Independence Payments By Adam Booth and Helen Sephton The Project - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments By Adam Booth and Helen Sephton

The Project • Homelessness • Benefits • Debt • Crisis support • Community Outreach

Universal Credit A new monthly benefit that is replacing; • Income- Based Jobseeker’s Allowance • Income-Based Employment and Support Allowance • Income Support • Working Tax Credit • Child Tax Credit • Housing Benefit • These are called Legacy Benefits

Universal Credit – Key Facts • Paid monthly in arrears • Need a bank account, email address and mobile phone number • Claim is made and updated online using a personalised journal • No longer need to make phone calls which can leave you on hold for a long amount of time • Different allowances and elements are added together to make overall payment • Are entitled to an advance payment once verified

Standard Allowances & Other elements • UC has standard payment amounts and elements Standard Allowance Single claimant under 25 £251.77 Single claimant 25 and over £317.82 Joint claimants, both under £395.20 25 Joint claimants, either/both £498.89 25 and over 1 st child or qualifying young Child Element person (if born before 6 April £277.08 2017) 2 nd & subsequent child or qualifying young person. First £231.67 child as well if born on or after 6 April 2017.

Universal Credit – Additional Disability Elements Lower rate – If claiming low or medium Additional amount for disabled child or qualifying DLA (either component), or standard £126.11 young person PIP daily living Higher rate – If claiming high rate DLA £383.86 or enhanced rate PIP (Only for claims started before 3 April Limited capability for work £126.11 2017) Limited capability for work & work related activity £328.32 Carer element £156.45

Universal Credit – Housing Costs and Council Tax reduction • Claimants will be responsible for paying their rent to the landlord • Exemption – Housing Benefit will still be the method of payment for claimants in supported and temporary accommodation and the claim for this will still be made via the Local Authority • On UC claim under housing costs, you will tick yes to having housing costs and then tick living in supported accommodation. • Applications for Council Tax Reduction will still be made via Local Authority directly

Universal Credit and Benefit Cap • Claimants can be affected by Benefit Cap while on UC. • Claimants who are receiving DLA or PIP are exempt from the Benefit Cap. • Universal Credit is not currently available to families with more than two dependent children.

Universal Credit - Natural Migration • If you have a change of circumstances which means that you are taken off your current benefit • Change of address if moving to new local authority if requiring assistance with housing costs • Youngest child turns five-years-old so Income Support entitlement comes to an end

Universal Credit – Natural Migration No longer eligible for ESA • DWP are undertaking medical reviews on many ESA claimants • If taken off ESA, need to apply for Universal Credit, even if appealing the decision for being taken off ESA. • If still unfit for work, will need to provide fit note on UC up until DWP invite you in for a Work Capability Assessment to assess your illnesses and/or disabilities

Universal Credit – Managed Migration Managed Migration • Everybody on Legacy Benefits will be going onto Universal Credit between July 2019 – March 2023. • DWP have not given any further details as to how they will be doing this ie inviting people by the area they live in or by which of the legacy benefits they currently receive.

Universal Credit – Managed migration • DWP will invite everybody to apply for Universal Credit that are still on legacy benefits by letter • On this letter, it will state the date on which the Universal Credit application has to be made • You need to make the application in the timeframes to be entitled to transitional protection

Universal Credit – Transitional Protection • Transitional Protection means that you will not be worse off on UC than you were on legacy benefits • Will receive a ‘transitional’ payment up until your UC award increases to the amount you were receiving on legacy benefits • Transitional Protection is not available to anybody yet as managed migration has not started

Universal Credit – Making a claim • Claim made online on gov.uk website • Form asks many questions including employment, education and illnesses • If answer is no to a question, once submitted it will show as section completed • Once form is completed, you will be prompted to verify your identity

Universal Credit – Verifying Identity • You can verify online via Post Office and Experian as well as other companies • If cannot verify online, need to book an appointment at local Jobcentre • DWP have not advised if the claimants under managed migration will have an alternate to having an appointment at local Jobcentre. • If claimant does not have relevant ID, will have a test which asks five questions about them DWP has attached to NiNo • Once verified, can apply for an advance payment

Universal Credit – Advance payment • New claimants to UC are able to have an advance payment • This is up to standard amount and other elements ie child element • Will be recovered from first twelve months of claim in equal payments • Example: If you have an advance of £400, your monthly UC will be deducted by £33.34 for the first twelve months of payments

Alternative Payment Arrangements (APA) APAs have been developed by DWP. The APAs are; • Payment of housing costs paid directly to landlord (referred to as managed payments). Landlords can request this without claimants permission if they have more than two months of rent arrears • Twice monthly payments (in exceptional circumstances, four payments per month) • Split payments to different partners within a couple

Reasons DWP will consider an APA • DWP will make decision based on claimants circumstances • Claimants who have a probable need for an APA ie claimant has drug and alcohol issues, learning difficulties, mental health conditions, multiple debts, risk of homelessness, domestic abuse and rent arrears). • Direct payments to landlord are top priority to avoid risk of homelessness • APAs are designed to be temporary – 3 to 24 months, and should be reviewed after an appropriate period to see if claimant still requires the APA

Personal Independence Payment • Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is replacing DLA for working age people and everyone will have to apply, even if they have ‘lifetime’ or ‘indefinite’ awards • DLA still exists for those under 16 and Attendance Allowance still exists for those of state pension age • All new claims for disability benefit for working age people are now made to PIP

Personal Independence Payment • PIP is a points based system and you need 8 points for standard entitlement, and 12 points for enhanced • You can get both daily living and mobility, but can also get one singular component • You would need to get a minimum of 8 points on both components to be eligible got both daily living and mobility components, not 8 points between both components

Personal Independence Payments – Components and payment amounts • Made of two components, daily living and mobility. • Both components have two elements, standard and enhanced Component Weekly rate Daily living - standard rate £57.30 Daily living - enhanced rate £85.60 Mobility - standard rate £22.65 Mobility - enhanced rate £59.75

Personal Independence Payment – Application Form • Paper based form which asks a number of questions including washing and bathing, communication, mixing with other people and moving around • Descriptors are used to score each of the questions • PIP form will also request details of any medical professionals that are currently supporting the claimant • PIP form requests any medication and treatment that the claimant is currently prescribed, as well as side effects.

Personal Independence Payment – Descriptor Example

Personal Independence Payment – Reasons to apply You will be asked to apply for PIP when any of the following happen; • Your DLA ends because it was awarded for a fixed period – eg for five years • You turn 16 • Your condition changes • The DWP send you a letter asking you to claim.

DWP inviting by letter • The DWP will write to you with a date of which you need to apply for PIP • Your DLA will stay in payment until a decision has been made on your PIP application • You need to ensure that you do not claim before the date they give you because you will lose your DLA if you claim to early

How to apply • You need to call the PIP claimline to make the initial claim – 0800 917 2222 • They will ask for information including name, address, National Insurance Number, GP surgery and bank details • The DWP will then send a claim form in the post and this needs to be completed and returned within a month with copies of any evidence • If you are making a completely new claim and not transferring from DLA, your claim date will start from the date you make the initial phone call.