UC amounts for carers? Advice please

Firstly forgive my ignorance here, as i have had no Universal credit training!

I was asked to do a comparison between UC and now, and I am shocked at the difference in benefit being paid, so some advice on this would be appreciated.

I have a client on HRM/HRC whose partner claims CA.

Their weekly applicable amount is £211.80 (112.55 + DP(44.20) + EDP(21.75) + CP (33.30)

They receive CA of 59.75 + Income support of £152.05 to ensure they get their £211.80

I have done a calculation under universal credit on the Lisson Grove benefit calculator and it shows that their monthly applicable is £633, made up of a couples standard allowance of £489.06 + carer element of £144.70.
This will leave them £65.55 A WEEK WORSE OFF UNDER UC?

Is this right?? There does not seem to be any disability elements/premiums in UC.

They cant just reduce the amounts paid by over 25% can they?

Please advise

Thanks

Just been checking (sorry, not enough coffee today)

It appears that under the current system no ESA claim is required, people live on CA + IS top ups.

Under UC an ESA claim will have to be made to add the LCWWA add on (if in support group for example), which will then leave clients about a fiver a week worse off than now.

Ho Hum!

I have converted the monthly UC rates to weekly amounts using the x12 / 365 x 7 method to compare with equivalent legacy benefit rates and I make the LCWRA addition £69.88 a week (from 303.66 pcm), which is about £5 a week more than the couple rate of DP and EDP in your pre-conversion IS case.  They would still get the UC carer addition at the same rate as the carer premium because the carer and the person with LCWRA are different people: as I read it those elements overlap only if they apply to the same person.  So I think they are slightly better off under UC.

Our ucForward program agrees (see summary report below) that they’ll be £65.55 worse off on the facts given.  That is because they’ll have to go through a WCA in order to determine whether they’ll be assessed as LCW or LCWRA for Universal Credit purposes.  If they were already receiving ESA then they would, in a managed move at least, move onto the same ‘component’ on Universal Credit.

Current benefit entitlements
  Tax Credit income basis: current-year only

Working Tax Credit: no

Child Tax Credit: no

Guarantee Pension Credit: no

Savings Pension Credit: no

Income Support: £152.05

Employment and Support Allowance: no

Jobseekers Allowance: no

Housing Benefit: no

Council Tax Rebate (England Default): £24.04

Low Income Passporting: yes

Total of current entitlements is £176.09

Future benefit entitlements (projected)

Universal Credit (projected): £86.50

Council Tax Rebate (projected)(England Default): £24.04

Total of future entitlements is £110.54

Lisson Grove QB programme makes it £156.58 weekly UC if and only if LCW/LCWRA addition is payable as well as carer addition.

I wonder how many people who have claimed IS but with the carer/partner as claimant and premiums generated by DLA receipt will in future need WCA in order to get the full level of UC?

I do not look forward to these new calculations with boundless joyful anticipation.

If they go onto UC as a managed migration case then hopefully transitional protection would see them through the UC equivalent of the assessment phase until the LCWRA addition kicks in? (I am naively assuming that anyone getting top whack DLA both components will almost certainly have LCWRA)

Fit for work. To Poundland with them.