Moving to UC

karonnie · 12 December 2018 at 4:49PM

Hi I am just wondering if anyone can help.

I currently claim PIP, ESA and housing benefit but I'm moving to a UC area and I'm wondering what I can do.

According to the calculation tool I used online I'd be around £350 a month worse off?

I'm wondering if I HAVE to switch to UC and whether not claiming housing benefit would make a difference? (My rent is £165 per month so I'd be better off sticking with esa and pip and paying my own rent).

Thanks.

pmlindyloo · 12 December 2018 at 5:20PM

karonnie wrote: »

Hi I am just wondering if anyone can help.

I currently claim PIP, ESA and housing benefit but I'm moving to a UC area and I'm wondering what I can do.

According to the calculation tool I used online I'd be around £350 a month worse off?

I'm wondering if I HAVE to switch to UC and whether not claiming housing benefit would make a difference? (My rent is £165 per month so I'd be better off sticking with esa and pip and paying my own rent).

Thanks.

Can you please tell us exactly what kind of ESA you are claiming? Contribution based? Contribution based with an income based 'top up' or purely income based?

Look on your award letter and tell us how the amount you receive has been calculated.

Based on what you have said it seems that you might be receiving the Severe Disability Premium with your ESA. This would be if you get the daily living component of PIP, live alone (or are treated as living alone) and no one receives Carer's allowance for you.

There is no Severe disability Premium in UC so this may be why the calculator is showing a loss in benefits.

You could close your HB claim and not transfer to UC if you can manage financially.

Please answer the questions about your ESA award so we can check your UC calculation.

karonnie · 12 December 2018 at 5:43PM

Hi yeah I'm on income related esa in the support group so I get £110.75 for that plus enhanced and severe premiums at £16.40 and £66.30 p/w.

pmlindyloo · 12 December 2018 at 5:55PM

karonnie wrote: »

Hi yeah I'm on income related esa in the support group so I get £110.75 for that plus enhanced and severe premiums at £16.40 and £66.30 p/w.

OK, so as I thought. You are currently claiming the SDP and since there is no SDP in UC that accounts for the loss.

Since you are moving to a new area I see no reason why you should just not apply for HB from your new council.

I also believe that you can still apply for council tax reduction as this is not part of UC.

As you will have a live claim for ESA then moving should have no effect on that.

There is new legislation (supposedly coming into effect from the end of January 2019 but with the current state of affairs this may be delayed) where claimants in your position (ie claiming SDP with their ESA) will not be moved to UC until they are moved through managed migration and they have transitional protection.

So, in the future you may be able to put in a claim for HB although living in a full service Universal credit area.

The only possible problem might be if the council asks why you are not claiming HB as you are on income based ESA and have an automatic entitlement. Your reply would be as you have outlined here. I wouldn't worry about this at the moment.

When are you actually moving?

karonnie · 12 December 2018 at 6:51PM

Well I spoke to the housing association I'm renting from earlier and they said I would need to claim UC as there is no HB option now?

I'm moving on the 22nd (I didn't expect to move til January so it's a bit of a rush!).

My worry is if I contact the dwp to update my address for esa they will automatically transfer me to UC?

I read about some kind of on going payment that was being put in place for those missing SDP but it didn't make much sense.

Also if I do have to switch will there be a gap in payments? I've spent my savings decorating my new place on the assumption I would just carry on my benefits as they are.

tazwhoever · 12 December 2018 at 7:22PM

Personally I will not rely on ESA IB to pay my rent, disclose it to HA. As most will realise IB ESA is not permanent as those on ESA can affect income after reassessment.

pmlindyloo · 12 December 2018 at 7:40PM

karonnie wrote: »

Well I spoke to the housing association I'm renting from earlier and they said I would need to claim UC as there is no HB option now?

I'm moving on the 22nd (I didn't expect to move til January so it's a bit of a rush!).

My worry is if I contact the dwp to update my address for esa they will automatically transfer me to UC?

I read about some kind of on going payment that was being put in place for those missing SDP but it didn't make much sense.

Also if I do have to switch will there be a gap in payments? I've spent my savings decorating my new place on the assumption I would just carry on my benefits as they are.

That is correct. If you move to a full service universal Credit you cannot make a new claim for HB. You would have to claim UC and your ESA payment would also become part of UC. You would be less well off because there is no SDP with UC.

You have a choice.

Claim UC and be worse off although you may get a compensation payment later or

Don't claim UC and pay your rent out of your ESA and PIP. Your ESA will not be moved to UC if you don't claim for rent. It will continue even after updating your new address.

karonnie · 12 December 2018 at 8:42PM

That's great thank you.

Alice_Holt · 12 December 2018 at 9:48PM

Sorry, but I'm about to complicate matters karonnie.

I don't think you would be £350 pm worse off under UC (after you move).

Under UC you should receive:
The Basic element of £318 (over 25 rate);
The limited capability for work related activity element (LCWRA) of £328.32 per month
(because your are in the Support Group and should transfer automatically to the LCWRA under UC);
Housing costs element of £165
(I am assuming this will be equal to your rent liability)

Which gives a total of £187 per week. (Please check my assumptions and figures)
https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Universal-Credit/Additional-Elements-of-Universal-Credit#guide-content

Compared to the £193pw ESA you currently receive.

With UC:
The difficulty will be the UC 5 week wait, the poor application / administration process, a likely administration delay in applying the LCWRA element.

It's a pity we don't know the details of likely compensation payment for those moving to UC and losing disability premiums yet.

If you stay on ESA and don't claim UC, then I think it worthwhile to write to your MP / Secretary of State for DWP . Set out your situation and ask them to intervene with the DWP to see if they can establish if there would be any clarity over compensation payments in your circumstances, etc.
Keep all correspondence and when you do move to UC use this to try to get a fair outcome to your dilemma

pmlindyloo · 12 December 2018 at 11:45PM

Alice_Holt wrote: »

Sorry, but I'm about to complicate matters karonnie.

I don't think you would be £350 pm worse off under UC (after you move).

Under UC you should receive:
The Basic element of £318 (over 25 rate);
The limited capability for work related activity element (LCWRA) of £328.32 per month
(because your are in the Support Group and should transfer automatically to the LCWRA under UC);
Housing costs element of £165
(I am assuming this will be equal to your rent liability)

Which gives a total of £187 per week. (Please check my assumptions and figures)
https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Universal-Credit/Additional-Elements-of-Universal-Credit#guide-content

Compared to the £193pw ESA you currently receive.

With UC:
The difficulty will be the UC 5 week wait, the poor application / administration process, a likely administration delay in applying the LCWRA element.

It's a pity we don't know the details of likely compensation payment for those moving to UC and losing disability premiums yet.

If you stay on ESA and don't claim UC, then I think it worthwhile to write to your MP / Secretary of State for DWP . Set out your situation and ask them to intervene with the DWP to see if they can establish if there would be any clarity over compensation payments in your circumstances, etc.
Keep all correspondence and when you do move to UC use this to try to get a fair outcome to your dilemma

Haven't checked the monthly rate versus the weekly rate but I think your UC total includes the housing element whereas the OP's ESA rate doesn't include their HB.

Or am I mistaken?

karonnie · 13 December 2018 at 12:02AM

I think the best thing for me to do is to stay with esa/pip for a few monthUCand pay my own rent so I can save money for the transition period in between moving to UC.

I can't seem to get any clear answer on what I would receive as the online calculators give me different amounts!

It wouldn't be so frustrating if I hadn't literally just got my esa and pip sorted after months of waiting!

Thanks for all your help x

Moving to UC

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