15.02.17

Following our blog last month, introducing our transition series which gives families and carers practical advice on how to manage transition where a disabled and vulnerable person is concerned, benefits expert Jayne Knights guides parents and carers through the new rules of Universal Credit and how parents and carers may be affected by this. Over to Jayne…

Back in 2016, I wrote a blog outlining the different options facing young disabled people as they approach 16 and enter a new benefits phase. The article emphasised the importance of careful decision making at this stage, as the path through ESA and PIP can feel a bit like a minefield, and so much hinges on the young person’s education status. To make matters a bit more mind-melting, we now have the national implementation of Universal Credit to factor in. This blog will clarify some of these issues for young people and their carers, as there is so much going on that needs to be carefully navigated.

A quick summary of Universal Credit and how it affects carers

The benefits world has never been more complicated. On top of all the longstanding means tested ‘legacy’ benefits we all know and love, such as income support, housing benefit, tax credits, and income based jobseekers allowance (JSA) and employment and support allowance (ESA), we now have the new-ish kid on the block, Universal Credit (UC). Eventually, UC will take the place of all those legacy benefits as they will be phased out in favour of UC. The main principle of UC is that if you have no other income then you get a lump sum every calendar month which covers all your expenses, including housing and childcare. This is called ‘maximum UC’, and is worked out on a system of allowances and elements. If you are a carer, or a person who cannot work through illness or disability, then you will get extra elements. If you have any income, such as earnings or other benefits, then these will be deducted from your maximum UC, and your monthly UC payment will be the difference between the two. So far, so straightforward. However, the problem is that not all areas have the same system of UC. Brighton, for example, is classed as a ‘live service’ UC area, where only new uncomplicated single jobseekers are allowed to claim UC, and everyone else claims legacy benefits. Hastings however, just down the road, is classed as a ‘full service’ area, and that means that virtually all working age claimants, including most carers and disabled people, will be potential candidates for UC when they need to claim means tested benefits. If your family benefit situation is changing because a disabled person is approaching transition, then your benefit choices are different depending on where you live and it’s essential that you establish the status of UC in your area before you start any new benefit processes.

From April 2017, there are also some changes to other benefits; so here’s a quick summary of what’s in store for all the main benefits connected to transition.

PIP and DLA

The situation with these benefits is exactly the same as in my previous blog. The success rate for new PIP claims is still less than 50%, and about 75% for migration from DLA to PIP, so it’s essential to do your homework before embarking on a claim, whether it’s a new or repeat one.

Carers Allowance

This remains unchanged for the foreseeable future: it is not a means tested benefit, and it is still taken into account as income when calculating means tested benefits such as income support, tax credits, housing benefit and UC. The earnings limit will rise from 10^th April 2017 from £110 to £116, which is good news for working carers.

ESA

As I explained in my blog last year, if the disabled person concerned cannot work, or is in education for 12 hours or fewer a week, then income related ESA is their path to benefit UNLESS you live in a full service UC area, in which case they will probably have to claim UC. They will not be able to claim UC if they live in certain kinds of special accommodation, such as a residential home or in supported living.

If the disabled person is a full time student, studying for more than 12 hours a week, on a course which is at or below A level standard AND they get DLA or PIP, then they can also claim income related ESA unless, yes, you’ve guessed it, they live in a full service UC area, in which case they will probably be directed to claiming UC.

April Warning!

From 10^th April 2017, people who make new claims for ESA who are put into the work-related activity group (WRAG) will not be able to get the £29.05 extra component. This is seriously bad news. Even though people in the WRAG will not be required to look for work in the same way as jobseekers, they will only get the same money as jobseekers, despite overwhelming evidence that the likelihood of poverty is highest among people who unable to work for a prolonged period. There are no remedies for this, other than aiming for the Support Group where an extra component is still paid. The equivalent amount within UC (with the snappy name of ‘limited capability for work element’) will also be unavailable for new claims.

UC and carers

If you are caring for someone on the passporting rates of DLA or PIP, and you live in a full service UC area, then the situation for you may be quite good (and there aren’t that many reasons for saying that about UC, trust me!). In a full service area, carers claiming UC can trigger the ‘carer element’ within UC, worth an extra £150 a month, by either getting carers allowance (which is then taken into account as income) OR by showing that, were it not for the level of your earnings, you would otherwise satisfy the conditions for carers allowance. This is good news if you are a carer in a UC full service area, as it means you can combine reasonable earnings with being a carer, yet still have a chance of getting some UC (although obviously most of your earnings will be taken into account).

Internet resources

I have talked before about how helpful www.turn2us.org.uk is, and there is extensive information about all of these issues on the website.

The DWP information about UC is surprisingly good: httpss://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-toolkit-for-partner-organisations it contains everything you need to know about UC, but it does take a bit of wading through. The pages on the toolkit are updated continuously.

A new site operated by LASA is excellent: www.universalcreditinfo.net. I love this – you simply put in your postcode, and it instantly tells you which version of UC is operating in your area, when it might change, and local advice agencies that may be able to help you.

So – if you and the disabled person concerned are coming up to that tricky transition stage, where decisions need to be made on all matters benefit-related, bear in mind that Universal Credit is going to muddy the waters for some time to come. Don’t drown! Get informed, and always look to the long term when deciding what to do, both as a carer and a young person.

Thank you to Jayne Knights for an extremely informative and helpful blog. Jayne can be contacted via her website, please click here.