UC Housing payment less than LHA

scoobiemandan

In addition to this 'quandary' I have just realised there is no carer element included in the statement which surely should be there as that's why I had to give up work in the first instance and claim UC.  The application stated I was a carer for my wife also.  That's another journal entry then!

tomtom256

Have you checked the LHA rate for your area? Isn't it a different depending on what region you live in?

KxMx

^ Already covered on page 1.

tomtom256

KxMx said:

^ Already covered on page 1.

Sorry missed it.

Are there any service charges not covered by UC or have I missed that as well?

Spoonie_Turtle

scoobiemandan said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Does it not say in your statement what they've based the housing element on?  You should get a statement before you're even paid.  It should also show any deductions they may be (rightly or wrongly) making.

The statement shows the deduction from full entitlement for the ESA my wife gets but nothing else!  The housing section merely states we cannot pay the full amount as the full amount cannot be more than your local housing allowance!

That's correct in itself as your rent is much higher, that's what they mean by the full amount.

The LHA, have you workwd it out correctly?  It's a weekly amount, so to convert to a monthly amount you need to x52 then ÷12.  Does it say anything else at all under the housing element?  Anything like 'you've told us X number of people live in your house'?  (I don't have the housing element on my own claim so I don't know exactly what info they put there.)

Just to check as well for the carer's element, does your wife currently claim PIP?  If so, does her award include the daily living part?

scoobiemandan

Spoonie_Turtle said:

scoobiemandan said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Does it not say in your statement what they've based the housing element on?  You should get a statement before you're even paid.  It should also show any deductions they may be (rightly or wrongly) making.

The statement shows the deduction from full entitlement for the ESA my wife gets but nothing else!  The housing section merely states we cannot pay the full amount as the full amount cannot be more than your local housing allowance!

That's correct in itself as your rent is much higher, that's what they mean by the full amount.

The LHA, have you workwd it out correctly?  It's a weekly amount, so to convert to a monthly amount you need to x52 then ÷12.  Does it say anything else at all under the housing element?  Anything like 'you've told us X number of people live in your house'?  (I don't have the housing element on my own claim so I don't know exactly what info they put there.)

Just to check as well for the carer's element, does your wife currently claim PIP?  If so, does her award include the daily living part?

I understand what they mean by the full amount but, with the only ‘income’ being my wife’s ESA one would assume the full LHA would be paid!  Also, yes, correctly calculated.

it says nothing other than they can’t pay the full amount because it’s over the LHA which I knew would be the case anyhow but, as mentioned, the LHA should be paid not under it.

Lastly, yes PIP daily living and mobility.  All criteria are there and everything in the application is as it should be.  I used to work for DWP so am quite akin to most things but, not this UC but cannot see any reason for either the total amount of LHA or carer element to not be paid??

scoobiemandan

tomtom256 said:

KxMx said:

^ Already covered on page 1.

Sorry missed it.

Are there any service charges not covered by UC or have I missed that as well?

No service charges, just basic rent amount!

huckster

What postcode is the Housing for ?

Spoonie_Turtle

scoobiemandan said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

scoobiemandan said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Does it not say in your statement what they've based the housing element on?  You should get a statement before you're even paid.  It should also show any deductions they may be (rightly or wrongly) making.

The statement shows the deduction from full entitlement for the ESA my wife gets but nothing else!  The housing section merely states we cannot pay the full amount as the full amount cannot be more than your local housing allowance!

That's correct in itself as your rent is much higher, that's what they mean by the full amount.

The LHA, have you workwd it out correctly?  It's a weekly amount, so to convert to a monthly amount you need to x52 then ÷12.  Does it say anything else at all under the housing element?  Anything like 'you've told us X number of people live in your house'?  (I don't have the housing element on my own claim so I don't know exactly what info they put there.)

Just to check as well for the carer's element, does your wife currently claim PIP?  If so, does her award include the daily living part?

I understand what they mean by the full amount but, with the only ‘income’ being my wife’s ESA one would assume the full LHA would be paid!  Also, yes, correctly calculated.

it says nothing other than they can’t pay the full amount because it’s over the LHA which I knew would be the case anyhow but, as mentioned, the LHA should be paid not under it.

Lastly, yes PIP daily living and mobility.  All criteria are there and everything in the application is as it should be.  I used to work for DWP so am quite akin to most things but, not this UC but cannot see any reason for either the total amount of LHA or carer element to not be paid??

Sounds like an error or two then, to be honest.  Unfortunately even before the pandemic not everyone involved in administering UC was fully familiar with rules they should have been, and with the huge influx of new claims lots of staff were transferred across from other departments so the problem has been even worse for a time (I don't know if it's any better yet or not).

The thing is, even with deductions the statement should show all the maximum amounts for each element then the deductions are taken off at the end, for other benefits, earned income (generally speaking, now), non-dependant deduction, benefit cap, etc.  Very odd that they're evidently starting out with the wrong LHA figure.  I wonder whether, if it's done manually at all, a DWP employee mistyped your postcode at any point of your claim.  Hopefully communication via journal will soon shed light on what's happened.

poppy12345

huckster said:

What postcode is the Housing for ?

I wouldn't advise giving that on a public forum.