I moved last June and the first time in sixty years needed help with housing costs, applied for housing benefit but was told to claim universal credit. What a nightmare! I’m having to pay back the first payment as they said it was a mistake and i didn’t get a valid payment until eleven weeks after i claimed, fourteen weeks after i moved in! Then they said i had to pay that back too! After two weeks of sheer hell worrying (i had paid it off my growing rent arrears, same with the first payment) they said i should not have received the letter saying i must pay it back. My payments should be £280 (when i write a number here it has a pink outline as if its not a valid word so will write amounts differently in case it wont print them) two hundred and eighty pounds but with the first payment deducted they are just £232 two hundred and thirty two pounds. My rent is £418 four hundred and eighteen but when i asked them to pay my landlord direct they said i must pay £210 two hundred and ten pounds myself. The only other money i get is ESA and because i claimed universal credit this was reduced to £110 a hundred and ten pounds a week. Once i have paid the rent i will be left with just £233 two hundred and thirty three pounds for household bills and everything else! This is just not possible.
I am severely disabled, used to get disability living allowance and severe disability living allowance but lost this when PIP came in but have been refused PiP twice, was told the criteria is different to DLA/SDA. but i know i fit some of the criteria. One of my old benefit letters says the law says i need far more than this as i am severely disabled. My disabilities have not changed but i can get no help with them at all and cannot live on £233 a month. Surely they are breaking the law or has the law changed?
Hi,
It’s very difficult to read what you’ve wrote because of the lack of paragraphs but i’ll do my best. Also when typing in numbers it’s normal for them to appear a different colour to you, once your question has been posted the colour returns to normal. There’s no need to put in the amounts in words, it just makes it more difficult to read.
I’m assuming you’re claiming Contributions based ESA? This isn’t part of UC so this will always be pad separately to the UC.
For your UC monthly payment you should just be claiming the housing element. Do you rent privately or from social housing? If you rent privately, have you sent in a copy of your tenancy agreement? You need to check your online journal to see what exactly it says about your housing element. This does need to be paid from your monthly payment although it can be paid straight to your landlord in certain circumstances.
Before you claimed UC you were most likely receiving a disability element in your ESA payment because you were claiming DLA. Even if you were claiming PIP you would have lost this payment from your UC because the disability premiums aren’t paid on UC. If you still don’t understand it then i’d advise you to visit your local CAB for a full benefit check and they will be able to tell you if the amount you’re claiming is correct.
When you were refused PIP did you ask for the Mandatory Reconsideration then Tribunal, if that failed? If not, why not? how many times have you applied for PIP? Constantly re-applying using the same evidence isn’t going to help because they’ll most likely keep refusing you. You need to request the MR then Tribunal to give yourself the best chance of a decision in your favour.
DLA and PIP are different benefits and you really can’t compare them both. PIP is awarded based on how your conditions affect your ability to carry out daily activities based on the PIP descriptors. Evidence will be needed to support your claim.
Hi Denise,
Thanks for your reply. I found my post difficult to write as the spellchecker doesnt work, it gives no suggestions of words and it either doesnt start sentences with a capital or does but then stays in capitals. Never known a keyboard like it!
Yes im on contribution ESA i think, not sure what that means though. i used to be on income support but then it was changed to ESA. I live in sheltered housing so social housing. My journal says my housing element is £442 and after i asked them to pay my rent direct their first message under Housing Changes said they will pay my landlord £442 but then someone wrote they will pay £232 but i must pay the difference of £210 myself. This leaves me just £233 from my ESA and my household bills are double that.
i have applied for PIP twice, did the mandatory reconsideration the first time but was still refused. The process made me so ill i was unable to take it to a tribunal. The second time was just recently and i was struggling to deal with what was happening with UC and couldnt do the mandatory reconsideration as well. I’m severely mentally impaired and finding it all very difficult.
At first my journal messages received replies but apart from the one asking them to pay my rent direct all the other ones are ignored. I posted one saying an agent has written i moved on 19th July when i moved on 26th June but this too was ignored.
I emailed a debt advisor who has visited me twice, the 2nd time she rang UC on my behalf but they told her my payments of £232 are correct and she said theres nothing more she can do to help. Going to CAB is very difficult, i’ve been agoraphobic for 40 years so only go out when im forced…for hospital/Drs/dentist appointments and these are extremely stressful. The one time i did manage to go to CAB, about something else they had no advisors so couldnt help me.
The second time i applied for PIP a DWP woman came and helped with the form but it was still refused. The debt advisor wants to help me apply again in January as she said i should be on it.
UC told me to get a fitnote from my GP saying i should then get a disability premium. She said she would ring me back in a week but she didnt ring. I got the fitnote, it says i am unable to work and do not need to be assessed again. I posted a message in my journal asking the woman to call me back as i want to discuss the disability premium further but this was ignored too. I read to get the premium you have to be on DLA/PIP so i think she was wrong in saying i would get it?
All i can say about UC is there’s no disability premiums paid. You definitely read wrong about needing to be claiming DLA/PIP. Either one of those awards will have to affect on a UC claim.
If you’re still claiming ESA then you don’t need a fit/sick note from your GP.
What i do advise is though that you really shouldn’t re-apply again for PIP. You need to ask the MR of your most recent decision, then Tribunal if that fails. This is your best chance of having a decision in your favour. Re-applying again in January is not your answer because they’ll simply refuse you yet again.
I’m so confused, yes i am still claiming ESA so if i dont need a fitnote then why did the UC woman tell me to get one? Ive never had a fitnote before in my life but she said if i got it i would probably then get the disability premium. Did she mean i would get it added to my ESA if UC dont pay disability premiums? But then the amount would just be deducted from my UC payment surely?
UC say they are paying my housing costs but theyre not. How can they say my UC housing element is £442 when i only receive £232? And how can they expect me to pay £210 of my ESA to my landlord when it only leaves me with £233 to live on?
As for PIP, its too late to do the MR as i was refused over a month ago. I intended doing it but i had too much else going on that took all my strength and energy (UC plus several other unrelated things ive had to deal with). Plus im not sleeping as im so worried about not being able to pay my bills. I used most of my savings to clear my rent arrears, they built up because UC took so long to pay me so i now have very little to fall back on.
When i claimed housing costs the last thing i expected was to have my ESA reduced and then be told i must use almost half of it towards my rent. Theyre forcing me to choose between paying my rent, paying my bills or having money for food. How can this be right?
First of all you need to find out if your ESA is Income related or contributions based. If you were previously claiming Income support then it can’t be contributions based it must be income related. If it’s income related then this should have stopped when you claimed UC.
At the moment your ESA is being deducted from your UC. When you claimed UC they should have honoured your ESA award and placed you into the relevant group for UC.
Forget about the premiums for UC because they simply don’t exist, never have and never will.
For your PIP you’re not too late to request the MR. You do in fact have 13 months to request this, with good reason. If you request the MR and DWP don’t accept the reason they will just keep the decision the same and send you a decision letter. Makes no different anyway because most MR decisions remain the same. You’ll need this decision letter to request the Tribunal. I advise you to request MR then Tribunal first, don’t re-apply again.
I’m not really sure where you’re getting your advice from but so much of it is wrong, i’m afraid.
Your whole situtation is far too complex for an internet forum. because there’s only so much advice you can give this way. You really do need face to face advice. Do you have anyone that can take you for this advice? a family member or a friend?
Good luck.
Just checked my benefit letter and it says its contribution based. I have no understanding of it though…it says my living expenses are £0.00! Then it says extra money because youre in the support group £37.65 which gives you a total income related amount £37.65. Then it says no income will be taken off your ESA. Your income related amount is £37.65 less £0.00 so you would have been entitled to £37.65. then it says However because you are entitled to contribution based ESA we will pay you £110.75. The amounts on this page apply from 17th July 2018 to 27th November.
17th July is my UC claim date. But i didnt receive this benefit letter until 8th November so does this mean i have been paid more and will have to pay it back? My fortnightly ESA payments had been £254 until November.
Yes that’s contributions based but you were claiming the income related top up on that because £254 a fortnight is the Enhanced disability premium added on top. So, £16.40 per week will be deducted from your UC. As you’ve been receiving less UC than what you’re supposed to be receiving that will be the reason why.
You don’t need to send fit notes into the job centre because you’re already claiming ESA and you’re in the support Group. Contributions based ESA is not part of UC. UC is a means tested benefit and contributions based isn’t. The only reason you’re claiming UC is for the housing element.
Also council tax reduction isn’t part of UC, i hope you realised that? You need to claim this from your local council.
Once you start receiving the right amount of ESA £110.75 per week, then your UC should be correct. There’s not really going to be much difference really other than your ESA will be less, for your UC to be more.
As for the PIP please get some advice and request the MR, then Tribunal if that fails and most do. Starting yet another new claim really isn’t the answer here.
So what youre saying is both are correct? But how can i be expected to pay £210 of my rent with my ESA? This does not leave enough to cover my household bills never mind all other living expenses!
As for council tax, at first i was told i had to pay almost £30 a month but eventually after many emails i received a letter saying im exempt due to being severely mentally impaired.
I will look again at my last PIP refusal but i think it said i only had a month to do the MR. If this can be extended then i will do the MR but the thought of attending a tribunal terrifies me. But then again so does trying to live on £233 a month.
With hindsight i think i was wrong to clear my rent arrears using my savings. My warden had told me to pay just £13 a week rent when she helped me apply for HB saying this should cover the amount i would have to pay once i receive HB. But HB was refused and waiting for this and then struggling to claim UC instead (this was extremely difficult but my warden wasnt allowed to help me with it) caused a 3 week delay. I asked UC if they would backpay my rent for this 3 weeks but they said my council would deal with it though HB. But i was refused HB so dont understand this.
The rent arrears continued building as UC took 11 weeks to pay my first payment, each week meant another £104.55 rent arrears minus the £13 i was paying.
I contacted my housing association as a red arrears letter said they may be able to help and their debt advisor is visiting me tomorrow.
I’m not sure what you mean by “both are correct” Once your ESA payments are correct then you’ll receive £220 every 2 weeks from ESA.
Then you’ll have your UC housing element but this payment will be more because they won’t taking any money off you for your ESA payment.
I have no idea what your circumstances are, how many bedrooms you’re entitled to, how many bedrooms you have in your home, so i can’t help with that part.
You talk about savings, did you have more than £6,000 when you first applied for UC? UC is a means tested benefit and savings are counted.
When you moved house as your area was a full UC area then it was correct that you wouldn’t have been able to claim housing benefit, it was UC for the housing element. Backdating a UC can only be done in the most extreme circumstances and the maximum time it can be backdated for is 1 month.
Asking for the MR for your PIP, yes it’s within 1 month of the date of the decision BUT with good reason like i said you do have 13 months. Most MR decisions remain the same anyway. To constantly start new claims is the worst idea you can have. Always fight the decision with MR then Tribunal if that fails. 71% of those who appear in person have a decision in their favour, the only down side is that waiting times can be very long in some areas. If a decision goes in your favour it will be backdated to the date you applied.
PIP is totally different to what DLA was and it does help to have some understanding of what it’s all about. There’s plenty of information on the internet about PIP, the descriptors, what they mean ect. I’d advise doing some research, gathering some evidence that supports exactly how your conditions affect you then request the MR in writing. Mention the reasons why you’re late making the request, if they refuse then that’s fine because you’ll be sent the MR refusal letter and this is what you need to request the Tribunal.
I asked UC to pay my rent direct so i wont be receiving any more UC payments, they will pay the £232 to my landlord and i have to pay £210 difference from my ESA. My ESA payments are correct, i received another letter in the post yesterday saying i requested to know how much my ESA is and it confirmed the first letter of £110.75. The strange thing is i didnt request this!
My savings were around £2,000 when i claimed UC. i moved from a 3 bedroom house to a tiny one bedroom bungalow in sheltered housing. I lived for 14 years with an elderly friend who was my carer, he owned his house and his wishes were i stay living in it the rest of my life then it would go to his 3 sons. He became ill almost 5 years ago then developed dementia and i then cared for him. His sons refused to help and when he died in March they went against his wishes and evicted me to sell the house. He hadnt put his wishes in writing as he believed his sons would abide by his wishes and told me many times they would never evict me. I struggled with caring for him, had to fight to try to get his needs met, it was an absolute nightmare. Then went through the nightmare experience of being evicted, ive been agoraphobic 40 years and my home was where i felt safe.
The last thing i expected after moving is to be in a position where i dont receive enough to pay my rent and bills.
I’m sorry to hear you were evicted from your home.
You said in an earlier post that you were receiving £254 a fortnight for your ESA? That will have included the Enhanced disability premium, so they would have been deducting that from your UC. As this extra payment of £16.40 per week on your ESA has now stopped you should be getting more UC.
It’s extremely difficult to advise on an internet forum. I have no idea what area you live to be able to work out what your LHA is for your area. Maybe put all your details into a benefits calculator or look on your local councils website to see what the housing allowance is for a 1 bedroom in your area. It’s possible that your rent is more than what you’re allowed. What ever i suggest i’m purely guessing here.
What you really do need is face to face advice from an advice centre like CAB or welfare rights to check what benefits you should be claiming. Can someone go with you for this?
I wish i could help you more but i’ve advised you as much as i can, i’m sorry.
Please do consider that MR request for your PIP and then Tribunal if that fails and it most likely will.
Thank you for all your advice. The debt advisor Farrah from my housing association came today and she spoke to UC but failed to get anywhere with them. They said i dont have a work coach, that nothing has been done with my fitnote and that i havent been assessed for capability to work. Farrah said she got quite snotty with her. Same as the one did me when i rang them before.
Farrah said i should be getting over £200 more, i think she meant on my ESA (she didnt have the exact amount with her but said she has it in her office) and shes looking into it for me with the vulnerbility people. She said all the other people on my complex on HB only have to pay £5/£6 on their rent, the rest is paid through HB. She said she will look into this too.
But it got me thinking after she left…HB is being phased out and everyone on it will have to claim UC. Does this mean everyone whose HB covers the majority of their rent will find themselves in the same situation as me..having to find almost half their rent from their pension/benefit? UC can only be claimed online but many people dont own a computer/tablet. When i told my 81 year old neighbour he will have to claim UC instead of getting HB he said he will tell them to get stuffed, what can they do to him at his age. i told him they could evict him and he said he would simply take a bottle of pills and go to sleep.
A very worrying reaction, what is this government doing?
No problem. I won’t comment any further to your UC/ESA issues, only to add that you don’t need fit notes or a work coach because you’re claiming Contributions based ESA and you’re in the Support Group.
UC is a working age benefit so people claiming their state pension will not be able to claim UC even for the housing element. No announcements have been made yet as to what happens to those claiming HB and pension. For the moment they will continue to claim HB the same for those claiming HB for the first time, if they claim their pension they will be able to claim HB still.
Thanks for the information about UC being for working age people only, i was able to tell my neighbour he wont have to claim it putting his mind at rest.
Got an email saying to check my UC account, the message was just asking my permission for them to speak to Farrah from my housing association which i gave (again as i gave it yesterday!). In my to do list it says i must provide a fitnote. i sent this to them last week but the xmas post may have held it up. i hope it doesnt get lost in the post. Do you know if id have to get another one if this happens? I did take a photo of it before posting it, would they accept a copy of this?
I know you said i wouldnt need a fitnote because im claiming contribution based ESA and in the support group but they did ask for one. I dont think they even know what theyre doing which gives me little confidence in them. I just want this mess sorting and to receive enough to cover my rent and bills.
Having to send a fit note for UC doesn’t make any sense to me because you’re claim ESA contributions based in the Support Group. I would also add a note on your journal telling them you’re claiming Contributions based ESA and you’re in the Support Group.
As they’re asking you for a fit note then you’ll most likely have a work coach. If this happens there’s a chance they’ll require you to do some work commitments but this will depend on your work coach. Some lower the amount of hours required, very rarely they turn them off completely. Handing in a fit note means a work capability assessment will be required and you’ll eventually be sent the UC50 form (same as ESA50 but different name) Doing it this way will mean your ESA will be deducted £1 for £1 for the UC because you can’t claim both. Seems totally pointless to me why they’re asking you for a fit note.
Universal credit is a complete nightmare for those with a limited capability for wort and a lot of advisers from DWP don’t know what they’re doing either because they’ve had very limited training.
What you really need is advice from someone like CAB or welfare rights near you. These would be the best people to advise you. The person that you seen yesterday seems like she has little knowledge too…
In the meantime for your fit note i’d advise adding a note onto your journal and say you sent it last week.
You are right about UC being a nightmare for those with limited capability for work, one woman i spoke to told me i shouldnt be receiving UC and ESA but she also told me i didnt receive the £561 payment they later asked me to pay back! She obviously hadnt got a clue what she was doing.
Theres absolutely no chance i could work, just going out to the chemist to collect my ADHD meds is extremely stressful but my GP said its important i continue collecting them rather than have them delivered otherwise i could end up completely housebound again. If i have to have capability assessment they will send someone out to me, just as they did for my jobcentre interview. This sounds ridiculous, if i cant attend an assessment it goes without saying i cant possibly go out to work!
I left a journal message saying i sent the fitnote last week and im going to see if Farrah can sort it. Im reluctant to ask someone to take me to CAB as when my daughter took me once before i was awake all night worrying about going only to find they had no advisors so it was a waste of time.
This whole situation has left me feeling very stressed, im also dealing with one of my cats being ill the last few weeks, taking him to the vets is really difficult but ive had to and its all taking its toll on my health. I can only deal with so much and feel ive reached my limit.
Good news…UC sent a file saying they owe me £1198 as they hadnt been paying me LCWRA. This is the payment Farrah asked them to investigate so im so glad i contacted her. Its not exactly a windfall as ive paid £1344 from my savings to clear my rent arrears but its very welcome as now i have savings again. Farrah said my monthly UC payments will now go up. I looked up LCWRA and it said its £328 a month, i dont know if this is on top of my £232 payments but i hope so as my rent is £418 a month. The file doesnt specify an amount as to how much im entitled to or how much theyve already paid me..it just says £0.00 so ill have to wait to find out.
I still feel angry that they refused to answer any of my journal messages and that ive had to go through weeks of severe stress and sleepless nights. If i hadnt contacted the debt advisor from my housing association nothing would have been done and my nightmare would have continued. These people need training in how to do their job!
Hi,
Something definitely isn’t right here because you can’t be paid ESA contributions based of £110 per week and the LCWRA part of UC at the same time.
Claiming Contributions based ESA and UC at the same time, your ESA should be deducted £1 for £1 from your universal credit. If it’s done this way then you should be claiming the following elements. Standard allowance over 25 single person £317.82 + LCWRA £328.32 total amount £646.14 per month.
As you’re claiming Contributions based of £110.75 per week, which works out as £479 per month because UC is paid monthly. This amount should be deducted from your UC £1 for £1 £646.14 - £479 = £167 then on top of this you should be claiming the housing element, as i don’t know what area you are then i can’t help with that part.
To break it all down in simple terms you should be being paid £110.75 per week CB ESA then for UC will be your housing element + £167 because you have LCWRA.
Being paid both CB ESA and the full amount of LCWRA of £328.32 is not correct because you can’t be paid them twice. Are you sure part of what they owed you wasn’t because of the shortfall with your housing element?