Went to prison - ESA support group lost

Mickpeasoup

Hi guys,

Prior to going to prison for 14 months, I was in receipt of ESA support group & PIP. My partner & 2 children were on my claim.

Upon  release, I phoned PIP, and my payments for that are being reinstated.

My partner is currently on UC with the  children as she opened a new claim when I was sent down.

Can somebody please advise what's best for me to do now I'm back home

poppy12345

You will need to claim UC with your partner, you do this by starting your claim and then you'll receive a linking code so that you can link the both claims together. Your ESA Support Group award will no longer exist and you'll need a fit note (formally sick note) from your GP to start the work capability assessment process off. It's the same process as it was for ESA. If you're eventually awarded LCWRA (Same as Support Group) then you'll receive and extra £341.92 per month from the 4th month of your claim.

Once your PIP award is in payment, if you have the daily living part your partner can report that they are caring for you for at least 35 hours per week onto their journal and will receive an extra £162.92 (carers element) per month. This is providing your partner isn't claiming LCWRA theirself and not claiming carers allowance or the carers element for looking after another person.

calcotti

Your partner needs to report that you are living with her. She will be given a linking code. You will then need to claim UC and use the linking code to link your claim to hers. You should report your health condition when you claim and will need a Fit Note from your GP to support that - you need to provide the Fit Note within 7 days. Unfortunately you will need a new Work capability assessment.

If you get Daily living PIP and your partner will help look after you for 35 hours/week she should declare that she is caring for you.  

The UC claim will then be a joint award with all money paid to your partner. The standard allowance will increase to the couple allowance. If she qualifies as a carer it will include the carer element. If the new WCA finds you have LCWRA (equivalent to ESA Support Group) it will also include the LCWRA element after a four month wait.

You can use a benefits calculator to work out amounts https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

If your partner was getting 25% single person discount on her Council Tax bill she needs to inform local authority you are now there as she will no longer be entitled to that discount.

I am a bit shocked that the Prison Service have not provided any advice on financial support available to you before releasing you. I thought it was something they were supposed to do. 
This website talks about a resettlement team that would help with such things
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-prison-leavers/prin-leavers-and-universal-credit#pre-release-activity

Good luck adjusting back into 'normal' life.

poppy12345

That would have be regulation 35 substantial risk and yes the same applies to UC/LCWRA but it's not automatically applied as such, you still need to go through the normal WCA process. https://wcainfo.net/issues/substantial-risk-lcwra

poppy12345

Referral for the WCA assessment should be from day 29 after reporting a health condition but they don't always do it at that time. I claimed UC for my daughter mid January with a fit note. I had to put a note on her journal twice before she was referred and they finally did it last week. I received a note on her journal to say it had been done and then received the UC50 form Friday.

Mickpeasoup

Hello again.

I went onto the UC website & linked our accounts as directed with a linking code, then we both filled in the "to do" list.

Unfortunately, though, I don't have a driving licence or passport - only a P45 from my old ESA claim, and various credit cards & bank cards which was insufficient for ID.

UC say they'll contact me via phone, so all I can do is hope for the best that one or more of the aforementioned will suffice.

Will my partner still continue to receive UC payments or will this process start a fresh claim & stop current payments?

By the way, my partner submitted the fact that she cares for me for more than 35 hours & that I'm in receipt of PIP.

montyrebel

i have recently had to sign up with UC myself and had the same issue around lack of ID etc, i got a call and they asked security questions just, give me your address, what was a previous address etc, was very straight forward

poppy12345

Mickpeasoup said:

Hello again.

I went onto the UC website & linked our accounts as directed with a linking code, then we both filled in the "to do" list.

Unfortunately, though, I don't have a driving licence or passport - only a P45 from my old ESA claim, and various credit cards & bank cards which was insufficient for ID.

UC say they'll contact me via phone, so all I can do is hope for the best that one or more of the aforementioned will suffice.

Will my partner still continue to receive UC payments or will this process start a fresh claim & stop current payments?

By the way, my partner submitted the fact that she cares for me for more than 35 hours & that I'm in receipt of PIP.

The changes take affect in the assessment period in which you reported those changes, so from the next payment you will receive the standard couples allowance (instead of your parters single person standard element) and the carers element (providing your PIP is now in payment) As well as the other elements you're entitled to.

During your first phone call verfiying your identity is very simple and there shouldn't be any problems at all.

Your partner also needs to make sure they report the changes to your local council for council tax.

Mickpeasoup

Many thanks @poppy12345

So, in a nutshell, despite my current lack of ID - payments will still commence as a couple and there'll be no gaps or absence of payments?

We will report our change of circumstances to the Council tomorrow.

poppy12345

They may not ask you to send any fit notes yet and you may just be asked to confirm the details on the fit note. Make sure you keep all them though because they may ask you to send them sometime in the future. When i claimed UC for my daughter in January, she had a fit note for 5 months and they haven't yet asked me to send it.

poppy12345

Mickpeasoup said:

Many thanks @poppy12345

So, in a nutshell, despite my current lack of ID - payments will still commence as a couple and there'll be no gaps or absence of payments?

We will report our change of circumstances to the Council tomorrow.

Yup that's exactly it. My daughter didnt have any ID either, except her bank card because her passport expired last April and we haven't yet renewed it. I'm her appointee anyway and all they asked was for her date of birth. Very simple process with no problems from my experience.

You may have another appointment after this one to go through your cliamant commitments with your work coach, during this you can explain your health issues to them and hopefully they will turn off all commitments. They did exactly this for my daughter and i haven't had any further appointments.

Reading some people's bad experiences with UC i wasn't expecting it to be so quick and easy.