UC, ESA and Permitted Work

DWPvictim

Hi again Before calling UC I checked and my son already is entitled to £390 pm due to LCWRA. So my new question is, when he comes off CB ESA in early April, how much work can he do as he is identified as having limited capability? At the moment he’s restricted to 16 hrs per week Permitted Work but needs flexibility to work more or less than this. (It helps his mental health to work in small doses in low stress environments).
And finally how much of his work income is he allowed to keep. I thought there was a percentage , say 45% but they appear to be deducting all of his income from the UC amount each month.

Spoonie_Turtle

DWPvictim said:

Hi again Before calling UC I checked and my son already is entitled to £390 pm due to LCWRA. So my new question is, when he comes off CB ESA in early April, how much work can he do as he is identified as having limited capability? At the moment he’s restricted to 16 hrs per week Permitted Work but needs flexibility to work more or less than this. (It helps his mental health to work in small doses in low stress environments).
And finally how much of his work income is he allowed to keep. I thought there was a percentage , say 45% but they appear to be deducting all of his income from the UC amount each month.

There is no hours restriction, and the only earnings 'restriction' is what would nil his UC payment.  For ESA, LCWRA is the Support Group so his ESA should continue indefinitely, until/unless reassessed and moved out of the Support Group.  But he can close his claim early if the restrictions are causing him problems.

His ESA will be being deducted in full.
Earnings, he should have the work allowance (£631/month if not receiving any help with housing costs, or £379 if he is) which is an amount disregarded before deductions are taken.  The deduction rate for anything above that is 55%.

It would be really helpful if we could see a screenshot of his UC statement to see what's actually happening, because what you've written here doesn't make sense.  If it is what's happening in reality then several mistakes have been made.

How much ESA does he get every fortnight?

DWPvictim

Thank you very much. This is really helpful. He has just won a Tribunal (including appeal) but until that happened at end of December, they have been withholding actual payment of his ESA even though they are deducting it from his UC! Could this be the problem as they are also deducting 100% of his Permitted Work earnings? 

At the moment we are waiting for a letter from DWP advising how much back payment of benefits he is entitled to I.E. the amount they have withheld since March 23 pending the tribunal result.
I will try to get a screenshot of his UC statement and send it to you.

DWPvictim

PS He is meant to get £367 per month CB ESA but that is being withheld

poppy12345

Did he ever have a work capability assessment for his ESA claim? Just looking back through the thread and I did ask if he was in the Support Group (LCWRA for UC) but you didn't answer that question. Just a little surprised because you said his ESA was supposed to end in March and it doesn't end if in the Support Group. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Okay wow, it sounds like a total mess.  One thing I would definitely advise is to make sure to keep a copy of his original UC statements, because when they recalculate everything they will overwrite them with new statements and it'll be more difficult to work out what was what and what they have and haven't paid and deductions, etc.

We can still try our best to help you, but this sounds so complicated ideally I think you need in-person advice with this from an agency like the CAB.  

DWPvictim

PPS My apologies, they are not deducting his earned income from the UC calculation, that was my mistake

DWPvictim

You are all so helpful! We have arranged an appointment with CAB next week so hopefully that will help resolve matters.
We rang DWP ESA last week and they told us he was not in a Support Group but his UC statement shows the LCWRA figure of £390! He and his partner applied for joint UC only a few months ago and maybe then they decided his limited capacity for work? I’m sure he did have an interview to discuss his capability for work in relation to his ESA claim but he can’t remember the details and I can find no paperwork on it. The letter he got in March 23 just confirmed he would be getting CB ESA from then until 6 April.
We have just taken screen shots of his UC statements for December and January as you suggest so we can check things once they alter them. 

After the CAB meeting I will come back to you if necessary, but thanks so much for your help so far. No wonder we are confused if you think it’s a total mess too!

Spoonie_Turtle

I would advise taking screenshots of the statements all the way back to the start of the claim, just in case.

That's great news you have an appointment with the CAB, hopefully they'll be able to help you and him get it all straightened out eventually!

poppy12345

The LCWRA maybe an error, if it is then he will need to repay it back because all overpayments are recoverable, even if it's an official error.