ESA to UC

Dear All,

My sister has severe mental health issues. She has been moved from her income related ESA Support Group (which she has had since incapacity benefit days) to UC. She was told by Jobcentre personnel that she would lose no money from transferring. However, she is being paid:
Rent
ESA Standard allowance
New Style ESA Contributory related

and nothing else. According to a friend's calculations she is losing out by quite a lot. I do not understand why, when her legacy benefit was income related that she has been moved to a contributory related? Does it mean she has to pay for her prescriptions for example?

Please explain in simple language because I have severe physical health issues and do not understand things. Also, I have been asked to move from income related ESA Support group to UC and I suspect this is going to happen to me as well, I am awaiting my decision.

Hi Dottie@76

We cannot give you advice about your sister's move to UC as we do not have all the facts such as did she receive a letter from the DWP about moving over to UC, if she did then she should have Transitional Protection which means she would be no worse off initially.

We would advise your sister to seek advice from her local Welfare Rights Organisation: advicelocal.uk where they can take all her circumstances into consideration.

You should also seek advice from your local Welfare Rights Organisation.

Gary