Worried about Universal Credit

lifeofbrian2015

I am on ESA for mental health reasons and have been for many years, but will be coming off soon as I have a small amount of inheritance coming, that will not last long so eventually I will have to apply for Universal Credit. On the GOV website it says I will get a monthly allowance of £324.84, then further down it says "If you have limited capability for work and work-related activity" I can get an "extra monthly amount" of £343.63, which together is fine, but on a benefits calculator(Turn2us) it said I would only get the first amount of £324.84. Which is right?

Also if I try and get part time work, do I lose the extra payment?

Thanks.

calcotti

When you stop the ESA claim you should make sure you tell DWP that you wish to continue to receive NI credits because you cannot work.

You will get the standard allowance of UC as your basic amount £324.84.

When you claim UC if you are still getting NI credits you should immediately be treated as having Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity (LCWRA) which is equivalent to the ESA Support Group. You will then be entitled to receive the LCWRA element of £343.63. It may take UC a few weeks to process this and they can choose to reassess your work capability. You do not lose the LCWRA element by working.

However have you checked whether any of your ESA is contribution based? If so this will not be affected by your inheritance and will continue. When your capital drops again you can get income based ESA added back to the contribution based ESA. However if you need to claim help with rent you would still need to claim UC because a new claim for Housing Benefit would not be possible.

TELLIT01

You say a 'small inheritance' but I'm assuming it is over £16k as below that figure the ESA will be reduced, not ended.  I ask because a lot of people seem to believe that entitlement ceases at £6k.

lifeofbrian2015

TELLIT01 said:

You say a 'small inheritance' but I'm assuming it is over £16k as below that figure the ESA will be reduced, not ended.  I ask because a lot of people seem to believe that entitlement ceases at £6k.

Yes, it will be over £16,000.

lifeofbrian2015

calcotti said:

When you stop the ESA claim you should make sure you tell DWP that you wish to continue to receive NI credits because you cannot work.

Thanks for your reply, I am currently working part time as part of the permitted work rules. Will I still need to tell the DWP that I want NI credits? And how will part time work affect my UC claim, will I still be entitled to the LCWRA payment?

calcotti

lifeofbrian2015 said:

calcotti said:

When you stop the ESA claim you should make sure you tell DWP that you wish to continue to receive NI credits because you cannot work.

Thanks for your reply, I am currently working part time as part of the permitted work rules. Will I still need to tell the DWP that I want NI credits? And how will part time work affect my UC claim, will I still be entitled to the LCWRA payment?

How much are you earning per week? If you earn more than £120/week you will be getting Class 1 credits through work in which case I don't think you can claim credits through DWP. If you are earning below £120/week I think you will be able to.
If you are not getting credits for for LCW/LCWRA when you claim UC you will have to go through a Work Capability Assessment to be see if ou qualify for LCWRA and will have to wait fourth months before getting the extra money even if you are found to have LCWRA.

Spoonie_Turtle

lifeofbrian2015 said:

 And how will part time work affect my UC claim, will I still be entitled to the LCWRA payment?

Deductions for UC depend on your exact circumstances, what your maximum UC entitlement is.  Very simply, there are no fixed earnings or hours limits on UC like there are for ESA.  They deduct 63% of earned income, or for people with children and those having LCW/LCWRA there is a work alowance which is an amount of money they disregard from your earnings and then make deductions based on the rest.  If you claim help with housing costs the work allowance is £293 per month, or if you don't it's £515 per month.

More detailed info here https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/universal-credit-and-work/

lifeofbrian2015

calcotti said:

How much are you earning per week? If you earn more than £120/week you will be getting Class 1 credits through work in which case I don't think you can claim credits through DWP. If you are earning below £120/week I think you will be able to.
If you are not getting credits for for LCW/LCWRA when you claim UC you will have to go through a Work Capability Assessment to be see if ou qualify for LCWRA and will have to wait fourth months before getting the extra money even if you are found to have LCWRA.

Ok, so say I am not working when I claim, do I just get the basic monthly allowance of £324.84, then have an interview for the "extra monthly amount" of £343.63 and wait four months to get this. 

Now say I am receiving both payments of £324.84 and £343.63, do I still get the work allowance of £515 per month?

Spoonie_Turtle

lifeofbrian2015 said:

calcotti said:

How much are you earning per week? If you earn more than £120/week you will be getting Class 1 credits through work in which case I don't think you can claim credits through DWP. If you are earning below £120/week I think you will be able to.
If you are not getting credits for for LCW/LCWRA when you claim UC you will have to go through a Work Capability Assessment to be see if ou qualify for LCWRA and will have to wait fourth months before getting the extra money even if you are found to have LCWRA.

Ok, so say I am not working when I claim, do I just get the basic monthly allowance of £324.84, then have an interview for the "extra monthly amount" of £343.63 and wait four months to get this. 

Now say I am receiving both payments of £324.84 and £343.63, do I still get the work allowance of £515 per month?

Yes.  They should also apply it retroactively to any earnings before you got the decision.

The application and 'interview' for LCWRA is exactly the same process as for ESA, and in many places they have a backlog so it could take longer than 3-4 months.  They would pay any backpay owed though if it takes longer than that for a decision.

poppy12345

lifeofbrian2015 said:

calcotti said:

How much are you earning per week? If you earn more than £120/week you will be getting Class 1 credits through work in which case I don't think you can claim credits through DWP. If you are earning below £120/week I think you will be able to.
If you are not getting credits for for LCW/LCWRA when you claim UC you will have to go through a Work Capability Assessment to be see if ou qualify for LCWRA and will have to wait fourth months before getting the extra money even if you are found to have LCWRA.

Ok, so say I am not working when I claim, do I just get the basic monthly allowance of £324.84, then have an interview for the "extra monthly amount" of £343.63 and wait four months to get this. 

Now say I am receiving both payments of £324.84 and £343.63, do I still get the work allowance of £515 per month?

If you are working when your ESA claim ends and earning more than £120 per week then you will not continue to receive NI credits. If you are earning less than £120 per week then you can continue to receive NI credits, as advised above.

When your savings go below £16,000 if you've continued to receive NI credits for the ESA then you should be treated as having LCWRA from the start of your UC claim, as advised above.

If you're not receiving NI credits from ESA when you claim UC you will need to report your health condition and send in fit notes from your GP and go through the work capability assessment process. If you are found to have LCWRA then you will receive the extra £343 from the 4th month of your claim.

You will only have the work allowance if you have been found to have either LCW or LCWRA. If you don't receive help with the rent it will be £515, if you receive help with your rent it will be £293 per month.