Universal crdit and self employment

Good afternoon
I have a scenario
I have a couple 1 is apprentice working 30 hours per week £3.90 per hour = £117 per week
other party is sight impaired just started some sort of self employment £25 per week 12 hours.
they have 2 dependent children.
Looking at being assessed under capability if the client were to get LCWRA QBC implies this is ok. Is this true?
I understand that whilst you have LCWRA then MIF is not applied but how can you work and be sick LCWRA unless its permitted work?

to add insult to injury they have let their DLA lapse so needing to help to apply for PIP now.

can anyone help please

thank you in anticipation of any help greatly received

best wishes

Nigel

There is no such thing as exempt or permitted work in UC.  You won’t be assessed for LCW in the first place if you earn more than 16x NMW per week unless you have PIP etc, but otherwise it’s every case on its merits.  Obviously the more work you do, the less likely it is that DWP will accept you have LCW, but it is perfectly possible to do some work that keeps the brain or fingers supple while having LCW and the knock-on advantage that brings to the earnings assessment in year 2.

Because the legacy benefits slotted people into silos (in FT work, looking for FT work, too sick to do FT work, excused from FT work) and you claimed a different one depending on your position in the labour market (respectively WTC, JSA, ESA, IS), there had to be some kind of rules around the work you could do while in the ESA silo.  But UC is just one big grain store and everybody is in it so the boundaries between different levels of conditionality can be more fluid - in theory there is a smooth sliding scale from working full time to not being expected even to think about work, with UC adjusting as you move up or down the scale.

Thank you very much for your response

I thought if it was low hours they may be ok but if working equivalent of full time you might struggle

thank you

best wishes

Nigel

About the MIF, there are other reasons it may not apply: For example, if the younger child is 2 or under and they’re the main carer.

They would seem to have a good argument that the self-employment should anyway not be considered to be their “main employment”.
Generally, if the hours spent on the self-employment are significantly less than half the claimant’s expected hours, it would not be taken to be their main employment (even if they don’t do any other work). See the ADM H4032.
If you do try and argue this, remember that being the main carer or having disabilities may reduce your expected hours.

If it is their main employment, they would be entitled to the 12 month start-up period.

Thank you for your help
best wishes

Nigel