Universal Credit 27 August 2022 at 6:56PM in Benefits & tax credits 12 replies 799 views

collietoy

If I've been signed off work and receiving Universal credit since October 2021 then will I still get the cost of living payments?

Rubyroobs

Yes as long as you've received a payment of Uc each month you should have already been paid the first instalment of the £650 cost of living payment.

poppy12345

If you were entitled to a payment for an assessment period that ended between 26th April to 25th May then you should have already received the first payment of £326.

The 2nd payment of £324 will be sometime in the Autumn but the criteria hasn't been announced yet. You won't be entitled to the £150 in September unless you're claiming a disability benefit such as PIP or DLA. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payment

Heddo

I claimed UC but got a NIL award.  My circumstances changed and in May I was signed off sick. I went through the Assessment recently and received a letter to inform me that it has been decided I have "limited incapacity for work and work related activity. (?????)  and that I did not need to submit further medical certificates. On Friday my "UC claim" was closed because of Nil award.  I was thought I was to be getting some kind of payment because of may illness.

poppy12345

Heddo said:

I claimed UC but got a NIL award.  My circumstances changed and in May I was signed off sick. I went through the Assessment recently and received a letter to inform me that it has been decided I have "limited incapacity for work and work related activity. (?????)  and that I did not need to submit further medical certificates. On Friday my "UC claim" was closed because of Nil award.  I was thought I was to be getting some kind of payment because of may illness.

Usually a claim remains open while a decision is made on your claim so i'm surprised it closed after the decision was made. You can log back in and make a rapid reclaim but i don't know if your journal entries would still be there. Others will know for sure.

Are you currently claiming UC with a partner that works?

Spoonie_Turtle

Heddo said:

I claimed UC but got a NIL award.  My circumstances changed and in May I was signed off sick. I went through the Assessment recently and received a letter to inform me that it has been decided I have "limited incapacity for work and work related activity. (?????)  and that I did not need to submit further medical certificates. On Friday my "UC claim" was closed because of Nil award.  I was thought I was to be getting some kind of payment because of may illness.

When did you start claiming UC?  AFAIK claims are remaining open for 6 months of consecutive nil awards so if you claimed in May it's a bit early for it to be closing anyway. 
When did you get the letter?

Heddo

I was widowed in 2000 and receive a pension of £211 per 28 days which seems to have been very problematic when I tried to claim Unemployment benefit - hence my claim for UC. I have always paid full NI contributions (48 years). First claimed UC in Oct 2021 always a NIL award because of pension.  The claim changed due to ill health and I started to submit sick notes as due to ill health.  After submitting sick notes I was as to complete an Incapacity form 8.05.2022 and assessed June and decision made in August that I had limited capability for work and work related activity and that in seven days I would informed if any payment was due.

NedS

The pension of £211 will be deducted from any UC award you may be entitled to. As it is paid every 28 days, they should average it over a monthly period (not 4 weekly period) as UC works on a monthly basis which should be around £229-230/month. Still, this alone should not be enough to NIL your award.

What deductions does your award notification show, exactly? Have they mistakenly deducted £211/week perhaps? Is there any other income taken into account?

calcotti

Heddo said:

.. I have always paid full NI contributions (48 years). 

If you have a full NI record for 2019-2020 and 2020-21 you could claim new style ESA. That is not means tested other than for a reduction for any pension income over £85/week (which means your pension would be ignored). That may pay you more than UC (depending on why your UC is low). You can claim both ESA and UC but the ESA is deducted from the UC.

Heddo

I have an occupational pension of 510.00 per month

Alice_Holt

Heddo said:

I have an occupational pension of 510.00 per month

     Is that in addition to the pension you have already mentioned of £211 per 28 days (i.e £228.60 per month) ?
     (Which is less than the £85 per week) 

     Do you have a full NI record for 2019-2020 and 2020-21 tax years ?