UC - doesn’t even cover rent???

onthecase

My single adult son is alcoholic with depression/mental health problems. After trying to continue to work for years he has been signed off by the doctor as unfit for work.
He is currently seeking help for his addiction and awaiting a detox programme.
He has registered for UC today but has been told he only qualifies for £428 per month, but his private rent is £525 per month! He has no savings, has huge debts and is struggling to cope with everything.
He Is panicking and says he’ll have to work regardless, but he is ill.
He has had 2 suicide attempts over 18 months and although under the doctor and the addiction centre I’m worried as he has no money whatsoever. Unfortunately I’m retired and am not in a position to help him financially or housing wise.
Does anyone know if he can claim more for housing? Can he get a council house? Will he end up homeless!!
Thank you. 

elsien

How old is he and what sort of property is he living in? 

Has he just stopped work as his last pay cheque might affect what he gets as an initial payment if it falls into the assessment period. 
Tell him to stop panicking and run his circumstances through one of the benefits calculators - entitled to it turn2us. 

Does he know how that figure has been worked out? 

onthecase

Thanks - he’s 38. Lives in a 3 bed terrace. I don’t know how they’ve got to the figure but he had the interview today and took in the doctors note. 

elsien

Is there anything on his online account which gives more detail?

onthecase

I don’t know - I’m seeing him tomorrow I’ll have a look, thank you. 

Life__Goes__On

Is the the whole amount of PIP  or the housing aspect of it.
Living in a private 3 bed rental  he is unlikely to have the full cost of the rent covered if he lives alone.

Jack_bauer24

onthecase said:

Thanks - he’s 38. Lives in a 3 bed terrace. I don’t know how they’ve got to the figure but he had the interview today and took in the doctors note. 

I think your son needs to move to a small property like a 1 bed flat if he is living on his own as UC will not pay full Housing rent. He needs to move to a cheaper property to ensure full rent is covered. 

Spoonie_Turtle

onthecase said:

Thanks - he’s 38. Lives in a 3 bed terrace. I don’t know how they’ve got to the figure but he had the interview today and took in the doctors note. 

His statement (online, under the 'Payments' section of his UC account) will show what elements make up his maximum entitlement and any deductions they've taken, e.g. for earnings.

For the housing element, as he is single and if he has no children then the maximum he will be entitled to there would be the 1-bedroom rate for his area.


Oh hang on, re-reading your post - he's just claimed.  Who told him how much he'd receive?  If he's asked for an advance, repayments of that will come out of future UC payments which will reduce them.

As elsien suggests, a benefits calculator should give a fairly accurate figure.

Or, put his postcode into here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/  multiply the result by 52 and ÷ 12 for a monthly amount, that will be the housing element.
Then + £334.91 (the standard allowance for someone over 25).

If it's just him living alone then that would total his current maximum entitlement. 

If he's assessed as having LCWRA then he'd be entitled to an extra £354.28 from the 4th payment (although to be assessed that quickly would be unusual at the moment; they would backdate anything owed).
https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/how-much-youll-get/

poppy12345

onthecase said:

Thanks - he’s 38. Lives in a 3 bed terrace. I don’t know how they’ve got to the figure but he had the interview today and took in the doctors note. 

I have no idea how they got to that figure either if all he's had is the interview. He won't know exactly how much he's entitled to until he has his statement.

You can check the link above to see how much he's entitled to for the housing element. He will need a tenancy agreement to be able to claim this, if he hasn't already given this.

However, if he's renting a 3 bedroom house then there will be a large shortfall which he will need to pay. For any shortfall of rent he can apply for a discretionary housing payment from his local Authority but this is not guaranteed and it's only paid for a short period of time and then you have to reapply. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/claiming-discretionary-housing-payments/claiming-discretionary-housing-payments

nicx83

The local authority can help with a discretionary housing payment for the top up but this will be a short term solution 

Spoonie_Turtle

Deleted_User said:

He can apply for the limited capability for work elements as well.  This is awarded at two different rates (lower and higher).  LLCW means that he would be required to seek work.  HLCW means that he would not be required to seek work and both are awarded only once a capability assessment has been done.  DWP have quite a backlog so this could take months and that does not help him.

No, LCW (Limited Capability for Work) means not needing to seek work but does require work-related activity such as going to appointments, on courses, etc.  As you refer to 'rates', just to clarify there is no extra money for LCW for claims made after April 2017.

LCWRA (Limited Capability for Work and work-related Activity) means not needing to do anything towards employment, only notifying UC of any changes.  This one does award an extra monetary element, as mentioned previously in the thread.