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

saintscouple

Thanks @poppy12345 I'll certainly ride with it. I don't understand the different class of NI contributions, but must be good

saintscouple

1st payment day today and things are not going well at all. 
As soon as the statement was published i contacted them as there was no transitional element applied, and ESA deductions i didn´t understand. 
I was phoned the same day, they agreed on the transitional element and said they would sort so i get paid that today.... but no, not applied. 
The ESA they said they would investigate and nothing on that either

So today we have been paid less than our rent cost, £486

I did phone again yesterday and was told someone will call back prior to 6pm today... I hope they sort this today as going to have the housing association on my door otherwise. 

poppy12345

How much was deducted for your ESA? Don't forget that ESA is a weekly benefit but UC is monthly. There's 4.3 weeks in a month, not 4 weeks. To work out the monthly deduction you do the following.. £138.20 x 52 divided by 12 = £598.86 deduction. There will be 1 month a year where you will receive 3 ESA payments instead of 2. 

For your rent I see it's HA do you have any rent free weeks? Any spare bedrooms?

saintscouple

poppy12345 said:

How much was deducted for your ESA? Don't forget that ESA is a weekly benefit but UC is monthly. There's 4.3 weeks in a month, not 4 weeks. To work out the monthly deduction you do the following.. £138.20 x 52 divided by 12 = £598.86 deduction. There will be 1 month a year where you will receive 3 ESA payments instead of 2. 

For your rent I see it's HA do you have any rent free weeks? Any spare bedrooms?

I was only paid the 2 weeks arrears of ESA, and the 2 weeks for the migration ( 2 x £765.40)
Yet sums of £593.79 and £598.87 were deducted.... so i see where that comes from by your calculation, but don´t understand why it has been deducted twice or at all.

My first New style ESA doesn´t start until 21st Aug - £276.40 every 2 weeks.

No rent free weeks, but yes a spare bedroom which is correct that a monthly shortfall of £113.12 applies. Rent is £823.53 a month. 

saintscouple

May i ask to whom might know the answer.

Whilst i am chasing the transition protection payment that was not included in my first UC, is it ok, as now i am in assessment phase 2, to declare my wife as my carer, or is this likely to complicate matters, and delay the payment even further?

Latest news on the transition protection payment is someone will get back to me by 6pm on the 19th August.

My wifes fit note expires on the 16th August.

Thank you 

saintscouple

Filled in the complaint form early yesterday, and by the afternoon got a call, where the agent initially told me i did not qualify for the transitional protection payment as it was a voluntary move to UC.

Thanks to all the advice here i explained as per your comments, and things quickly turned around - it has now been referred to a specialist team, and they will get back to me.

I am hesitant to declare my wife as a carer at this time as don´t want to confuse matters even more.

Newcad

saintscouple said:

Filled in the complaint form early yesterday, and by the afternoon got a call, where the agent initially told me i did not qualify for the transitional protection payment as it was a voluntary move to UC.

I hope that was only 'initially'.
(They do tend to make things up at times without checking, particularly when it's on the phone and not in writing).

If you made the UC claim on your new tenancy start date as you were intending to do then yours was a 'Natural Migration to UC' and NOT a 'Voluntary Migration'.

(My own move to UC was a 'Voluntary Migration' from ESA+HB, because I didn't have to claim UC when I did I just decided that it was a good time for me personally to do it then).

Sorry I'm not sure about the carer aspect, but suspect that it is probably wise to clear up the other issues first.

saintscouple

I hope so too, from my experience it seems the people on the end of the phone are not well versed on the natural migration, at least the last person i spoke to actually listened and whilst not knowing the answer has gone off to find it. Others have promised delivery, but not delivered.

If i hadn´t had the advice from yourself and others here, i would have just taken them at their word, and will be losing out. 

I hope that this is just teething problems, that i will get my transitional protection payment, and that having ironed out the creases my 2nd payment will be correct going forward. 

What i forgot to ask is how long is it going to take to get back to me, having referred this to a specialist team.

saintscouple

All sorted now, i think - transitional protection now included and will be paid tomorrow.
Wife has submitted a new fit note, which doesn´t expire until the end of next month, so prob won´t declare her as my carer until the 3rd assessment period now. 

Newcad

Good to hear, a bit of persistence wins the day again.

There again it helps if/when you know they are wrong and it's time to push back.