on higher rate PIP for both elements, I have been for a few years (around 6 now maybe) and don't need to have regular assessments. Then my partners work decided that they would let him work from home so we told the universal credit people that he was working again and didn't need to claim, they responded. I am high risk and he has been my carer whilst working from home, because having carers is too risky. On Tuesday I had a telephone assessment, which I assumed was related to my PIP, and I am pretty certain that is what the doctor said. Then yesterday I got a letter on the online journal saying that I had been found to be in the Limited Capacity for Work and Work Related Activities. And then today I got a letter on there that said I was due a back payment.

"We have decided you are entitled of £1098.88 from 07 August 2020 to 06 September 2020. This is because you have been awarded LCWRA. We have already paid you Universal Credit of £756.96 from 07 August 2020 to 06 September 2020. We owe you £341.92. This is the amount left after taking away the Universal Credit amount we have already paid you. An amount of £341.92 will be paid into your bank account."

I am really confused, my partner works full time, although his contract ends in 2 weeks which we have told them about. But I have always been told I am only entitled to PIP because he works. Plus how is this one months payment, how did it happen so quickly after my telephone call? I feel like it is a mistake and then I will owe them money? Does anyone know if a disabled person with a working partner is allowed this benefit, and if so, why is it so much for just one month, when the claim started was March and proof of illness was 13th April. Am I entitled to any other benefit? I guess with my partner loosing his job in two weeks we will have to reopen the universal credit claim anyway. But I don't want to use the money if it is incorrect. Thanks so much, hope this was clear.

Spoonie_Turtle

VickyHodgskin said:

Hi there,

Around March we applied for universal credit as my partner was possibly losing his job as covid/me being high risk and his work being an office with a thousand people and them not letting him work from home. I am disabled and on higher rate PIP for both elements, I have been for a few years (around 6 now maybe) and don't need to have regular assessments. Then my partners work decided that they would let him work from home so we told the universal credit people that he was working again and didn't need to claim, they responded. I am high risk and he has been my carer whilst working from home, because having carers is too risky. On Tuesday I had a telephone assessment, which I assumed was related to my PIP, and I am pretty certain that is what the doctor said. Then yesterday I got a letter on the online journal saying that I had been found to be in the Limited Capacity for Work and Work Related Activities. And then today I got a letter on there that said I was due a back payment.

"We have decided you are entitled of £1098.88 from 07 August 2020 to 06 September 2020. This is because you have been awarded LCWRA. We have already paid you Universal Credit of £756.96 from 07 August 2020 to 06 September 2020. We owe you £341.92. This is the amount left after taking away the Universal Credit amount we have already paid you. An amount of £341.92 will be paid into your bank account."

I am really confused, my partner works full time, although his contract ends in 2 weeks which we have told them about. But I have always been told I am only entitled to PIP because he works. Plus how is this one months payment, how did it happen so quickly after my telephone call? I feel like it is a mistake and then I will owe them money? Does anyone know if a disabled person with a working partner is allowed this benefit, and if so, why is it so much for just one month, when the claim started was March and proof of illness was 13th April. Am I entitled to any other benefit? I guess with my partner loosing his job in two weeks we will have to reopen the universal credit claim anyway. But I don't want to use the money if it is incorrect. Thanks so much, hope this was clear.

Total UC entitlement is based on a couple's earnings so if you have already been receiving UC your joint income for those months was clearly low enough for you to be entitled. 

The LCWRA element is the equivalent of ESA Support Group and is payable from the 4th full assessment period after claiming limited capability for work - in this case, because you have proof of illness in April, the fourth full AP after that was August/September. So they're letting you know about back pay after the decision from your Work Capability Assessment. (Nothing to do with PIP.)

Your partner's earnings will be taken into account for the next UC payment after he recieves any wages, but your maximum UC entitlement is higher now due to having the LCWRA element included and some of his earnings will be disregarded before they make any deductions - £512 if you are not claiming help with housing costs (or £292 if you are). They will then deduct 63% of however much he's earned above that from your maximum entitlement and anything left will be the amount of UC you receive for that month.

I don't know of anything else you can claim.

poppy12345

VickyHodgskin said:

 On Tuesday I had a telephone assessment, which I assumed was related to my PIP,

It would be been the work capability assessment and nothing at all to do with your PIP claim.

calcotti

If you log into your UC journal and look in the payments section you will see how the UC entitlement is worked out.
From the figures you have posted I infer that your existing award was made up of a standard personal allowance of £594.04 and a carer element of £162.92 (because your partner looks after you) making £756.96/month. Your entitlement has now increased by the LCWRA element £341.92.

There should then be a deduction for any wages received during the assessment period. Because you are not claiming help with rent the first £512 will be ignored. The UC payable will be reduced by 63% of the remaining earnings.

In your post you quote UC as saying "We have already paid you Universal Credit of £756.96 from 07 August 2020 to 06 September 2020." From this it appears that no earnings deductions are being made. Did your partner receiving any earnings during this period? Did you actually receive a UC payment of £756.96?

Alice_Holt

Be aware that all UC over-payments are repayable - even if they arose as a result of official (DWP) error.  So if your partner was paid earnings for the UC assessment period 7/8/20 to 6/9/20 - then keep the UC payment of £756.96 to one side, as UC are likely to recover some (or all) of that amount. 

VickyHodgskin

We do not receive universal credit and never have until this weird payment that they said is LCWA. My partner works and is full time and earns £38,000.. I am only in receipt of PIP. So I think they didn't mean to give me this. Previously they said we were not entitled as my partner earnt too much, which is what we assumed but we had applied as he was going to lose his job initially. . We claim nothing else at all. No housing benefit, no carers allowance, no ESA or Universal Credit. My partner will put in a claim when he loses his job on the 30th Sept though. The £756.96 is an amount they paid me 2 days ago, then the letter was saying they still owed me money as I should receive a total of £1098.88 for my back payment of LCWA. But I don't know why they are suddenly giving me this as we were told in July we would not get universal credit.  I have left a note on my journal to ask them. I don't want to end up with a big bill as my partner loses his job and so far we haven't found him another job, and we are in the middle of a legal battle with someone that damaged my house and we are also trying to move into a house, so this would be a disaster, but also we need the money urgently so it is like a big tease! Thanks for all your help, I am not sure I understood a lot of it as I feel like it was not really relevant to me. But I could just be dense.

Spoonie_Turtle

Maybe you weren't entitled before but if your partner had reduced earnings (not being allowed to work from home and not going into the office) plus the work allowance (now because you've been awarded LCWRA) and additional LCWRA element you now might be.
Entitlement is not based on overall salary, it's based on monthly earnings actually received. Did your partner get paid any wages in the period between 7th Aug and 6th Sept?
What date did you receive the £756?

VickyHodgskin

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Maybe you weren't entitled before but if your partner had reduced earnings (not being allowed to work from home and not going into the office) plus the work allowance (now because you've been awarded LCWRA) and additional LCWRA element you now might be.
Entitlement is not based on overall salary, it's based on monthly earnings actually received. Did your partner get paid any wages in the period between 7th Aug and 6th Sept?
What date did you receive the £756?

He did get paid, his usual amount too, and he will have one more payment at the end of September and then no more wages. I received the £756 on the 11th Sept which was a couple of days before the phone assessment, that was on Tuesday 15th. Typically outgoings have meant that I have already dipped into the money without meaning to! We have separate accounts you see. 

VickyHodgskin

Also, even if they missed him being paid between Aug and Sept, why is it so much money? And why do they still think they need to give me more? In July they said he had earnt over 4k so was not entitled and that some of those earnings would be carried over. I think I better ring them tomorrow because I don't want to get into trouble! 

calcotti

As previously advised please look at your UC journal and look at the calculations for each of the assessment periods since you made the claim. Are your partner’s wages showing? If he has received wages which have not been properly taken into account then you have been overpaid UC.

VickyHodgskin

calcotti said:

As previously advised please look at your UC journal and look at the calculations for each of the assessment periods since you made the claim. Are your partner’s wages showing? If he has received wages which have not been properly taken into account then you have been overpaid UC.

I have looked, there is just a letter attached that says I have been determined to be entitled to universal credit because you have been awarded LCWRA. There was no other information, no part showing the working out. Just this letter, with the info on the amounts and the tell us about any changes and help and advice blurb that is on every letter. There is no assessment periods other than July. And then an advisor told us we were not entitled to Universal Credit but I could apply for ESA (I can't get it as my partner works and I didn't pay enough NI in my previous job because I became ill in the middle of the tax year).