Limited Capability For Work

[Deleted User]

I wanted to just tell you all about my current status and situation before i ask for advice so you all know a bit of my background:

• Limited Capability To Work since early 2021 due to Mental Health issues and had issues since i was a child.
• Living With Parents (27 Years Old)
• Claims PIP

I called someone at UC that deals with people that have a limited capability to work. I wanted to earn a bit more income at home, i was interested in selling t-shirts online, which only requires walking the post office and sending them to the buyer so not many hours a day ‘working’.

i told the guy its something im interested in and he was very nice about it and said yes i can do that and he told me i can earn up to about 530 ish pound a month and it wont affect my benefits, i thought that sounds cool.

next time i call him again, he drops information on me that he didnt know last time. He said he’ll put me in touch with a self employment adviser … “oh by the way, theres something called minimum incone floor, if you go over that we stop your benefits”.

I was like what??? Just to be crystal clear, I’m not trying to milk a much money out of them as possible, i am absolutely terrified of them kicking me off it all together and then I’m left with a small business that i cant make a living out of, forcing me into working while i have this condition.

i just dont trust a word they say now, its like they ambush you into something so they cant pay you. 

If it was a massive success then I get it, but for some reason I can just see them reviewing me after 12 months and they let me go even if i fail at it. I just want a bit more income.

im very sensitive, they put fear into me every time i talk to them, i just feel like something is round the corner and they will cripple me. 

Im scared to even move out cause i think they’ll just take me off it and stop helping me with rent.

i would like some help and peace of mind about this, i just dont feel like they are telling me everything over the phone. Thank you for reading.

Spoonie_Turtle

Deleted_User said:

 … “oh by the way, theres something called minimum incone floor, if you go over that we stop your benefits”.

They are wrong, as you have LCW you cannot be deemed gainfully self-employed and therefore the minimum income floor would not apply to you.

(Edit: that's also not how the MIF works, at all, but it's irrelevant for you anyway.)

poppy12345

Deleted_User said:

he told me i can earn up to about 530 ish pound a month and it wont affect my benefits,

That's also incorrect. As you're not claiming for help with any rent then you can receive up to £631/month of earnings before there's any deductions in your UC. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-work-allowances/universal-credit-work-allowances

Muttleythefrog

Unfortunately the people you call at U/C are demonstrably clueless about the benefit (and others) but often instead of saying they don't know they tell you rubbish. It's unclear to me why they're employed... I even quoted the first result of a google search (which pulled a government page answer) to tell a work coach they were wrong but they'd have none of it.

Fortunately you can get clear and correct advice here.

art123_2

My son receives U/C and limited capability for work, but he wants to try working part time for a couple of days a week, to see if he could cope or not.  He's tried to contact the DWP but keeps getting different people giving him different answers.  Can anybody please let me know if he can work part time and still claim limited capability for work.  If so, is there a limit to the amount of paid hours a week he can work and still claim this benefit.  It's all very frustrating not getting a simple answer to a simple question from the DWP.

Spoonie_Turtle

art123_2 said:

My son receives U/C and limited capability for work, but he wants to try working part time for a couple of days a week, to see if he could cope or not.  He's tried to contact the DWP but keeps getting different people giving him different answers.  Can anybody please let me know if he can work part time and still claim limited capability for work.  If so, is there a limit to the amount of paid hours a week he can work and still claim this benefit.  It's all very frustrating not getting a simple answer to a simple question from the DWP.

Yes he can try working, however much he wants.

As he has LCW, the first £404 or £673 of his earnings in a month will be disregarded.  Above that, they deduct 55% of earnings. 
The higher work allowance is for those who don't claim help with housing costs, the lower amount for those who do.

The realistic limit for how much he can work is whatever earnings would nil his claim.  Working part-time I doubt he'd be in danger of that.  But he can work it out by:

Max UC award - any ongoing dedictions (for savings or other benefits)
÷ 0.55
+ applicable work allowance


[If he claims ESA alongside UC the limits for that are 15hrs 59mins(!) and £183.50 per week.  But as said beforr, there are no set limits for UC.]

art123_2

Thank you very much for replying.  That was very helpful.