Occasional paid work on universal credit LCWRA?

faerielight

does anyone know if it is allowed to do any paid work Even though they’re on universal credit LCWRA if it doesn’t contradict the reasons for being in LCWRA?

My mental health provider is encouraging us to do the occasional focus group. It is paid about £20 per group. The group is online so I could do it from my home.
thanks in advance

poppy12345

faerielight said:

does anyone know if it is allowed to do any paid work Even though they’re on universal credit LCWRA if it doesn’t contradict the reasons for being in LCWRA?

My mental health provider is encouraging us to do the occasional focus group. It is paid about £20 per group. The group is online so I could do it from my home.
thanks in advance

When claiming UC there's no maximum amount of hours you can work, even when claiming LCWRA. You will have the work allowance which means you can earn a certain amount of money each month before the 55% deductions apply. See link. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-work-allowances/universal-credit-work-allowances

You will need to report the changes onto your journal, even though it's just occational paid work.

faerielight

Thanks so much.. do I need to do anything else like submit a bank statement, or explain what the work is? I guess it would be under self employment, not being paid by an employer, but from what I understand, you only have to register as self employed if you earn over £1000 per year. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Interestingly, the chapter on employed earnings includes service users being part of focus groups, from paragraph H3161  https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1036274/admh3.pdf

I don't know exactly how you go about reporting it though, because it's not exactly a job with regular hours.  Maybe a journal message?

Please let us know how you get on, as there seem to be more of these kinds of opportunities cropping up and it may be useful to others to know how best to handle it

poppy12345

If it's just the occassional £20 then this is well below the work allowance even if you're entitled to the lower work allowance of £335 per month. I have no idea how you would go about reporting this either, it would be worth putting a note onto your journal for this but it may take a while for someone to reply.

faerielight

thanks thanks Poppy and Spoonie.. yes I will report back.. it would be helpful to others in a similar boat

faerielight

I received this message after putting a note on my journal:”

I have some information for you which may help. As you are awarded Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related activity you do have a work allowance which we do not take into account when calculating your payments. Your work allowance is currently £557.00 per month which we disregard, and this will not have any effect on you. I'm glad you are wanting  to participate in the occasional work from your home, however we would see these small amounts of income as one-offs and not consistent income.

if you were however to get A part-time job and you were earning a lot more, Then we would ask you to report your earnings every month.
However as you are only taking part in online focus groups For your mental health provider we will disregard these.
You are trying and that’s the most important thing, So we empathise, But ultimately your health has to come first.”

it’s really good news. From my understanding then, if it’s under £557 a month, I don’t need to inform them of it at all.
it’s a bit confusing when they said if it was a part time job amd I was earning a lot more, I would have to declare it. I’m not sure if they mean over £557 a month, or if it was more frequently than the occasional one. 

I think that my work allowance is high because I own my home, it seems like if you get a housing element, the amount is halfed.