Any experience when requesting Extension to Managed Migration to UC

Hello,

I am around 4 weeks away from the deadline of having to claim UC through Managed Migration.
I asked them for an extension.

I was refused on the grounds that I could create an account and do little bit at a time throughout the month.
I said I needed it because of a domestic emergency and explained in great details but I was refused the extension.

Has anyone had any positive or negative experiences when they requested an extension to claim Universal Credit through Managed Migration?

I really appreciate it.
Many Thanks and Best Wishes.

Hello VIA!

I asked, but was also turned down. I was also a few weeks away from the UC Migration Deadline so I was able to extract myself from the problems I was handling, and dig deep to get the UC stuff done.

I did manage it, just.

But the chap I spoke to when asking, who had to, in turn, ask his Manager, said that they now seldom grant any Extensions unless you have been, say, in Hospital, or it's unusually serious enough for them to even consider it.

As far as I can tell, the answer will be no, unless one has a very major or serious issue to support the Extension request.

I was also told the 3 month lead in is considered plenty of time, so the policy does seem to be to start with a firm no, which they are very reluctant to back down from.

My best advice to anyone being Manage Migrated to UC, is to start the plans immediately, and then look at the best Date to Apply because, the timing of existing Benefit Payments can have a huge impact upon how financially painful the transfer over to UC can be.

We were down, effectively, at least a whole Legacy Monthly Payment overall, so I had to take out a UC Loan Advance to cover this. I was granted and paid it quickly but, it seems entirely wrong to be missing a whole Month, that one has to cover with Debt, when the Migration is routine and not one made at our own instigation.

Translational Protection only seems to cover the difference, if any, between Legacy Benefit Payment and UC Payment, it doesn't cover the Month or so gap between old and UC!

So, the point I am making is, if you can, look well ahead, work out Payment Dates for anything existing, and pick the best UC Application Date that will result in the smallest gap in Payments.

UC won't be paid for a Month plus 6 Days I think, so try and arrange things so you get a final Legacy Payment, a day or so before you Apply for UC. That might minimise the Payment gap.

Existing Legacy Benefits seem to stop the day before the UC Application Date if made within time, or the day before the UC Managed Migration Deadline, which ever comes soonest, so your main options are to to try and pick the most opportune Date before the Migration Deadline.

But when Legacy Benefits are stopped, if you get the timing wrong, and if it's before the next Payment, not only will you NOT get the Legacy Benefit Payment, but they may even want some money back!

We were only a couple of days out from the next Legacy Payment Date, and found when they did a later Mid-Year Final Calculation on the Legacy Benefit, we apparently owed them around £300! When, had we been able to wait a few days, they'd have paid us £1,200!

I still don't know quite how that worked, or if we had been paid the £1,200, if they'd then have wanted the £1,200 back! I suspect it's possibly related to being paid in arrears, or something along those lines that I have yet to fathom.

So, for us at least, that was a further financial hit just from being switched to UC.

If I could have picked a better Transfer Date, I'd have waited for the last Legacy Payment but, I was out of time to stretch it those last few days. It's also possible, as I say above, that the Legacy Benefit may want the last Payment back, but I doubt that once a Payment has been made, unless there is some other issue, such as making more income that had yet to be assessed (we had not, so it wasn't that).

Anyone with more time, may be able to pick a better Date to switch. But, if in doubt, ask the Legacy Benefit people what the impact might be, as that may help to choose the best Date to Apply.

Basically, it's clear as mud, and not very well thought through at all. Not least how Disability is often having to be re-assessed, yet again, when switching to UC.

I hope that makes sense.

Jorvick88

Thank you so much Jorvick88,
For taking the time to give me such a detailed answer so that I lose as little money as possible, that is kind and thoughtful of you.
I too will have to take out a UC loan advance.
Tomorrow I will call CAB Help to Claim and ask them to help me make my managed migration to UC.
Thanks again for your advice.
Best wishes!