Time between ESA ending and claiming UC

devon_guy

calcotti said:

If you went over in November and have been over ever since they will almost certainly have stopped the ESA and will treat everything you have been paid since then as an overpayment which they require you to pay back.

Looks likely that you need to claim UC. You will have to report your health condition and report a Fit Note and will then have to have a new WCA. If found to have LCWRA that will get extra money from the fourth month.

If you claim UC your HB will stop two weeks after you claim UC. The help with rent will be included in your UC.

UC does not include an SDP which you may have been getting in ESA.

devon_guy said:

It has been since November but I hadn’t realised I thought I was still just under the limit. I also get pip and housing benefit.

I did tell them that if they had written to me in November to tell me I could have reduced my hrs at work with immediate effect to keep me under the earnings limit.

ESA do not RTI from HMRC so would not have known that you had breached PW rules in November. Unfortunately it is you’re responsible to keep them informed and you obviously hadn’t realised. Had you realised you were likely to breach the rules you could have either reduced your work in advance or claimed Uc whilst still in receipt of ESA.

Your PIP is not affected.

They obviously do get info from HMRC because this is where the lady on the helpline said the info had come from.

devon_guy

HillStreetBlues said:

Did you get notified of your ESA closure before 2/3?
If not you can get them to backdate a UC claim.

I still haven't had any formal notification.  I've been awaiting call backs since Thursday despite repeated promises of callbacks within 3 hours.

calcotti

devon_guy said:

calcotti said:

ESA do not RTI from HMRC so would not have known that you had breached PW rules in November. 

They obviously do get info from HMRC because this is where the lady on the helpline said the info had come from.

I didn’t say they didn’t get information from HMRC, only that they, unlike UC, don’t get it in ‘real time’.

devon_guy

Sorry, I didn't understand your abbreviations

poppy12345

HillStreetBlues said:

Did you get notified of your ESA closure before 2/3?
If not you can get them to backdate a UC claim.

I would say that's unlikely here because their earnings have been over the maximum amount since November. It's the claimants responsibility to report any changes. UC can only be backdated in extreme circumstances and i can't see this being one of them.

calcotti

devon_guy said:

Sorry, I didn't understand your abbreviations

HMRC - His Majesties Revenue and Customs
UC - Universal Credit
RTI - Real Time Information
RTI means that UC are told by HMRC every time an employer is paid. This doesn’t happen for ESA. 

calcotti

poppy12345 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Did you get notified of your ESA closure before 2/3?
If not you can get them to backdate a UC claim.

I would say that's unlikely here because their earnings have been over the maximum amount since November. It's the claimants responsibility to report any changes. UC can only be backdated in extreme circumstances and i can't see this being one of them.

Slight possibility that they could get UC backdated on the grounds that they have only just received information has make them aware that EAsA has ended. However the maximum amount UC can be backdated is one month so there will be discontinuity with ESA (assuming the ESA is stopped from November) and therefore no carry forward of Support Group status

HillStreetBlues

poppy12345 said:

I would say that's unlikely here because their earnings have been over the maximum amount since November. It's the claimants responsibility to report any changes. UC can only be backdated in extreme circumstances and i can't see this being one of them.

I agree it's the claimants responsibility,  but does it mean they are barred from any backdating?
As OP hasn't been sent notification about the ESA claim closing  it fulfils paragraph 3

So unless there is a bar then it could come down to "not reasonably possible" to claim earlier.
So they could say that the OP should have known that there ESA would be closing so can't be backdated.

If the OP has to claim UC  then  by asking for backdating they have nothing to lose,  but a lot to gain.

calcotti

HillStreetBlues said:

I agree it's the claimants responsibility,  but does it mean they are barred from any backdating?

The maximum backdating for UC is one month. If a request for backdating is accepted one month is what will be provided.

tomtom256

ESA doesn't automatically receive the earnings feed, however they do data match every few months, so it's likely you had been picked up on a scan.

Either way, the onus is on you to check and report any changes as they happen. Depending on your earnings, you may may not get referred for a work capability assessment if you claim Universal Credit.