UC Part D: Other questions about UC

Welcome to Part D: Other questions about UC . It has simply separated off from Part C as that page was getting too long. :-). So Part D carries on with answering further questions relevant to everyone claiming UC.

So, Part C keeps to those general questions about how UC works , while Part D moves on to questions about more specific areas of UC, such as :

Sickness and disability under UC

1. Is ESA disappearing?

2. How does UC deal with” fitness for work”?

3. What are the tests for being ‘unfit for work under UC?

4. Who gets ‘treated as being unfit for work under UC, without undergoing a WCA?

5. How much extra will I get if placed in a UC ‘limited capability’ group?

6. Who can still get a ‘limited capability for work’ element under UC?

7. How does UC deal with “disability” e.g. if I also get Personal Independence Payment (PIP)?

8. Is anything likely to change?

UC work conditionality and trying out work.

9. What extra help is there in UC to try out working?

10. Am I left alone between Health Assessments? Will I be hauled into JobCentre to talk about work?

11. Is there any protection from all work requirements if I am not in the UC LCWRA group?

12. Does “permitted work” exist under UC?

13. What if I work over 16 hours a week?

Paying for housing – rent and council tax.

14. What information does UC need about my housing costs?

15. How is help with rent covered during the 5 week wait?

16. What about help with Council Tax?

UC and prescription charges in England

17. What box do I tick for free prescriptions if I get UC?

18. Do UC letters state eligibility for free prescriptions?

19. How do free prescriptions work during the 5 week wait?

Sickness and disability under UC

Q1. Is ESA disappearing?

No. ESA originally came in two parts that were claimed together on same claim form:

  • Everyone had to claim Contributory ESA (C-ESA), as this part of ESA  was your formal claim for ESA and from which your Work Capability Assessment was organised. Whether you are actually paid any C-ESA depends on your recent National Insurance contributions record.  Contributory ESA carries on after the full roll out of UC as a separate non-means tested benefit.
  • The middle of the combined ESA form had lots of extra questions about income and savings if you also wanted to have Income-related ESA (Ir-ESA) included in your claim. Ir-ESA then is paid either as a top-up to any C-ESA or it is paid instead of C-ESA (e.g. if you didn’t have the right NI contributions). Income-related ESA is disappearing into UC. Anyone who was still getting Ir-ESA will be getting a ‘Managed Migration Notice by December 2025, with the aim of ending Ir-ESA by April 2026 as it fully merges into UC.  

So, Contributory ESA carries on and you can still make a new claim for it and still will be able to after April 2026. The ESA form is now a lot shorter as all those income-related questions have gone. DWP now call C-ESA under a new name of ‘New-style’ ESA to stress that this version of C-ESA no longer has any link to Income-related ESA. New style ESA can happily co-exist with other legacy benefits or UC; it is just Income-related ESA that it cannot get on with.

You haven’t been able to make a new claim for Ir-ESA since 2018, but you can still have Ir-ESA added – even in its last few months  – to an ’old style’  Contributory ESA claim that dates back to before the full UC came to your area during 2017-2018.   

Q2. How does UC deal with being unfit for work?

UC uses the same Work Capability Assessment as ESA. So, if you already get Contributory ESA – or you come to UC after migrating over from the old Income-related ESA – your existing WCA status under ESA is also good for UC.

But what if you don’t have a current WCA in place? You may have only just become unwell or have never claimed ESA. You would then then need to go through the WCA with UC. This starts with you telling UC that you are unwell – either on your claim form when you first claim UC or via your UC journal if you become unwell while already getting UC You are now into the UC required period during which they will apply the WCA.

During this time of waiting for your WCA to be completed UC works differently from ESA:

  • ESA treats you as unwell – based on your GP “fitness note” – until your WCA says that you are not unwell enough.
  • UC treats you as being fit for work – and puts you in UC’s “all work requirements” group until the WCA says you are too unwell.  However, your UC work coach can moderate what work activity you need to do, or they can waive the requirements altogether. 

UC ask you for a GP’s fitness for work note and some information about your health issues.

UC first checks to see if your health issues are on a list of conditions where you are “treated as” unfit for work without needing a WCA.

The UC50 Self-Assessment Questionnaire

They may need a little more info and still send out the UC 50 form (e.g. if you are having cancer treatment) but you would only need to complete a few pages.  

Otherwise, that UC 50 Self-assessment Questionnaire won’t be sent until day 29 of your sickness.

You then get 4 to 6 weeks to fill in the full UC 50 Self-Assessment Questionnaire explaining any difficulties across 10 physical health ‘functional areas and 7 mental health ones. Check out lots of guidance to help you decide what to put in those big blank boxes – e.g. In the Big Book of Benefits and Mental Health or on websites such as Citizens Advice, Benefits and Work, Disability Rights, and Mind. Or ask a trusted friend or adviser to help you. 

Your UC50 is then looked at by a company contracted to do assessments on behalf of DWP.  They first look at your completed form and any other evidence to see if that is enough to make their recommendation to DWP. 

Consultation with a Health Care Professional and the DWP decision

Usually though, they will then arrange for a consultation with one of their Healthcare Professionals.  This may be by phone, video or face to face. This should happen at around 10 to 12 weeks of your sickness, but sometimes it can be held up and take a bit longer.

They send their report to a DWP Decision Maker who decides whether you:

  • are fit for work and stay in UC’s all work requirements group; or
  • you have “limited capability for work (LCW)” only. This means not needing to meet all work requirements but will mean that you are expected to attend Work Focussed interviews and get involved in work preparation activity  (e.g. retraining, work experience etc). There is no longer an extra LCW element for people new to this group, but some people can carry on getting it; or
  • you have LCW and also have “limited capability for work related activity” (LCWRA) so you would have no work requirements. You would have an extra LCWRA element added on to your UC maximum amount.
  • If you are placed in either limited capability group, you are allowed and encouraged to try work: a Work Allowance will ignore the first £411 a month of any earnings. After that 55p in every £ of net earnings will be counted as income (and so come off your UC) but you get to keep the other 45p.

What happens while I am waiting for the WCA? 

Under UC – just as it is under ESA – you could be undergoing the WCA for the first time on becoming unwell or it may be that you have been assessed before but are now being re-assessed:

  • If it’s your first WCA then you will be placed in the ‘all work requirements’ group while you are awaiting the outcome of that first WCA, unless you have another reason to be in another group (e.g. if you are also a carer or a lead parent of a young child). Your UC work coach will decide whether to moderate all work requirements or waive them altogether. You will not yet have been getting any limited capability elements, so your UC carries on as before. If the WCA finds you fit for work, then you stay in all work requirements group and will need to talk again with your UC work coach about what you will need to do. They can still moderate the requirements but may not be able to continue waiving them.
  • If you are being re-assessed under the WCA: then you carry on in the same work requirements as before and continue receiving the same ‘limited capability’ element that you had been getting, until the outcome of that new WCA. That new WCA may leave you in the same group as before, move you to the other group or find you are now fit for work. If found fit for work, any limited capability element will stop and you will move into all work requirements group (unless you have another reason to be in a different group (e.g. if you are also a carer or a lead parent). You too will need to talk to your UC work coach about what you will need to do.

What if I am unhappy with the WCA decision?

The WCA decision is meant to be taking a balanced view of all the evidence. But too often, it seems they tend to follow the Health Care Professional’s report. If you disagree with that decision, do get advice, as most appeals win:

  • You first ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration of that decision by the DWP. They only change their minds around 15% of the time.
  • You can then go on to an independent Appeal. Some 70% of appeals are successful.

How long does a WCA take and when will I get any extra element?

The WCA process is meant to be completed within the three months of your UC “relevant period”. This covers the first three UC Monthly Assessment Periods after the day when you tell UC that you are unwell.

If you get an extra limited capability element as a result of your WCA, this would usually first be paid for the first monthly assessment period that comes after the 3-month relevant period i.e. in the Uc payment at the end of the fourth monthly assessment period.  

The exception is for people who are terminally ill who will get the UC LCWRA element included straightaway.

If your WCA takes longer, any entitlement to extra amounts will still be due for that 4th month. So, if there is a delay in until your WCA is completed, you will get any extra limited capability element backdated to that 4th month.   

Q3. What are the tests of being too unwell for work under UC?

The conditions set by the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) are exactly the same under UC as under ESA:

for the ESA Work Related Activity / UC Limited Capability for Work group:

  • you must have Limited Capability for Work (LCW): i.e. you score 15 or more points under the main WCA assessment – or be “treated as” scoring those 15+ points.

Having LCW means you avoid UC’s “all work requirements” (i.e. full-on job-seeking) but you still need to engage in some “work preparation activity”. And as with ESA, only some people will get an extra ESA WRA component or UC LCW element – See Question 9 below.

for the ESA Support component / UC Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (LCWRA) group:

It’s the same two-part test in both ESA and UC.

  • you must have Limited Capability for Work (LCW): i.e. you meet that same 15+ points test as for the LCW group above; and
  • you must also have Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (LCWRA): i.e. you meet one from a separate list of LCWRA descriptors. Or be treated as doing so.

If both tests apply – the LCW test and the LCWRA test – then you are placed in the ESA Support or UC LCWRA group. You then have “no work requirements” and you will get an extra amount – the ESA Support Component / UC LCWRA element.

Q4. Who gets treated as having LCW or LCWRA without having to go through a full WCA?

Some people get treated as passing these tests without having to go through the full process of a full self-assessment form usually followed up by a session with a Health Care Professional. You may start the usual WCA process, but the DWP will pick up from other information as to whether you can just be treated as being in either the LW or LCWRA group.

The list is similar for UC as for ESA except that:

  • UC includes some extra ones for people who have also claimed ESA or who are over pension age.
  • But UC does not treat you as having LCW while you are awaiting your first WCA.
  • Nor does UC treat people who are pregnant but not at severe health risk as having LCW, unlike ESA which treats everyone as having LCW in the weeks around their expected date of birth. However, UC does have will place people in similar work requirements groups as LCW.

Treated as just having LCW

You get treated as having LCW if one of the following applies to you:

  • you have already been assessed as having LCW under a WCA as part of claim for Contributory ESA or you were for Income-related ESA (on the day you migrated to UC)  i.e. you are already are in the ESA Work Related Activity Group (or were on your UC migration day)
  • you are claiming UC while over pension age (e.g. as part of a mixed age couple) and you receive any rate of DLA or PIP.
  • You have been given official notice not to work because you have a notifiable infectious disease e.g. typhoid, cholera.
  • You are an in-patient in hospital for over 24 hours or are recovering from in-patient treatment (including periods in rehab)
  • You are receiving certain treatments e.g. plasmapheresis, weekly haemodialysis, parenteral nutrition or are recovering from these.
  • There would be a substantial risk to your physical or mental health or to that of someone else if you were found not to have LCWRA.

Treated as having LCWRA (and also as having LCW):

You are treated as having both LCW and LCWRA – and so go straight to the ESA Support / UC LCWRA group – if one of the following applies to you:

  • you have already been assessed as having LCWRA under a WCA as part of claim for Contributory ESA or you were for Income-related ESA   i.e. you are already in the ESA Support Group (or you were on your UC migration day)
  • You have a life limiting, progressive illness where it would not be a surprise if you were to die within the next 12 months (NB this does not mean a definite prognosis that you will)
  • You are receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment for cancer or are likely to do so within the next 6 months. This can also include oral chemotherapy and other treatments (e.g. hormone treatments)
  • You are pregnant and there would be a serious risk to your health (or the baby’s) if do not refrain from work.
  • You have reached pension age but are claiming UC (e.g. as part of a mixed age couple) and are entitled to AA, highest rate DLA Care or enhanced PIP Daily Living.
  • There would be a substantial risk to your physical or mental health or to that of someone else if you were found not to have LCWRA.  

Q5. How much extra UC will I get if placed in a limited capability group?

UC will add:

  • The same amount in the UC LCW group as ESA adds to those in the Work-Related Activity Group: UC’s £158.76 a month is the same as ESA’s £36.55 a week, but only some people will get this see Question 11 below. So, unlike the LCWRA element below, there is no extra amount built into the LCW element to make up for UC not having any of the disability premiums of legacy Income-related ESA,
  • A higher amount for those in the UC LCWRA group than ESA. UC pays more than the ESA Support Group: UC’s £423.27 a month (equivalent to £97.70 a week) works out at nearly £50 a week more than ESA’s £48.50 a week.

However, that higher amount partly compensates for UC having no equivalent to Income-related ESA’s disability premiums. Some people end up £28 a week better off under UC, but others some £55a week worse off as a result of UC’s different way of doing things.  See more in Part B  

Carers with health issues of their own.: some carers also LCW or LCWRA as well. Under ESA they could receive a carer’s premium (worth £45.60 on top of either ESA component. But under UC, the same person can only be entitled to a limited capability or a carers element (whichever is the highest) and so lose out.

Changes in the LCWRA element from April 2026

If you only start to get an LCWRA element from after April 2026, you will usually may get much less than the rates above:

  • most people who start to get an LCWRA element after April 2026 will only get the equivalent of around £50 a week / £217 a month frozen at around £50 a week (we will update this when the actual April 2026 rates are announced)
  • the ‘most severely long term unwell’ will get a top up (of around £48 a week/£210 a month ) from a new UC Health Element, which will bring them up to current 2025/26 rate of the LCWRA element (97.70 a week or £423.27 a month)
  • those already getting an LCWRA element from before April 2026 will continue to get the full LCWRA element (currently £97.70 a week or £423.27 a month) but this too will be frozen from April 2026.
  • There will be some mitigation of these cuts, as the standard amounts for everyone getting UC will start to increase ahead of inflation. By April 2029, they will be worth about £6 a week more than they would have otherwise been. The Government’ case is that there is currently too big a gap between UC amounts for those who are unwell and those who are not.

Who will get the new Health Element top up:

You must meet all four of the WCA Severe Conditions Criteria. These date back to 2017 to decide whether people would not need to have re-assessments of their WCA during their ESA or UC claims, because their health issues were unlikely to improve.  You must:   

  1. always meet your LCWRA criteria not just for the majority of the time as required for that LCWRA descriptors to put you in the LCWRA group (e.g. excludes conditions which while severe at times can fluctuate, such as early stages of MS or some mental health conditions); and
  2. have a lifelong condition once diagnosed (e.g. excludes conditions which might resolve after surgery, transplant, treatments or just resolve themselves); and
  3. have no realistic prospect of recovery of function (e.g. excludes someone who has a stroke and might recover some function during rehab); and
  4. have an unambiguous condition (e.g. excludes some pain conditions where cause is unknown, but which might later be found to be part of another condition)

So, using this list – which was clearly designed for a very different purpose – to decide who will still get the full rate of LCWRA element, does severely limit who will get the new UC health element top up for awards of LCWRA element after April 2026.

Q6. Who can still get an UC limited capability for work element?

If your claim for either ESA or UC started after April 2017, you usually cannot start to get either an ESA “work related activity” component nor a UC “limited capability for work” element. But there are protections if you were entitled to the extra before then:

You must have claimed either ESA or UC from before 3rd April 2017 and have had “limited capability for work” ever since. You may have:

  • been getting an ESA WRA component / UC LCW element ever since. If you move from Income-related ESA to UC, then your ESA WRA component moves with you and becomes a UC LCW element.
  • stopped getting the Contributory ESA when it timed out after a year but carried on with a “credits only” claim for ESA that still accepted you as having LCW even though you weren’t being paid any Contributory ESA. This too can trigger a UC LCW element.
  • you have been getting ESA Support component or UC LCWRA element since before April 2017 but later on get re-assessed into the ESA Work Related Activity or UC LCW group. Because you will have also had LCW alongside your previous LCWRA, then you can start to receive the ESA WRA component or UC LCW element.

But even if you do not get any extra amount for being in the ESA WRA or UC LCW group, being in those groups still counts for something, as:

  • you only need to do some “work preparation activity” rather than the “all work requirements” of full-on job seeking; and
  • if you are able to try some work, you get to keep more of your earnings under either ESA “permitted work” or UC “Work Allowance” rules.

It may also be worth getting advice about whether you might have a case for moving up to the ESA Support Group or UC LCWRA group, where everyone receives the ESA Support Component/UC LCWRA element.

Q7. How does UC deal with disability?

Limited capability is all about being too unwell to work much. Disability help is more about the extra costs of day to day living or getting around if you have a long-term illness or disability, whether you can work or not.

The first plans for UC included a simplified two-tier adult disability element (similar to the UC child disability additions) to run alongside limited capability elements paid at the same rates as ESA components.

Instead, UC has ended up without any adult disability elements at all, but does pay a higher amount in the LCWRA element than ESA does in the Support Group. That may work out well for some disabled people who are in the LCWRA group (some will win, others lose). But UC’s disability gap is yawning for everyone else who get no such ‘compensation for the lack of adult disability elements: Bad news for workers, jobseekers, carers and parents who also happen to have disabilities, as well as those in the LCW group.

But while no direct disability elements, a PIP award can still help your UC claim in other ways:

  • UC does ignore the value of any disability benefit in the UC sums.
  • if you are a disabled worker doing over 16 hours a week and also getting PIP/ADP, then you are exempt from the usual 16-hour limit, and so can continue to receive – or even apply for the first time – for a limited capability element despite working possibly full-time.  
  • If you are over pensioner age but get dragged into UC by a younger partner – a disability benefit can automatically qualify you for a limited capability element, if your partner isn’t getting one already.

PIP and ADP entitlement are set to become even more important from April 2028. That is when it is planned to abolish the WCA and the limited capability elements and replace them with new elements based on PIP/ADP entitlement. Details still to be confirmed but there already look to be different winners and losers as UC closes its ‘disability gap’ but opens up a new ‘sickness gap’ ☹

Q8. Is any of this likely to change?

Yes.

There has been much talk – and many proposals for change – since the Autumn of 2023. Both the last Conservative Government and the current Labour Government have plans to change both sickness benefits (like ESA and UC for sickness) and disability benefits (such as PIP).

Some of these changeshave now been abandoned. But the worry, uncertainty and anxiety for people with health issues continues. As the now ‘not so new’ Government settles in, more detail is emerging about the changes that will now actually happen over coming years.

The first of these changes – mentioned at Q9 above – will be to the amount of the LCWRA element for new claims after April 2026.

You may have also heard about other plans:

  • to tighten the WCA during 2025 to make it much less likely to get into the UC LCWRA/ESA Support Group from late 2025.
  • or to introduce a new 4-point rule into Personal Independence Payment’s Daily Living component from November 2026. This would have meant getting a score of at least 4 points in any one of the ten Daily Living activities.

NB: Both these two changes have now been abandoned.

But other future changes are expected. So, we are adding a new Health & Disability Changes page to the website to keep you up to date with the plans and details for the changes that are looking like they will happen during the coming years.  

UC and work

Q9. What extra support does UC offer if I feel up to trying some work?

As with ESA, UC wants to help you move into work as your health allows. This does not mean forcing everyone to go looking for work as aked about in the next question.

For those who are unwell UC has the same two broad categories, between those who do not have to do anything in relation to work and who are deemed to have “limited capability for work related activity” and others who while not expected to be actively looking for work, are expected to get involved in “work preparation activity” for a time when their health might allow them to try out some work

Whichever group you are in – which decides how much you have to do – UC is ready to support you in exploring what work you might feel could be doable.

They are:

  • increasing specialist resources to help people with health issues look for work – to advise you about re-training, work experience, reasonable adaptions at work and linking in with employers
  • From April 2026 there will be a new Right to Try work Guarantee which will guarantee that if you try work for up to 6 months you will not be have to go through a new Work Capability Assessment and that you will get to keep your current “limited capability element” if you remain on UC. Or if your new earnings take you off UC altogether, but you then find it hard to carry on in that job, that you will be able to return to UC within 6 months at your old rate of benefit. More details will come as to exactly how this works, so get advice.

This extra help comes on top of the existing help for workers with health problems mentioned below

Q10. Are people on UC left alone in between health assessment and not hauled into Jobcentres to be asked about job seeking?

Yes – it is exactly the same work conditionality requirements as under ESA. That means:

  • “no work conditionality” at all if you are in the UC “limited capability for work related activity” group (just as in the ESA Support Group)
  • Some “work preparation requirements” (e.g. training, work tasters, exploring potential work in future) if you are in the UC “limited capability for work” (LCW) group. (Just as in ESA’s Work-Related Activity Group

UC’s reputation for wanting more than ESA in relation to work comes from its early history as only being a benefit for new jobseeker claims between 2013 and 2017/18. But also, some of the discussion and politician’s statements about UC being all about “work”.

 But UC copies over all the different work requirements from the different legacy benefits. So, UC’s work requirements vary from “all work requirements” e.g. for jobseekers to “no work requirements” at all e.g. carers or people in the LCWRA group.

So, if you are migrating over from ESA, you will have the same work requirements as you used to have. It is however a bit different if you are new to benefits and claim UC because you are unwell.

In that case you would be in the “all work requirements group” until you had been through the Work Capability Assessment. But your UC work coach has the discretion to modify or completely waive these requirements.

Q11. Are there any protection if I am not in the UC LCWRA group?

There are other protections from being in the “all work requirements” group, apart from being in the UC LCWRA group. For example:

  • If you are in the UC LCW group, you will have some work requirements but only for work focussed interviews and work preparation activities.
  • If you are a carer, there are no work requirements.
  • If you are the main /lone parent for a young child your work requirements will start off as none but grow a little as your youngest gets older
  • If you are earning it depends on how much you earn. Over a certain level there are no work requirements but until then you may need to look for more hours or better pay.

Q12. Does “permitted work” exist under UC?

There is an incentive to encourage you to try earning under UC, but it works a bit differently from ESA permitted work”.

  • Under ESA permitted work you get to keep any earnings if your earnings were below £20/£196 a week and you worked under 16 hours.
  • Under UC you get a work allowance which ignores the first £411 a month of any earnings if you either have “limited capability” or have children. If you earn above that allowance, 55p of every £1 of net earnings comes off your UC and you get to feel 45p better off.

There is always going to feel a bit of a contradiction between proving that you have limited capability for work to get through a WCA and making the most of the way the system encourages you to try out some work.

  • But ESA may help by having a more separate arrangement for permitted work and having more restrictions on when they will do a re-assessment under the Work Capability Assessment.
  • Under UC it is a bit more part of the main system and there is much more scope to think you might need a re-assessment if you are doing so well in work…
  • However, from April 2026 there will be a new Right to Try Work Guarantee: this will allow you to try working for 6 months with a guarantee that you will not be re-assessed under the WCA in that time. And that if you stay on UC, you can keep your limited capability element. But if your earnings take you off UC you will be able to return to UC at your previous rate if you have to give the job up.

Q13. What if I were to work over 16 hours?

Both ESA “permitted work” and usually UC, have a 16-hour limit for work you can do and still be counted as having “limited capability”. The big difference is that ESA stops if you go over 16 hours, whereas UC does not – around 40% of people who claim UC are in work and most of them are in work full-time.

UC has also replaced Working Tax Credit which would have in the past been claimed by those working 16 hours or more a week. Those with health issues often received an extra “disabled worker element” in WTC. mainly based on whether you got DLA, PIP or ADP.

The problem for UC at the moment is that it does not have an equivalent to that WTC element. So, UC has come up with a rather messy work around: if you get PIP, then you will be allowed to keep any LCW/LCWRA element (or apply for on) despite working over 16 hours a week.

But it might be very difficult to convince a Healthcare Professional that you have limited capability for even work related activity on your way to a possibly full time job. If you already get either element then you get to keep it, but if you haven’t had LCW since April 2017, you would need to qualify for the LCWRA element to get any extra UC, equivalent to the old WTC disabled worker element. But you would still gain from the Work Allowance ignoring some of your earnings.

So, it all depends on the DWP pretending these contradictions don’t exist and blind eyes being turned. But it may get much more straightforward if UC does end up replacing limited capability elements with a new health element based on PIP eligibility.

UC and housing costs – paying the rent and council tax.

Q14. How much information does UC need about housing costs?

The Housing Costs Element works along very similarly to Housing Benefit rules, if you have claimed that before. So, there are very similar rules about you actually living there, rent when you move or need to claim for two places. And the same rent restrictions like the bedroom tax in council/housing association properties and the Local Housing Allowance if you are renting privately.

So, UC will need the same kind of information: who your landlord is, up to date evidence of your rent, who else lives in your home and so on. The good news though is this is all on the same form as the rest of UC, so you don’t end up filling out your name, address and NI number all over again on a separate HB claim.

If the help you get is restricted by the limits on what rent UC can cover, there is the same option to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) as a top up, whether that’s to Housing Benefit or to UC Housing Costs Element. You apply for DHPs via your local council.

UC has been re-learning about housing costs:

It took a while for Housing Benefit to get as confident as it now is about more difficult situations. It seems UC are having to re-learn all those lessons, so is slowly developing more confidence. It would have been far better if UC had been able to talk to HB staff and learn from them.

In the meantime, there have been some common problems:

  • Tenancy agreements:  e.g. insisting on seeing a tenancy agreement, when HB had learned to cope with letters from landlords to confirm you had to pay rent as a condition of staying there.
  • Former Joint tenants: Getting very bothered if your tenancy agreement also has the name of a joint tenant on it who no longer lives there. UC would say we’ll pay half until you get their name removed without realising that is not an easy matter. 
  • The amount of the rent: Getting very bothered if the figure for rent you put down on your claim is even slightly different from what your landlord’s latest letter about your rent shows.
  • Exemptions from Housing Costs Contributions: Having problems with any exemption from Housing Costs Contributions – what HB calls “non dependant deductions” – if there are other non-dependants living in your home. You might be exempt from these deductions if say you get PIP, but this has to be manually reset each month on the UC computer. So, look out for them popping up.
  • Payment direct to landlords:  UC is also less willing than HB to make payments direct to landlords. They are geared up to letting you have the money with which to pay your rent. In England and Wales, UC will pay direct, but only at the DWP’s discretion, and then only if you are in rent arrears.

In Scotland and N. Ireland it is entirely up to you after your first UC payment when the rent money will come to you. But after that you can ask for rent to go straight to your landlord and also to ask for UC to be paid twice a month if you prefer.

Deductions for rent arrears:

If you get into rent arrears, UC are willing to take deductions off your UC towards paying these off, but they tend to go with a higher rate of deduction than the legacy benefits did. You may need advice to agree a lower rate with both DWP and your landlord. 

Q15. How is help for the rent covered during the 5-week wait?

If you are migrating from legacy benefits, the two-week run on of Housing Benefit will help a little. If you had only been getting part of the rent paid by HB, you will be pleasantly surprised to find that the 2-week run-on of HB will be at the full amount that HB can offer. 

That run on will not affect the Housing Costs Element that you get in your first payment of Universal Credit.

But even if you do get a run on you will need a landlord to understand that most help with the rent is stuck in that 5 week wait. But you may not want to tell your landlord that you are getting UC. Social landlords are well used to it, but private landlords may be less so.

Housing Associations noticed that rent arrears for new tenants doubled for tenants on UC compared to those on HB. This was partly because of that 5 week wait and partly because people had to get used to getting the help with rent being paid in with money for living costs. Many would have had their HB paid direct to their landlord So, they may not realise that a big chunk of that first UC payment needs to go to the landlord.

What happens after the 5 week wait?

In general UC, wants you to have control of your money and budget and make your own arrangements. If you do get into arrears, UC does have discretion to pay your landlord direct. It can also make deductions from your UC towards any arrears. This is one of three Alternative Payment Arrangements that the DWP has discretion to make.

However, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, you have a free choice to have direct payments of rent to a landlord if you wish, without needing UC’s blessing or having to be in arrears. without needing to be in arrears or rely on DWP discretion.

The same also applies to having your UC paid twice a month instead of monthly, after that first UC payment. 

Full details about Alternative Payment Arrangements are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-alternative-payment-arrangements/alternative-payment-arrangements#more-frequent-paymentsUC

Q16. What about help with the council tax?

In the original plan for UC, the then Council Tax Benefit was due to merge into UC alongside Housing Benefit. Many people will have been used to claiming HB and CTB on the same form.

But in 2013 it was decided not to do that. Instead, the funding and organisation of CTB was transferred to local councils in England, but first went to the devolved Governments in Scotland and Wales. But the money passed over to run the new scheme was cut back.  CTB was reborn as Council Tax Reduction (CTR). Sometimes this is also called Council Tax Support (CTS).

The result of this change is that:

  1. You need to claim Council Tax Reduction (CTR) separately from UC and help with the rent. You claim it at your local council; and
  2. the amount of help you will get may vary depending on where you live.

If you are over pension age:

then the “default scheme” applies wherever you live. This has the same rules as the old CTB. This means it can cover the whole of your Council Tax, depending on your savings and income.

If you are of working age (i.e. under 66):

This is where it can all depend according to where you live.

In Scotland and Wales, the devolved Governments each decided to run national schemes and to make up for the cuts in funding by the UK Government. So, everyone comes under the “default scheme” which is very similar to CTB. This can cover the whole of your council tax bill.

In England each council has its own scheme for those of working age. Some councils still use the “default scheme” for this. But most have needed to make cuts in the help their CTR can offer as it has become more of a struggle to make up for the cut in UK Government funding. Examples of cutting back compared to the ‘default scheme’ include: asking everyone to pay 20% or more of the bill, restricting CTR help to council tax Band A, changing how CTR tapers away as income rises, not allowing any backdating.  This is as much to do with what your council can afford as to their political persuasion: some areas have more scope to subsidise CTR from reserves or higher council tax on second homes .

If you are not going to get full help with the bill, it is also worth checking out other ways of reducing your bill. For example, you may be able to get a status discount that knocks 25% – and sometimes 50% – off the bill, regardless of your income and savings. This might be because you are single and for some disabilities and some carers.

UC and free prescriptions in England

Note this is only an issue in England, as Scotland Wales and N. Ireland have opted for free prescriptions for everyone.

Q17. What box do I tick for free prescriptions under UC?

Old prescription forms had a problem as they didn’t have a separate box for UC. The out-of-date guidance from the NHSBSA (that looks after NHS charges and help with health costs) was to tick Box K as if you were getting Income-based JSA instead.

That made sense when UC was only being paid to jobseekers, but made less sense since UC opened up to all claimants by the end of 2018. Not unreasonably people faced with an old claim form may have ticked the name of the legacy benefit that seemed most relevant to them e.g. Income-related ESA or Income Support.

Unfortunately, NHSBSA decided such free prescriptions were invalid and added £100 fines to their narrow jobsworth approach. 

However, by now, most prescriptions are on new sheets that have a box U for UC on it. But if you should still get an old one, do go with box K Income-based JSA however irrational and irrelevant that might feel.

Q18. Do Universal Credit letters state NHS prescription exemption?

Not in the same way as tax credits used to. Prescriptions were and are free for many on legacy benefits, but not if you are earning over a certain amount.

Tax credits used to send you a letter lasting 6 months to show your eligibility. For UC you need to show a UC Monthly Statement covering the date when your prescription was issued. 

Q19. How does eligibility for free prescriptions work during the 5-week wait?

Example situation: A member was told that in the ‘first assessment period’ that they are not eligible for free prescriptions, their prescription would cost £100. They can’t afford to cover these changes and claim back.

The simplest way through this is to move to more civilized UK nation where there are no prescription charges…

But in England, you have to rely on some common sense from the NHSBSA.

So, UC – once your entitlement is confirmed – usually makes you eligible for free prescriptions. The exception is if you are earning over a certain amount.  

But the problem in the first 5 weeks – whether you are earning or not – is that you don’t yet have your first UC Monthly Statement to show.  

However, UC may well give you an indication of what you might expect, based on the information on your form being correct. And you may feel confident to tick Box U because you know that you will have confirmation of UC entitlement. 

However, the NHSBSA has once again taken a costly, jobsworth approach. In their Guidance they say:  

“You should pay for any health costs if you’re unsure whether you meet the eligibility criteria. You can claim a refund once you’re able to confirm your entitlement.

This might be because:

  • your UC claim is still being assessed.
  • you’re waiting for a decision about your UC that might change the threshold that applies to you.
  • you’re uncertain whether your earnings are within the threshold.

You need to have met the eligibility criteria either in the UC period before you paid, or in the same UC assessment period in which you paid, to qualify for a refund.

Make sure that you ask for and keep receipts. If you pay for a prescription as, you must get a receipt and refund form (FP57) at the time you pay, as you will not be able to get one later”.

So, to play safe, they are suggesting you pay the prescription charge for now and then get a refund which is rather harsh and unrealistic when you are so short of money during a 5 week wait.

If you have a lot of items – like in the questioner’s example of £100 worth -, then it would be cheaper to get a 3-month season ticket that costs £32.05 for which you should then be able to get a refund.