esa v uc

bigday

hi im on esa and the dwp said i will be moved on to uc eventually over time, my question is,why were we not entitled to the extra 20 pounds a week which was given to everyone on uc during the pandemic  they say the two benifits are the same  but everybody on esa or jsa did not receive this extra financial help, Why.?  i feel like i have been discriminated against  not my fault they havent got around to changing our claims over this works out about 1500 per person which is quite a lot to us

poppy12345

I didn't receieve it either because i claim the old legagcy ESA. You could have claimed UC if you wanted to, there was nothing stopping you from doing this. If you're in the Support Group for ESA the LCWRA of UC pays more anyway, unless you claim the SDP in with the ESA.

There's also a court case regarding this sometime this month. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/universal-credit-basic-fairness-20-uplift-case-given-high-court-go-ahead/

calcotti

bigday said:... they say the two benifits are the same  

They have never said that.

The reason the £20 was added to UC and Working Tax Credits was so that those losing their jobs due to Covid and reliant on means tested benefits would get a basic weekly allowance equivalent to the rate of SSP. Few people on income based ESA are in work which would qualify them for SSP so would not fall within the target group for the uplift.