Moving Boroughs - Automatic Need to apply for Universal Credit

deannagone

If someone who has been in receipt of Income based ESA (not new style ESA) and DLA moves from Gravesham Borough to Sissinghurst (think its Tunbridge Wells).  Both are within Kent.  Will such a move require him to cancel his ESA and apply for Universal Credit, so meaning he does a natural migration without transition relief?

He has also just applied for SDP which I have read can't be paid with universal credit.

Would be very grateful for any links.  Got a gf involved that is convinced he won't have to change to universal credit and lose half his money lol.

I have looked this up, found the entitled to page that says such a move will need a migration to UC.  But I'm not being believed.  Just trying to warn them.  They aren't really very au fait with how benefits work due to special needs.  The gf unfortunately is believing what she wants to believe, that nothing will change financially and my son is very confused.

Spoonie_Turtle

From your post I infer they don't claim Housing Benefit?  They would only need to apply for UC if they need help with rent (or other housing costs like ground rent, some service charges). 

Otherwise they don't have to apply for UC and can keep existing ESA claim.

KxMx

Even if he did need to claim UC, no action would be required by him to cancel his ESA.
That would all be done behind the scenes and the ESA status (such as being in the Support Group) would transfer over as well. 

ManekiNeko

I don't get ESA, but know someone who does. My understanding is that moving house leads to being automatically made to move over to UC and losing the transitional protection.

He could ask his local CAB to confirm what would happen if he moved. I'm unclear on your relationship to him, but if he has a support worker, carer, or similar, maybe they could help find out, or go to the appointment with him. I believe anyone can attend the appointment with him, as long as he is happy with this and would find it helpful.

If he intends to live with his girlfriend, it's probably best for them both to attend the appointment so they can get personalised advice on their finances.

Side note: As a person with a disability, I personally dislike the term "special needs", and wish people would use terms such as "learning disability" or "disability" instead.

This isn't meant as criticism of you; I expect you had no idea of this, and I'm conscious some are very accustomed to the phrase given the school system's continued use of the term (as in Special Educational Needs or SEN).

However, it's not at all common in adult life for people with disabilities to be described in that way, and I personally would be upset if I learned someone had described me in that way.

Spoonie_Turtle

ManekiNeko said:

Side note: As a person with a disability, I personally dislike the term "special needs", and wish people would use terms such as "learning disability" or "disability" instead.

This isn't meant as criticism of you; I expect you had no idea of this, and I'm conscious some are very accustomed to the phrase given the school system's continued use of the term (as in Special Educational Needs or SEN).

To expand on this point, at risk of going off-track but for the benefit of others reading who might not understand the dislike of the term: for a lot of disabled adults it's because it implies our needs are extra, optional - when actually we have the same needs as everyone else, they're just not automatically met by society.  Exactly the same applies to disabled children, they have the need to access education, society, healthcare, nutrition, (on top of love, friendship, community, play, etc.!) just like all the nondisabled children.

I don't know of any simple term that doesn't centre society's difficulty/unwillingness meeting those needs for disabled children, but 'special' really is widely disliked.  It's up there with 'handicap/ped' for many of us.

poppy12345

ManekiNeko said:

I don't get ESA, but know someone who does. My understanding is that moving house leads to being automatically made to move over to UC and losing the transitional protection.

No, not unless they need to claim for help with any rent, as has been advised. If they do then the UC will include the SDP transitional protection providing they still live alone.

ManekiNeko

@Spoonie_Turtle, thank you for the more eloquent explanation of what my sleepy Sunday brain was trying to express.

As you outline so well, I think the social model of disability sums it up well - it's not the condition that disables, necessarily, but the society we live in (because of the lack of accessibility). Actually, I had started reading a book about this, called "Why are you pretending to be normal?", but haven't yet found the energy to finish it. I didn't like the title much but what I read so far was thoughtfully expressed and raised some important points.

@poppy12345, fair enough, it doesn't match what I had learned on the subject so far but I'm certainly no expert! Thanks for teaching me something new. ☺️

deannagone

I am autistic too, and hate the word disabled even more than special needs! Depending on the context I prefer words like neurodivergent.   I have fought long and hard to get my two son's the accessibility they need.  My older son has had/is having a lot of problems with this.  I do tend to deal with benefit issues as neither find it easy to avoid getting stressed when asked questions.  It is a bit limiting but if I didn't do this, neither would get any financial help at all. 

There is no support worker due to similar problems, even from the specialist autism social work team.    

ManekiNeko

@deannagone, I agree with you for autism and would usually refer to people with autism as neurodivergent. In my personal and limited experience, I've noticed that autism can be both limiting and advantageous in different ways, so I wouldn't use the term disability unless I knew that a particular person felt that way about their autism, if that makes sense.

I'm actually on a waiting list to be assessed for autism myself, so maybe one day I'll find out whether or not I have it (the waiting list is shockingly long).

Hats off to you for fighting to get your sons the accessibility support they need. 💪 Yes, benefits applications are really rough. I've only found it possible for myself to fill out those sort of forms with professional help.. that sucks there isn't help from the autism social work team, you'd think that would be part of their niche.