r/BenefitsAdviceUK

I’ve just been told by maximus that my UC50 was never received what do I do now I’m at an all time low and this has just made it worse it’s really stressing me out

I’m a British citizen who moved to Scotland in September. I applied for ADP in December, but was rejected in March on the grounds that I hadn’t been in Scotland long enough.

Here’s where it gets frustrating: the rejection letter arrived one day before I actually met the residency requirement. So by the time I read the letter, I already qualified.

I submitted a redetermination request just 5 days later. That was two months ago, and I’ve now been rejected again, still on the same grounds, even though I had met the residency requirement by the time I requested redetermination.

My question is: should I take this to Tribunal, or make a fresh application? The reason I’m hesitant to apply fresh is that I’d lose the backdated payments I’d otherwise be entitled to.

I (23F) currently have a joint universal credit claim with my boyfriend (24M) of 6 years. We have a 3yo together and I am 26 weeks pregnant. We privately rent and get housing element. My only income is child benefit but i am also a part time openuni student so i get just a tuition loan from student finance.

Unfortunately my boyfriend has just informed me he no longer loves me so he will be leaving at some point soon. I have a vague understanding that if i want to stay in our house (both of us named on the tenancy) it will become an untidy tenancy at which point i will be at the mercy of the landlord and estate agent if they let me stay but it seems like either way i am going to end up in arrears.

Is there any way to get through this without destroying my financial history? Our bills are due at the start of the month and from what i understand he isn’t allowed to help me out if we go from joint to a single claim plus he will need his wage to find somewhere new to move to so i’m not sure what i do? I have absolutely no savings and i can’t return to work because of the pregnancy and my son has only just started the 15 hours at nursery

I was backdated some mpney today that uc owed me, im now over the 6k as I had 2k in my bank account for bills etc. That will all be gone at the end of the month. The money they owed me was 5k and ive but it aside . Do I have to declare as its technically over 6k? Im confused? Thanks

Hello

I got a message 2 days ago telling me I was having a telephone appointment due to having another review. I had one October 2024 so I know what to expect. The call is to explain what I need to do.

But my appointment was at 10am today for 15 minutes and I've heard nothing. Do you know how long it could be before they rearrange the appointment? I've got a Dr appointment soon and I don't want to get in trouble if I miss either appointment. I need to get the bus.

It's now 12:45, so 2 hours and 45 minutes late. I know they have huge workloads so I expect them to be a little late, but almost 3 hours is a bit much because it's having a knock on effect now.

Thank you

I’m in England. I am on UC and have applied for LCWRA. Waiting on assessment and next steps. I just received a question in my journal about whether I need an extra bedroom due to disability. I’m trying to understand why they’re asking and how to answer

I live with my mom in a two bedroom house plus office. I guess the office could be used as a small child’s bedroom. My mom uses it as an office and we use it as for storage including some things related to my disability

Thank you for your help

Hi, has anyone got any experience as of recent as to timings for when you sent your review form back to when they received it? And do you always get a text when it’s scanned in or is it possible they could have received it and it hasn’t notified me? It’s been 18 days and I still haven’t heard anything and I’m getting really anxious.

I had it sent out to me 20th of April (arrived very far after that though!) and completed and sent it off on the 4th of May, this was a bank holiday so wouldn’t have moved until the 6th and received a letter saying they still haven’t got it a couple of days ago. The letter extended my deadline to the 3rd of June

I stupidly sent it freepost not realising this isn’t the most efficient way to go, rang when we got the letter saying they haven’t received it and they said they’ll send out a replacement and to call when we get that to see if they’ve received the original one, I’m guessing as a result of this my deadline is probably extended even further but I don’t know as it still hasn’t arrived and I’m not sure if it will go to my mums as she is my appointee and I stay with her at the moment or if it could be sat at my flat me not knowing about it.

I didn’t take any copies of the form either which I’ll definitely do next time along with tracking the delivery to them but just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and wether it’s sounding like my original form is lost, it took a lot to fill it in and I found it very emotionally and mentally upsetting so I’ll be devastated if it is lost and I have to fill it out all over again, any experiences or help with this would be great thank you

I've just received my first ESA payment and my fit note ends today.

I have a job lined up that I'm starting next week with reduced hours for the first month.

Do I need to call them or can I simply upload my new fit note? The gov website is unclear

I am 60 in a few weeks and have just been put in the support group for ESA.

I have a couple of occupational pensions that will start paying out when I am 60, these total £650 per month.

When I get these, will my ESA stop?

Thanks

Hi everyone.
I called to check my application had reached the DLA office. They confirmed it’s with them but they told me it’s a clerical case so might take a bit longer and I may need to call for updates.
Did this happen to anyone else and could anyone explain what it means?
My son has a rare complex genetic disease that has multiple physicals disabilities due to the disease. Although we are British my son was born abroad but we have moved back here permanently. I’ve included quite a lot of evidence, around 15 pages of refferal from the hospital abroad and translation too along with a 7 day care diary.
Not sure if it’s the amount of documents included that’s cause an issue.
Thank you so much!

Hi

I'm based in London and as of today (21/05/26) I have been found to have limited capability for work and work-related activity.

I understand payments for LCWRA have recently changed and one must have declared their health condition prior to April 6th to be eligible for the higher amount.

I am just wondering whether there is anyone who would be interested in helping me understand whether this applies to me or not. And also when my extra payments will start.

I declared my first fit note on 25/11/25 after multiple months of speaking with my work coach and her documenting my ill-health including moving to telephone assessments due to an inability to attend in-person appointments.

I do not recall exactly how long a stay this initial fit note provided, but my journal says 'fit note expiry' on 17/01/26. My health has continued to cause life disruption making returning to the GP difficult hence its expiry. I do not recall whether this was communicated to my work coach but I received another two journal entries that said:

07/02/26 - Fit note expired final reminder

17/02/26 - Provide a fit note: deadline extended. Your last fit note ended on 24/01/26. You have been given more time to provide a new fit note for your health condition. To stay on the Health Journey you need to report another fit note by 28/02/26.

I then reported a new fit note (duration six months) on 25/02/26.

I do not know whether this counts as continuous fit notes until my LCWRA assessment which was on 08/05/26.

Also perhaps noteworthy. I received the assessment form sometime at the beginning of this year which I filled out and submitted. I received a follow-up letter saying it had not been received and I shared this with my work coach to ask whether they had since received it. She said it was a different department but that I shouldn't worry as it takes time to process. I heard nothing else then received a message about the telephone assessment which I assumed meant the form had been received. The telephone assessor shared that no form had been received. This is likely a mistake I made with posting it with a first class stamp in the post box as the envelope was fairly hefty. I do not know whether this affects the outcome.

Sorry for the wall of text. Thanks for your time.

Currently receive Adult disability Scotland

My next review is due July 2026

How often do they ask to see bank statements during a review if there’s been a change in circumstances?

One would be, say I receive the mobility award but that has ever so slightly improved, allowing me to sometimes get trains weekly, would they ask to see my bank statements to see if I have paid for trains etc?

Located in Scotland

I'm filling out a 7-day diary to send with my evidence, but I'm struggling to work out if I should include a specific thing.

I smoke 'Mary Jane' for pain relief and anxiety, which my doctor knows about and is noted in my medical records(I'll also be sending the relevant parts of those with my evidence), should I say in my diary if/when I smoke? I know it's not legal & I'm getting conflicting reports online. Not sure if this is even the right place to ask but I thought I would try. Thanks!

My MR letter came through…in March…and I’ve only just gotten round to opening it a short while ago but I’ve missed the 1 month appeal window. Is there any way to request the appeal regardless?

England. My girlfriend got a message today from jobcentre aberdeen asking for her bank statements because they "have information suggesting she has other income".

first off she lives in West Yorkshire so I'm not sure why the message is coming from a jobcentre 360 miles away.

secondly she has no other income, the only thing I can think they flagged is me sending her a fiver here or there for bus tickets or something. but the confusing part about that is that I recieve both UC and PIP, so how is that not flagged because I don't receive it straight from PIP cuz my mum is my appointee she sends it to me

we're both so confused, anyone have any advice?

One of my daughter is autistic and always worried about her not being aware of her environment. She is now 15 and was awarded DLA last year since we did not know she was entitled to it. However, all efforts to get her a mobility allowance failed so we needed up with the mid-tier offer.

I wanted to ask if one can still get a car using part of the DLA allowance as we need it to always pick her up and take her places.

Hi everyone im currently waiting on my decision for my pip award - here is my timeline so far

- Jan 22 started claim & submitted report
- for 6 weeks there was some sort of error on there end so it hadn’t entered the system properly
- April 29 assessment
- April 30 text saying they received my assessment

A few days later i asked for my assessment report and was scored 10 daily living & 10 mobility (huge relief!)

2 weeks after they received my assessment report i received a text saying they still havnt made a decision yet, it’s now 3 weeks after my assessment (1 week after that text) and I rang up to ask whats happening with it and they said it’s with a case manager and the max I should be waiting is another 3 weeks

Is anyone else’s timeline similar? Do you think they will follow the assessors recommendation? And also how long have others been waiting since receiving the we have not made a decision text?

Thank you everyone

Update may 21 - ive spoken to them on the phone and they said the case manager has requested more information from my assessor on the 15th may, does anyone know what this means please?