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Disabled student UC Claim - LCWRA?
Good afternoon all,
I have a case with a 19yr old young adult who is on PIP enhanced rate and lives with family. They wish to claim UC but the young person is in full time education. They have an EHCP that will allow them to remain in education with SEND support until they are 25.
I want to know how to ensure that they will be treated as having LCWRA as the pressure of commitments will be extremely overwhelming for them and likely to cause substantial risk to mental health.
How is it best to approach? I’ve seen one source suggest they claim cb ESA initially? Seems wrong?
Would appreciate any advice :)
The ESA(c) workaround was mainly for students inhigher education, but it is now largely closed off anyway as the LCW determination must predate the start of the course following an amendment to close that loophole.
Your client is unlikely to be regarded as “receiving education” at all assuming the level is non advanced. The only way they could be excluded from UC as a student would be if the course is incompatible with their commitments. Once they have LCWRA there will be no commitments so it’s just a case of hoping the work coach is sensible about things until LCWRA is formally established
19 is an awkward age. A young person is classed as receiving education if they are a “qualifying young person” and this status can last until the 31st August after their 19th birthday. So depending on when your client turned 19 they may or may not be caught by this definition.
There are four ways that a client can be deemed to be receiving education. The first three are full time advanced education, another full time course for which a maintenance loan or grant is provided, or being a qualifying young person in non-advanced education. The fourth is a catch all definition of anything other course that is not compatible with their work related requirements. So if your client is still a qualifying young person, he doesn’t get to the point where his work-related requirements are relevant.