overlapping elements and work allowances .. is there a simple answer?

I thought I’d got a reasonable grasp on UC but have now confused myself.

Imagine a single claimant, who has limited capabillity for work and is also a carer.  If they claim UC they potentially qualify for the LCW element and the carer element, but only the carer element gets paid as this is higher.

What if they then return to work?  Which work allowance is used?

Assuming she doesn’t have children, and so can’t qualify for the single parent work allowance, then I think she should be entitled to the LCW work allowance. Reg 22 of the UC regs says that you qualify for this work allowance if you have limited capability for work - it doesn’t say you have to have the element included in your max award. So I think she should be able to keep the carer element and get the higher work allowance - but that’s just my interpretation of course!

Thanks Daphne,

that’s encouraging.  I suppose I will have to wait for some real live claimants to find out whether the UC computer can cope in practice.