Advice needed on rent

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  • calcotti
    calcotti Posts: 15,696
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    edited 19 October 2019 at 4:43PM
    rosey-789 wrote: »
    When would you suggest applying for it because the welfare rights lady said we'd lose that weeks last payment of esa and to wait till we received then start the claim on the 5th.

    If you claim sooner your ESA and Housing benefit will stop sooner but your UC will start sooner. Given there are only just over 2 weeks to go and your obvious uncertainty about the process I would suggest you do not leave it until 4th November because if anything goes wrong such that you do not complete the claim on that date you will then experience the 3 month wait.

    If you have a Citizens Advice near you they may offer a Help to Claim service.

    At the moment I assume your income is Carer's Allowance £66.15, Housing benefit £79/week and ESA of £148.19 (if I have calculated it right) which is £293.34/week plus the PIP. This is equivalent to £1,271.14/month plus PIP) which is less than your UC entitlement so I really see little reason to delay. In fact I think it is better to claim now because if you do your Housing Benefit will run on for two weeks after claiming UC even though you will also get help for this period within your UC. if you claim on 4th November you will not get that run on because your Housing Benefit is due to end on 4th November anyway as a result of your husband reaching pension age.

    Do bear in mind there is likely to be disruption to your cash flow as you switch over from your old benefits to the new one.
    • The Carer's Allowance and PIP will keep coming without change.
    • ESA entitlement will end the day you claim UC (Unless you ask for an advance but if you do this it is a loan which has to be repaid over 12 months.)
    • Housing Benefit will end two weeks after you claim UC or on 4th November, whichever is earlier.
    • Your first monthly UC payment will come 5 weeks after you claim.
    • When your husband's State Pension comes will depend on what frequency he has asked for it to be paid. Usually this is paid every 4 weeks but it is difficult to predict when the first payment will come.
    If you are already getting Council Tax Reduction there is no need to make a new claim. Just tell your local authority that you have claimed UC. They will recalculate your Council Tax Reduction based on information provided to them by DWP about your UC claim.

    My advice, get on and claim it now. Be prepared to need a Fit Note for your husband. Get help from Citizens Advice Help to Claim service if you need it and it is available.
    You will both normally be required to attend the JobCentre to complete the claim but if your husband's health claim prevents this you can request a home visit - to do this you will need to ring the helpline.

    Lots of information on how to claim here https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/claiming/starting-your-universal-credit-claim/
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 17,847
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    To add to all the excellent advice here, don't forget to report that you are a carer when you claim UC, if you don't then they won't add the carers element to your claim.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Posts: 15,696
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    poppy12345 wrote: »
    To add to all the excellent advice here, don't forget to report that you are a carer when you claim UC, if you don't then they won't add the carers element to your claim.
    Good point. It should be picked up because OP is in receipt of CA but tell them once, tell them twice and tell them again is a good approach!
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 17,847
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    calcotti wrote: »
    Good point. It should be picked up because OP is in receipt of CA but tell them once, tell them twice and tell them again is a good approach!
    "should be" being a good word but unfortunately, doesn't always happen.
  • If I start a uc claim this week as I could ask ageuk or the carers charity to help us with it would this mean we'd lose the one weeks payment which is due the 1st. Thank you for every ones help.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Posts: 15,696
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    edited 19 October 2019 at 7:09PM
    rosey-789 wrote: »
    If I start a uc claim this week as I could ask ageuk or the carers charity to help us with it would this mean we'd lose the one weeks payment which is due the 1st. Thank you for every ones help.

    Thinking about it again, despite the Housing Benefit run on and what I said earlier, huckster is right to suggest that the 4th November is the ideal date (because UC is calculated on circumstances at the end of the assessment period). However I strongly think you should not leave it to then in case something goes wrong. Perhaps claiming around the 29th/30th would be sensible. You may effectively lose a week of ESA as a result but a 3 month delay to getting the LCWRA element will cost you much more.

    If you are going to get help you may need to book an appointment anyway so it’s worth contacting them on Monday to see what is possible.

    It really shouldn’t be this complicated and it is ridiculous that claimants such as yourself need to think about the timing of making claims.
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.
  • calcotti wrote: »
    Thinking about it again, despite the Housing Benefit run on and what I said earlier, huckster is right to suggest that the 4th November is the ideal date (because UC is calculated on circumstances at the end of the assessment period). However I strongly think you should not leave it to then in case something goes wrong. Perhaps claiming around the 29th/30th would be sensible. You may effectively lose a week of ESA as a result but a 3 month delay to getting the LCWRA element will cost you much more.

    If you are going to get help you may need to book an appointment anyway so it’s worth contacting them on Monday to see what is possible.

    It really shouldn’t be this complicated and it is ridiculous that claimants such as yourself need to think about the timing of making claims.


    I'll go see someone Monday for help with it. You know this LCWRA ? Does this mean if they don't give us it they could force my partner to look for work as he isn't fit for that.
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 17,847
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    rosey-789 wrote: »
    I'll go see someone Monday for help with it. You know this LCWRA ? Does this mean if they don't give us it they could force my partner to look for work as he isn't fit for that.
    That won't happen because he's in the Support Group for ESA and that award will transfer to UC, although there maybe a delay in doing this, as advised previously.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Posts: 15,696
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    As poppy says the LCWRA status should be transferred across.

    However even without this neither of you would be required to look for work or undertake any work related activity. Your husband would be exempt from 5th November because of reaching pension age. You are exempt because you are caring for someone who receives the Daily Living part of PIP.
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.
  • That's great thank you. I'll go get it sorted Monday and let you all know how it went.
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