universal credit

John42 wrote: hi does this site have any guides yet to filling in the uc form or can anyone give any advice in applying for sickness benefit from a drs sick note where the applicant is on one of the few areas that has already switched over to universal credit. The dwp and job centres dont seem to have a clue about what to do. Many thanks John

We are in the process of looking at what we need to provide, however, the assessment criteria for ESA under Universal Credit are the same as they are for what is now called "old ESA" so the current guides can still be used.

Just because you are in an area where UC has gone live does not mean that you can claim ESA, UC is still very restricted by what are called Gateway Conditions (restrictions), in most areas it is only single adults wanting to claim JSA, some are now handling couples. There are only a handful of JC+ offices that are "Digitally Live" and are processing all new claims through UC, if you are in one of these then you should follow the advice on the following pages, otherwise make a claim for ESA as normal;

www.gov.uk/universal-credit/overview

and

www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit

Gordon