ESA + HB moving HA to a different area - when to apply for UC?

saintscouple

Hi,

We (My wife and I) are in the process of looking for a mutual exchange (just done viewings and everything looks like we will be moving) 
I am on ESA income related support group and have PiP (both care and mobility) also claiming HB.

As i understand i will need to make a claim for UC as am unable to make a new housing benefit claim in the new area (will be a different council)

May i ask when will be the best time to do this so i don´t make myself out of pocket?

Does making a claim for UC automatically cease the ESA and HB, or do i inform them separately as a change of circumstances?

I´m guessing i do inform ESA and HB when we agree on a date for the mutual exchange, and at the same time make a claim for UC........ but what happens when i make the UC claim, will my proof of  ESA entitlement transfer to the new style ESA or will I have to start the process again with assessments, etc? 

Any advice so very much appreciated

Thank you 

P.s Forgot to mention i did use the calculator through entitled to, and on UC it says we will be aprox £5 a week worse off..... which isn´t bad, as the UC fear made us worry it would be more.

Newcad

It's important to know if you get the Severe Disability Premium on your ESA.
(You may not do unless your wife also gets a disability benefit of her own).
It also matters if your ESA is Income Related or Contributions Based, or both.

I'm assuming for now that as the benefits calculator only gave a £5 difference then you don't have any SDP.
The benefits calculator should also have told you if you will still get paid any ESA after you claim UC, if you will then that is CB ESA.

Just how close you are to moving may also be a factor to consider.
As could whether your new rent will be higher or lower than the current one. (If it's higher then you may be able to 'win' a couple of weeks of the difference but only as a one-off thing).

The first thing to note is; The DWP, particularly UC, are not interested in any change of circumstances until it actually happens.
So you don't tell them about the move until it actually happens. (If you try to tell them before then they'll only tell you to report it when it actually happens).

You can claim UC at any time, but generally when you have to claim UC because of a house/flat move you should make the claim on the day that you move.

If you do that then it is a 'Natural Migration' due to a Change of Circumstances, and attracts Transitional Protection - which is important if you do have the SDP in your ESA (which I don't think that you do from what you have said so far).

If you claim UC before you move then that is a 'Vouluntary Migration', ie your own choice, which does not have any Transitional Protection as such.

When you do claim UC:
Your ESA Group will automatically transfer over into UC as a LCW or LCWRA element, depending on which ESA group you are in.
Note that you will almost certainly be asked at first to provide Fit-Notes for UC, these aren't actually needed but until your details come across from ESA the UC computer doesn't know you have already been assessed and so automatically spits out a request for Fit Notes, that will get sorted out quickly before the end of the first month.

Any part of your ESA that is Income Related will be migrated into UC, but IR ESA will run-on for 2-weeks after you claim UC and you don't have to pay that run-on back.
Any part of your ESA that is Contribution Based will not be migrated into UC, it will continue to be paid seperately as CB ESA, but anything you get paid for CB ESA will then be deducted £ for £ from your UC entitlement before UC is paid.
(Again the benefits calculator should have already told you if that is the case).

Housing Benefit for the old place will end when you claim UC, but DO NOT close your HB claim yourself, as long as you still have the HB claim open when you claim UC then HB will also run-on and be paid for another 2-weeks after you claim UC, you don't have to pay that back either.
So you are best not to tell HB at all, just claim UC and let UC tell them, everything will then happen automatically.

PIP is not affected in or by a migration to UC.

I think that's covered your questions but please come back with any more that you have.

saintscouple

Thank you so much for taking the time to give such a concise response, it is very much appreciated. 

To clarify what i did not make clear....

My income related ESA is support group and does contain the couples severe disability premium. 

A move date hasn´t been made and not likely to be for a few months. 

So as i understand it is best to make the UC claim on the day of the move - does it have to be made on the exact day (not a day before putting in the next day move date.... thinking lack of internet access and will be a weekend), and guess it can be made online? 

Many thanks again for taking the time to reply this old worrier, you really put my mind at ease, thank you

Newcad

As you have an SDP included in your ESA then you should definitely wait until you HAVE to claim UC because you have moved.

If you claim UC before the move happens then you will not get the SDP Transitional Element in the UC.

If you currently get the higher rate of SDP then the SDP TE will be an extra £445.91 a month on you UC payment. so you don't want to lose out on that by claiming UC before the move has happened.
You only get that Transitional Element if you HAVE to claim UC because of a change to your circumstances has happened.

See: https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/sdp-transitional-elements

Online is the default way to make a claim for UC, there is a telephone option for if there is a specific reason why you can't use the internet at all. (Medical/MH reason, Homelessness, etc).

If you don't have internet yet in the new home then if you have a smartphone with phone data you can access the internet on that.
Smartphones can also be turned into a mobile wifi hotspot very easily, and then just use that wifi on your computer like any other wifi.
Or use the internet a friends house (or the free wifi in a local pub?), or even arrange the move on a weekday so that you can use the internet at a library, etc.

You cannot make a UC claim from a future date, once you hit the 'submit' button that is the start date of your claim.
(You can ask for a claim to be backdated, if you can show 'good reason' why you couldn't claim earlier. There is not a specific place in the application to request a backdated claim though, you have to add a seperate note yourself).

All in all it is best to make the UC claims (That's claims, a couple have make seperate claims that are then linked) on the day of the move, even though that is yet another hassle to deal with on moving day.

Being honest I have no practical experience of this myself, I didn't have to claim UC when I last moved, so stayed on HB and ESA, then 'Voluntary Migrated' myself to UC a year later.

Does anyone else here have pratical experience of what happens if you move rented home on a weekend but don't claim UC until say Monday?

saintscouple

Thank you so much Newcad, the info is invaluable. 

We should be ok making the claims on moving day, but would still be interested if anyone has had any experience of claiming on a Monday after moving the weekend before.

Just hoping the claim isn´t pages long as in having to refer to in-depth medical records, as I find it near impossible to toggle in between apps and pages on a mobile phone.  

My plan is for me to make the claim first (as it´s me named on the ESA) and then my wife makes her linked claim. 

8dayweek

Newcad said:

Does anyone else here have pratical experience of what happens if you move rented home on a weekend but don't claim UC until say Monday?

On this, if it’s social housing some of them only start new tenancies on a Monday (throwback to old HB pay cycles). 

8dayweek

saintscouple said:

Thank you so much Newcad, the info is invaluable. 

We should be ok making the claims on moving day, but would still be interested if anyone has had any experience of claiming on a Monday after moving the weekend before.

Just hoping the claim isn´t pages long as in having to refer to in-depth medical records, as I find it near impossible to toggle in between apps and pages on a mobile phone.  

My plan is for me to make the claim first (as it´s me named on the ESA) and then my wife makes her linked claim. 

Has you wife ever had her own separate ESA(C) or ESA NI credits claim alongside yours? If not, then it would be worth looking at what Conditionality Regime she would go into under UC.  

saintscouple

8dayweek said:

Newcad said:

Does anyone else here have pratical experience of what happens if you move rented home on a weekend but don't claim UC until say Monday?

On this, if it’s social housing some of them only start new tenancies on a Monday (throwback to old HB pay cycles). 

Ahhh of course, we would move on the weekend, but the tenancy agreement won´t start till the Monday, so that is the day we will apply for UC, thank you so much. 

saintscouple

8dayweek said:

saintscouple said:

Thank you so much Newcad, the info is invaluable. 

We should be ok making the claims on moving day, but would still be interested if anyone has had any experience of claiming on a Monday after moving the weekend before.

Just hoping the claim isn´t pages long as in having to refer to in-depth medical records, as I find it near impossible to toggle in between apps and pages on a mobile phone.  

My plan is for me to make the claim first (as it´s me named on the ESA) and then my wife makes her linked claim. 

Has you wife ever had her own separate ESA(C) or ESA NI credits claim alongside yours? If not, then it would be worth looking at what Conditionality Regime she would go into under UC.  

No, the ESA is in my name, although it mentions her PiP, and SDP in the calculations. The only money we have coming in, in her name is the PiP, whilst i have ESA and PiP. 

Someone else mentioned that on her claim, if she claimed she carers for me (we care for each other, and get extra help in) then that would mean she wouldn´t have to look for a job (which like me, she would be unable to do anyway)

Yamor

It would be fine to make the UC claim before moving, and you would still get the SDP transitional element.
If the rent in the new place is higher you should consider claiming UC within the last month before the move, and claiming early within that period, as that would mean you start getting the higher rent earlier (UC pay based on the rent liability as at the end of each assessment period).
If the rent is lower, then I would claim as late as possible, but there is no need to leave a gap.
Either way, don't claim prior to 8th April, as otherwise your SDP transitional element will reduce after one assessment period due to the increases to the UC amounts in April.

Yamor

saintscouple said:

8dayweek said:

saintscouple said:

Thank you so much Newcad, the info is invaluable. 

We should be ok making the claims on moving day, but would still be interested if anyone has had any experience of claiming on a Monday after moving the weekend before.

Just hoping the claim isn´t pages long as in having to refer to in-depth medical records, as I find it near impossible to toggle in between apps and pages on a mobile phone.  

My plan is for me to make the claim first (as it´s me named on the ESA) and then my wife makes her linked claim. 

Has you wife ever had her own separate ESA(C) or ESA NI credits claim alongside yours? If not, then it would be worth looking at what Conditionality Regime she would go into under UC.  

No, the ESA is in my name, although it mentions her PiP, and SDP in the calculations. The only money we have coming in, in her name is the PiP, whilst i have ESA and PiP. 

Someone else mentioned that on her claim, if she claimed she carers for me (we care for each other, and get extra help in) then that would mean she wouldn´t have to look for a job (which like me, she would be unable to do anyway)

I would think twice before declaring that she is your carer on your UC claim, or indeed during the first assessment period, as this would dramatically reduce your SDP transitional element.
If you can, wait until the first day of your second assessment period.