Another WTC migration to UC...

DJ_Kav

Hi, I'm autistic so please bear with me.

I'm a single parent with 55% shared custody of our daughter.
I'm also self employed, but only earn around £6,000 pa.
I'm also disabled and on PIP.
I also care for my elderly mum, likewise both my daughter and mum care for me too.

On the HMRC website, on my account, I'm down as the person for Child Benefit, but I have it paid into my daughter's mum's account.

I've been asked to move over to UC in that lovely letter they sent.

I'm a little scared, by all the stories that UC is designed against self employed people.

My anxiety is hitting the roof, and triggering off a couple of my disabilities.

Spoonie_Turtle

First off, of you were to be found gainfully self-employed then the Minimum Income Floor (the bit that causes problems for self-employed people) wouldn't apply to you for the first 12 months.

However, as a carer you can't be found to be gainfully self-employed so the MIF won't apply to you at all.  You will of course have to report income and expenses at the end of each assessment period (monthly, starting on the date you submit your claim) but your UC will be calculated on actual profit.

Also, as you claim PIP you can be referred for a Work Capability Assessment no matter how much you're earning to see if you qualify for LCW or LCWRA.  If you are deemed to have LCWRA then that will increase your UC award.  EDIT for accuracy: would normally but apparently not necessarily in this instance - see next comment.

(If you are deemed to have LCW then it won't really have much effect just yet, unless you at some point stop caring for your mother, and/or until your child is too old to qualify as a child on your UC claim - that's if UC still works the same way or even exists by the time either of those happen.)

Presumably your child is already on your Tax Credits award so there should be no problems claiming for them on UC.

Yamor

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Also, as you claim PIP you can be referred for a Work Capability Assessment no matter how much you're earning to see if you qualify for LCW or LCWRA.  If you are deemed to have LCWRA then that will increase your UC award. 

This is something to be very careful about.
The OP is probably getting the disabled worker element of TCs, and perhaps also the severe disability element.
As such, they are likely to get a significant transitional element.
If they are then found to have LCWRA, their UC award will go up by the difference between the LCWRA element and the Carer element. However, the transitional element will go down by the full amount of the LCWRA element, leaving them significantly worse off.
It may therefore be advisable not to request a WCA at this point. Clearly, proper advice should be taken about this.

(There is an appeal in progress before the UT about this issue.)

DJ_Kav

Thanks for your replies so far.

My daughter is on my WTC, so I get the Child Tax Credit too.
I do get the Disabled Element and the Severe  Disability Element on my TC award.

Just to add, my daughter is 11 in August and starting high school in September.
She is also on the ASD pathway, awaiting a diagnosis. It takes quite a bit of time for these things.

DJ_Kav

I've now had the intervention interview, and my journal now says 'not gainfully self employed'.

poppy12345

DJ_Kav said:

I've now had the intervention interview, and my journal now says 'not gainfully self employed'.

See other thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6537117/had-my-gateway-intervention-interview-today#latest

It's better to stick to one thread because it gets very confusing when starting multiple threads.