Benefits System

A pension pot is an amount of money that is held under a personal pension scheme. The value of this fund is disregarded… Read More > "Pension Pots and Universal Credit"

Employment and Support Allowance is a benefit for people whose illness or disability means that they have Limited Capability for Work If you… Read More > "ESA: Old-Style / New-Style"

The PIP Scoring System PIP Daily Living Component is assessed by scoring your ability to do ten activities: Making a simple cooked one-course… Read More > "PIP: What They Need To Know About You"

Local Housing Allowances If you are a private-renter there is a ceiling on the amount of rent that can be counted when the… Read More > "Domestic Abuse & Modern Slavery: New Exceptions To The Shared-Accommodation-LHA"

Housing Benefit Claims and Delays Since the introduction of Universal Credit you can only make a new claim for Housing Benefit if: You… Read More > "Housing Benefit: Interim Payments on Account"

Usually, to claim Housing Benefit or Universal Credit Housing Costs Element for a property you must occupy the accommodation as your home. But… Read More > "Housing Benefit: Overlaps and Run-Ons for Notice Period"

You cannot claim Universal Credit if you are:  Aged 16-19, doing a course of A-level standard or below, for more than 12 hours… Read More > "UC and Education"

PIP is assessed by scoring the care needs and mobility difficulties that arise from your illnesses or disabilities. One of the activities that… Read More > "PIP – Engaging With Other People Face-To-Face"

It’s often the case that people who have alcohol or drug addictions get an unsympathetic hearing from PIP assessors, Decision Makers and sometimes… Read More > "PIP and Alcohol and Drug Addiction"

Following the introduction of Universal Credit, Housing Benefit was generally closed for new claims by people under pension age. However the rules that… Read More > "The Legal Definition of Specified Accommodation"

If you claim Universal Credit you get a Standard Allowance in the calculation. This is: £257.33 per month if you are single and… Read More > "The History of the Standard Allowance"

The Severe Disability Premium The SDP is not a separate benefit. It’s an extra bit of Income Support, Income-related ESA or Income-based JSA… Read More > "The Transitional SDP Element"

This blog post is for welfare rights technical nerds Here is a word file of an annotated extract from the The Universal Credit… Read More > "The Law of Universal Credit Migration"

Supersessions If you have a benefit claim up and running, a supersession is the legal process for changing your award if something about… Read More > "Changes of Circumstances – Universal Credit Supersessions"

Couples’ Claims for Means-Tested Benefits In couple claims for iESA, iJSA, IS, and HB one partner makes the claim, which covers both. In… Read More > "Mixed-Age-Couples"

Backdating a Claim for Universal Credit Usually Universal Credit starts from the day that you make a claim for it, but in some… Read More > "Backdating a Claim for Universal Credit"

Do You Have To Claim Universal Credit, Or Can You Stay On The Legacy Benefits? Universal Credit is taking over from the old-school… Read More > "Some things about the benefits system that it’s useful to know if you work with women fleeing domestic violence or domestic abuse"

This post was updated on 4 October 2024. Work Capability Assessments Employment and Support Allowance is a benefit for people whose health problems… Read More > "The Work Capability Assessment"

This post was updated on 18th May 2023 to include the new childcare amounts that will apply from July 2023 Also, from summer… Read More > "Universal Credit Childcare Costs Element"

If you have more than £16,000 you cannot claim Universal Credit. If you have more than £6,000 your capital will affect the amount… Read More > "Savings, Capital and Universal Credit"