Having UC LCWRA and wanting to try work for social inclusion

Hi EAPage

Thank you for your post, your son needs to get accurate advice from his local Welfare Rights Organisation; you can find your local Welfare Rights Organisation to help you with advice by clicking on the link below and putting in your post code, it will then come up with a MAP with a list of agencies. advicelocal.uk

I will try and answer some of your questions;

1) Can he work whilst on LCWRA - (as you could do permitted work on ESA if in the support group)? There is no permitted work as there was with ESA, yes your son can work whilst on LCWRA but it would depend on his circumstances, which is why he needs to see a Welfare Rights Organisation.

2) What hours he can work? If your son works over 16 hrs per week he will loose LCWRA.

3) How much he can earn before deductions off his UC? Remember UC is different from ESA, as your son is in the LCWRA group then he would be eligible to the 'Work Allowance' what this does is give your son a premium of £344 a month before the onset of a works taper 55%. If your son earned £500 a month working less than 16 hrs pw then the taper would come in £156 @55% = £85.80 Your son would have £85.80 deducted from his UC claim

3) At what point would he lose his housing costs? With UC, housing element is part of overall claim, as his earnings increase his UC will decrease. There is no specific point in which you loose your housing element as housing element is part of his UC claim. To answer your question, your son would loose his housing element when he looses his UC claim.

4) Can they count a period of it as a 'work trial' so that he does not need to reclaim from the start if he is not able to continue working. if your son works over 16 hrs then his LCWRA would stop he would also not be eligible to the work allowance, your son may be able to do a rapid re-claim, www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/317043/re...n%20ons%20Policy.pdf

Your son may want to contact his workcoach and discuss options.

Gary

EAPage

My understanding is that you can work as many hours as you like whether you have LCW or LCWRA, obviously you need to be aware that the more you work the more the DWP may question your award which could result in an early re-assessment.

For completeness, you cannot have a WCA on a new claim if you work for 16 or more hours a week, even if your GP continues to issue a Fit Note.

Gordon

Hi EAPage

Part of my post was wrong I was thinking about legacy benefits, Gordon informed me that he did not believe my answer was correct, I have checked with our consultants who have put me right, Gordon was correct. The reply I received was;

1) Will his LCWRA be affected by working?
No. If a Universal Credit claimant, who has been found to have a Limited Capability for Work (or Work Related Activity), starts work they do not lose their Limited Capability for Work status (although the fact that they are managing to work will be taken into account next time it is assessed).

In fact those who work and have a Limited Capability for Work can have a higher work allowance

2) How many hours can he work before losing LCWRA?
There's no limit on hours but note that the hours worked, and the type of work undertaken, coud influence any decision on his LCWA status when reviewed.

3) If working does not work out, can he apply for a rapid re-claim and would he be placed back in the LCWRA group?

Because of the answer to 2, above this wouldn't happen unless perhaps his earnings took him off UC altogether. If he went back onto UC within 6 months he would retain his LCWRA

4) I believe he would get the work allowance as he is in the LCWRA group but I am not sure if it is dependant on the number of hours worked.
No it isn't dependent on how many hours worked - just being in the LCWRA (or indeed LCW) group is sufficient to give a work allowance.

Gary