making a joint claim for universal credit

SkyMary7

myself and my partner are caring for our adopted 7 year old girl. Im currently off sick with possible compassion fatigue and depression. My statutory sick pay is due to run out. We claim DLA for her and my partner gets carers allowance. I want to claim ESA, but it has to be a joint claim. My question is will my partner be expected to look for a job if he is a carer for my daughter. ?

poppy123456

No, your partner will not be forced to look for work because he's a carer. The first thing you need to look at here is what's in your area, if it's a full universal credit area then you can't claim ESA or Income Support. It will have to be Universal Credit.

http://ucpostcode.entitledto.co.uk/ucdate

Pop your postcode into that link to see what it says.

If your area is a full UC area then when you claim this any Child tax credit, housing benefit you claim will stop and all your money will be paid as 1 monthly figure under UC. UC is paid monthly, unlike the legacy benefits. There's also a 6 week wait for your first payment. As your housing benefit will stop while you wait for the UC money to start then you will need to contact your landlord to explain to the about the UC claim.

SkyMary7

hi thank you for your advice we are all sorted now. My partner is down as carer and im down for ESA. Im waiting my rearranged PIP meeting as it was cancelled. We have been told our first payment will be 21st June does that sound about right? 

BenefitsTrainingCo

SkyMary7,

I don't want to complicate things further, but assuming that you have checked your postcode & you are in an area where Universal Credit isn't available, then it might be better for your partner to claim Income Support as a carer instead of you making a joint claim for ESA.

Income Support is a joint claim, but he would be the main claimant. He can claim Carer's Allowance as well, and you might possibly be entitled to contributory ESA, but only once your statutory sick pay stops. 

Of course if you want to stay as you are with a joint claim for ESA & your partner on carer's allowance (this is what it sounds like you are doing, though I'm not sure), then that is fine. If that's the case though then the 21st June payment would probably be for one of those benefits, not for both?

As regards PIP, I'm assuming you are talking about your own claim for PIP. This is a separate benefit again, but it can affect how much Income Support you get (if your partner makes the joint claim) or income-related ESA you get (if you make the joint claim). So if you do get PIP, make sure you tell the DWP who pay your ESA or IS what rate of PIP you are getting.

Just to explain, the reason Income Support can be better for people is that it can include extra money if you do get PIP. It's a bit more than you would get in income-related ESA.

Will