UC Migration Bedroom Tax help

StaplerUk

Myself and my wife have just recently migrated to UC from ESA, We live in a 3 bedroom property and before migration our rent was being fully paid and never paid “bedroom tax” because council were aware the only spare room was actually my wife’s bedroom, She has her own specialised bed with her health machines (CPAP etc), The other bedroom is our sons room, Anyway we discovered today that UC is taking 25% for two unused rooms but all three are used, it’s as if UC has not bothered to include my son living here! My wife filled out a journal explaining all three rooms are used but my question is do anyone from UC read the journal entries or do they just not read them at all or if they do then do they act on it at all ? I can’t understand why they completely missed that my son lives here as his name and age is listed, Any help or advice appreciated, This whole migration thing has really taking its toll on my wife’s health and is not making it any better, they even want her to attend Job club and supply sick notes ?? (She is also on PIP and DLA) and had to attend “job club” with her breathing apparatus and wheelchair for crying out loud 

Rubyroobs

Your wife will not be on both PIP and DLA. If she was in the support group of ESA then she should not need to hand in sick notes or attend appointments. I would suggest leaving a journal message under ' payments' making it clear she is in the support group and should have the LCWRA element automatically added to your claim under transitional rules, regulation 19. Have you had your first statement yet - if so is your child element definitely on there? 

8dayweek

I would say it sounds like either your son isn’t on there OR has not yet been verified. 

Is your Son a child? If so, presumably there’s no Child Element either (as it’s impossible to verify the Child and omit them from bedroom calculation). 

Has your Wife completed the “tell us about your use of an extra bedroom” task? 

This should come up in her To-Do List after you “confirmed” your housing costs (the questions are about whether you’re unable to share OR whether an extra bedroom is required for an overnight carer). 

Was your Wife definitely in receipt of ESA? It’s common for migration cases from couples on Income Support / Carers Allowance to assume the “cared for” party has LCW/LCWRA but this would only be the case if they’ve had a WCA and isn’t linked to PIP / DLA etc. 

StaplerUk

Sorry, I get ESA for a motorcycle accident and I get DLA for the wife, I don’t understand hardly anything that’s being said here, You are talking to someone who is completely in the dark of how all this works, In the UC journal thing it did ask me to verify how much the landlord charges per week but nothing else and we didn’t see anything and can’t find anything in the to-do list regarding the bedroom situation, All it says right at the bottom of the page is “3 bedroom property 1 person listed as tenant” please forgive me if I sound thick and stupid, UC is completely alien to us

my son is 17 and in college and we where still in receipt of child tax credit and child benefit 

should I just call my council and try and figure something out with them? 

Thanks for the replies 

poppy12345

You won't be claiming DLA for your wife. You are confusing that with Carers allowance, which you would be claiming for looking after her for at least 35 hours per week, due to her claiming daily living PIP. 

Does your UC statement include the child element for your son? if not did you tell them that he lives with you when you filled out the form?

You don't need to ring your council because UC is administered by DWP. 

8dayweek

So it sounds like you were the main claimant on ESA, so yes - if your wife is also unfit for work then she would need to provide Fit Notes and attend a Work Capability Assessment. 

 

Can you clarify who receives either PIP or DLA - you or your wife? And does it include the daily living or care component? 

rosewalk

It sounds as if there are a number of issues here and you might find it helpful to contact the Help to Claim Service on  0800 144 8 444 or your local Welfare Rights Service for support.