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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Universal credit administration  →  Thread

UC and LCW

stevenmcavoy
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just needing some help to see if I am thinking this through properly.

trying to do some examples of UC to show better/worse off scenarios.

under the current system for most disabled workers its a matter of under 16 hours and earnings limits permitted work then at 16 hours its tax credits with a disability element (put very simply I admit).

under UC it looks like the LCW component can be retained if the claimant has DLA or PIP or has already passed the WCA.

Again very simply, is the overall intention of this that the LCW component becomes an equivalent of the disability element for some by allowing them to retain it at 16 hours?

these are my first attempts at calculations so I could be well off here!

Daphne
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My understanding is that generally you can have the LCW element if you have passed the WCA and you are earning below the relevant threshold (16 x national minimum wage per week). However, if you get DLA, PIP or AA then the relevant threshold does not apply and you can earn as much as you like and still get the LCW element - earnings taken into account as income of course less relevant work allowance. See reg 41 UC regs.

So I guess some kind of replacement for the disability element in WTC - yes - but of course much harder as you have to pass the WCA which is far from easy even if you can’t work!

[ Edited: 30 Oct 2014 at 02:45 pm by Daphne ]
stevenmcavoy
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Daphne - 30 October 2014 02:43 PM

My understanding is that generally you can have the LCW element if you have passed the WCA and you are earning below the relevant threshold (16 x national minimum wage per week). However, if you get DLA, PIP or AA then the relevant threshold does not apply and you can earn as much as you like and still get the LCW element - earnings taken into account as income of course less relevant work allowance. See reg 41 UC regs.

So I guess some kind of replacement for the disability element in WTC - yes - but of course much harder as you have to pass the WCA which is far from easy even if you can’t work!

cheers for the reply.

looking at pg 1041 of cpag it seems to me to suggest that you can keep lcw elements passed the earnings threshold if you have dla/pip or have passed the wca rather than you needing to have both.

I could be wrong though.

Daphne
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took me a while to find the cpag reference and then I realised it’s from 2013/14 edition.

I agree it’s not perfectly clear in there but I think you have to go back to the regs

Reg 27 says you get an LCW element if you have LCW.

Reg 39 says you have LCW if you have been assessed as so having (ie passed the WCA) or are ‘treated as’ under schedule 8

Schedule 8 says you can be treated as when in receipt of DLA/PIP if you are over pension age but nothing about any other automatic qualifier to LCW via DLA/PIP

So if you are under pension age you have to pass the WCA to get LCW (unless you meet one of the other ‘treated as’ categories)

Reg 41 precludes you from going through the WCA if you earn over the relevant threshold unless you have DLA/PIP. So to my mind all DLA/PIP does is allow you to go through the WCA when earning over the relevant threshold - there is no automatic passing of it.

But I welcome any other views….

stevenmcavoy
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Daphne - 30 October 2014 04:05 PM

took me a while to find the cpag reference and then I realised it’s from 2013/14 edition.

I agree it’s not perfectly clear in there but I think you have to go back to the regs

Reg 27 says you get an LCW element if you have LCW.

Reg 39 says you have LCW if you have been assessed as so having (ie passed the WCA) or are ‘treated as’ under schedule 8

Schedule 8 says you can be treated as when in receipt of DLA/PIP if you are over pension age but nothing about any other automatic qualifier to LCW via DLA/PIP

So if you are under pension age you have to pass the WCA to get LCW (unless you meet one of the other ‘treated as’ categories)

Reg 41 precludes you from going through the WCA if you earn over the relevant threshold unless you have DLA/PIP. So to my mind all DLA/PIP does is allow you to go through the WCA when earning over the relevant threshold - there is no automatic passing of it.

But I welcome any other views….

sorry!

i forgot the new book sent me back to the old one.

the regs posted certainly seem to suggest you are right.