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ESA Support Group - new claim for UC.

efloyd
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Financial & social inclusion officer - Isos Housing, Newcastle

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Joined: 16 June 2010

Circs are:
full service area
client was claiming ir ESA SG
had to make a new claim for HB - previous claim had been suspended then cancelled many months before (not sure why - working on that bit and not the reason for my post)

Anyway client was told she had to make new claim for HB - and of course was told she had to claim UC.
Made claim for UC and is being paid standard allowance only - as if job seeker.
Is this correct? she has had no WCA to find her to no longer fulfil the criteria for SG.

thank you :)

Elaine

 

stevenmcavoy
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Welfare rights officer - Enable Scotland

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my understanding is you can carry your LCFW or LCFWRA onto UC so that doesnt appear correct.

Daphne
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rightsnet writer / editor

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This is an ongoing problem which we have raised with UC - see https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/11307/ - they have tried to raise staff awareness but the fundamental problem of the claim form not asking about recent ESA entitlement is still not resolved - we are exploring if there is any possibility of a legal challenge to try and put pressure on to get this sorted.

tarzier
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The Regard Partnership, Kingston

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Hello - Can I ask, I have a client who has a current claim to IR ESA and is in the support group.  He now lives under Tandridge Council.  We have tried making a claim to HB but we are told a claim to UC needs to be made despite having a current ‘legacy benefit’.  Also the type of accommodation he is in would be classed as ‘specified accommodation’.  Can anyone advise whether we have to make a claim to UC.  Prior the client was in hospital and then has been living with his mum.

HB Anorak
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Benefits consultant/trainer - hbanorak.co.uk, East London

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According to the full service roll-out schedule, none of the three Jobcentres serving Tandridge is due to switch to full service until next year.  If that is correct, the claimant cannot claim UC - he will fail both the existing benefit and fitness for work gateway conditions.

Moreover, even if Tandridge was full service he would be entitled to claim HB for specified accommodation and would have no need to make a UC claim for any other reason.

I hear a lot about councils unlawfully obstructing HB claims by people who have every right to make one.  There is nothing at all to prevent this claimant from making a new HB claim in Tandridge.  Any Council that tries this stunt should be challenged to cite the legislation that prevents someone from making a new HB claim.  In live service the only thing that does so is Reg 6 of the UC Transitional Provisions Regs 2014, which says you cannot claim HB if you are on UC or have a UC claim/appeal/recon outstanding ... unless you are in specified accommodation!

tarzier
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The Regard Partnership, Kingston

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Many thanks.  I think the problem is that we are dealing with front line telephone staff, who probably do not understand that regs regarding this accommodation type.  We will go back and perhaps go further up the line to the HB Manager to get it sorted.  I will let you know what happens.

tarzier
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The Regard Partnership, Kingston

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They are now going to pay the HB claims, although they said the full-service roll out schedule for UC is based on postcodes, not on Jobcentre areas. Almost all CR postcodes are already full UC areas. RH and TN postcodes will become full-service over the next couple of years.

Many thanks once again for your help.

HB Anorak
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Yes it is true the full service roll-out (just like the live service roll-out before it) is based on postcodes.  On the whole I think those postcodes are supposed to follow Jobcentre divisions, but I believe you do get the odd anomaly and I did wonder looking at the LGBP map whether the tongue of full service that sticks out to the south of Croydon near Oxted might encroach into Tandridge territory.  Looks like it does, and your client lives there!

But living in specified accommodation means he can still claim HB.  Very important too to emphasise here that there is no other reason why he needs to claim UC just yet if he doesn’t want to.  All other things being equal, if he currently has SDP in his ESA award, he doesn’t want to claim UC.

efloyd
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Financial & social inclusion officer - Isos Housing, Newcastle

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Thank you Daphne and everyone else 😊