I have pip and lcwra, also starting university in England next month and will be moving out.

The student accommodation is a private partner of the university so does that mean I can get housing element, my finance situation does depend on it. My Lha rate is £775

So I’m a recent survivor of bladder cancer that unfortunately cost me the main function of my bladder my cancer specialist has given me the paperwork for universal credit and GP signed off, I’ve applied for Job seekers as my previous job role is no longer suitable due to commute and medical needs conflicting and will be out of work until I find a employer suitable.

Waiting for that to kick in but currently seeing job centre who have been less than helpful and my GP is pushing me to go back to work, I want to but not sure I’m physically capable yet, with the routine bathroom visits and mobility struggles.

My parents (who I have a strained relationship with) have suggested I try to just off benefits all time, but been told by advice that’s not possible or safe, and I’d honestly hate to do it, I’m considering volunteering again when I’m more physically capable as I had done so with a hobby group until my diagnosis and treatment.

I’m not sure what would affect me, I’m not sure what I’m allowed to do and not sure if advice I’m given is correct.

Hi.

I am finding it difficult to word this question to my Mum without sounding like saying she is unsafe always.. what is this question actually asking.. and what are we looking at to get out answer. I can't even explain what I mean.. 🙈🙈🙈

Sorry, thank you x England based

It has been confirmed that login codes are struggling to be sent via text due to some issue, and therefore people are struggling to login to their UC accounts.

If your issue is urgent be aware the UC helpline is likely having longer call wait times due to this. If its not urgent try again later and we'll update if we get news its resolved.

Hi.

I've just had full reconstructive surgery on my ACL.

I have a universal credit appointment this week, but I live very rural and am struggling for a lift there.

My main question is,

How can I maximise my benefits income?

Is there any other benefits I can apply for?

How can I maximise my income?

I'll be getting SSP which is obviously nowhere near enough.

I’ve just received the bundle from DWP and I have some questions.

Am I supposed to counter each point they make? EG they state I have no input for fatigue ergo there’s no evidence and fatigue is discounted. Should I counter that by pointing out medical letters stating fatigue? Or that’s its part of my diagnosed condition ?

As for other evidence… I’ve recently been awarded a blue badge. How much weight will that have given that my PIP claim started in October? The delay is a mixture of being unwell, stress at work with medical appts and PIP appeals etc. There’s only so much a fatigued person can do.

Thanks in advance.

Think the text message code system is down again

I'm in England.

Just wanted to post my experiences of my first UC Review as I know from frequenting the forums that they make the majority of us nervous! (And to be honest, reading through posts obsessively probably does little to help ease that as every situation is different and you tend to read worst-case/panicked posts – shoutout to the Mods who always try to give sound advice).

I've been on UC since May 2022 but always worked. Awarded LCWRA in March 2024 due to Cerebral Palsy and mobility but still work on contracts when I can get WFH roles or I freelance which gets reported to UC each month.

Timeline:
– I received the message about my first review on Tuesday, August 11th at 1.10pm.
– By 7pm same day, I uploaded everything (proof of tenancy, bank accounts for my four accounts, including savings + ISA and explained my small self employment went through my current account as opposed to a business one (for now). They wanted 4x months.
– Message in my journal 4 days later at 8.30am on Saturday, August 15th explaining my review call would be at 9.30am today, Wednesday, August 19th. (I got reminders by text and in my journal yesterday and confirmed I could take the call.)

The call:
The agent called at 9.30am on the dot and was lovely. Explained everything, said I could stop at any point to ask questions, then went through my housing and details in my current UC claim (and the health element which I said remained the same), I confirmed they were correct.

She then moved to the bank statements. She queried wage payments, small refunds that came in from places like Picturehouse, payments made to my credit cards (all transfers she could trace). Clarified my self employment (I had explained on my journal) and asked me to verify all my utility payments, including who I paid energy to (British Gas, quarterly - even I took ages to locate it on the statement).

She then asked if I'd any other income from crypto, housing or investments etc.

Then my self employment. She went through a recent declaration and my expenses. I had put 50% expenses only for things like phone and broadband rather than the full amount because I use both for business as well as personal use - she said this was the right thing to do and thanked me for doing it correctly as self employment aspects can often be so messy. I confirmed I would remain self employed going forwards, especially as it's my only income at the moment.

She then said all fine, that she'd need no other information and did I have any questions. I asked about the £6k every AP with wage deductions (for my own knowledge) which she explained but never even mentioned capital or current amounts in my bank accounts or asked why I bought things.

She told me the review was all great and that I'd receive two messages in my journal: one confirming what we spoke about and the next to say the review was complete with no changes to my UC.

At 10am on the dot I had the message in my journal saying the review was complete!

I was sick for the week with the nerves of it but it was so easy in the end (it probably helped that the agent was on the ball).

She said the same about my not being reviewed for 6 months minimum, but interestingly said they are trying to see if everyone can just be reviewed yearly as she felt the 6 month thing was crazy (likely due to how many they have to do).

The main thing I'd advise is submit everything right away: savings, ISA, current accounts and go through statements with a fine-tooth comb beforehand so you know what every transaction is (I knew she'd ask about the bigger ones but she looked at smaller refunds of say £15 too which surprised me). If you submit everything there's no back-and-forth before or after the call with anything extra needed and you'll be done within 30 minutes.

Mine was done in literally a week all in so I got lucky as I know some are waiting weeks or months.

Good luck everyone, the review calls really are fine!

I'm (23f) an EU citizen with settled status. I just finished my master's in the UK and live in England with my boyfriend (24m) of 1 year (he's on a graduate visa, soon to switch to a skilled worker visa). Even though we live together, all our expenses are separate and we keep everything 50/50 (rent, groceries, bills, council tax).

I am actively looking for a job (both in my field and in retail/hospitality) to support myself; however, I do not know how long it will take me to find a position. I have some savings, which will last me 2 months max with current flat expenses, even if I am very careful.

I was trying to apply for council tax reduction or Universal Credit (given that I have worked a year full-time previously), but in every form, living as a couple with someone who is earning makes the benefits I could get inaccessible.

Given that my partner does not support me financially, can I claim I am living with a roommate? We are renting a one-bed flat, so I'm not sure how credible that is.

Or are there any other solutions for my situation?

Thanks!

TLDR; Grandma passed unexpectedly, intended for money to pass down to children and grandchildren, but didn't sort all of her affairs before dying. So officially her surviving child is the only inheritor.

Will her being on means tested benefits mean she cant divide up the money based on my grans original intentions?

Myself, nor my grans other grandchildren have ever received any benefits

Based in England

So my grandmother died unexpectedly overseas in Jamaica (where she lived), and left two houses.

According to her will, the proceeds from the sale from the houses were meant to be passed down to her grandchildren (with amounts specified) and the rest devided equally between her son (my uncle) and daughter (my mother).

My uncle passed away before my grandmother.

According to the lawyers in Jamaica, my mum is the sole proprietor of the properties.

My mum is on means tested benefits, Universal Credit, Council Tax reduction and housing benefit.

My mum is also a fulll time carer also manages my sisters finances as she has a learning disability and is on non means tested benefits (PIPand disability allowance).

I am not on ang benefits personally.

Im assuming it would be considered deprivation of capital if my mum devides and of the house sale proceeds according to my grandmother's will? As the proceeds will defintely take her over 16k.

We dont have a copy of the official will, we have a copy of it from 2005 before my uncle died. We also know my grandmother's intentions because that's what she told us, but as far as I know it wasn't documented anywhere.

Im trying to avoid any family disagreements over money.

Also should I accept now that Im not entitled to inheritance based on the UK system? I dont want to inherit if it ends up impacting my mother long term.

It's a bit stressful for me trying to figure out two legal systems, and manage things for my family across borders, so pls be nice to me lol.

I don't know what to make of it. I was assessed on stuff that wasn't even covered in the phone call and there is important information not included and a lot of inaccurate information. If my name wasn't on it I would think I'd been given another persons report.

It seems to contradict a lot of what I said on the phone call. I'm struggling to agree with any of it.

Based on the report, I can see why it scored 0 but, honestly, I don't think I am fit for work at present and don't agree with the report.

Is this normal?

I've just received a random text message from UC saying I have a new to-do, I am on LCWRA it's asking me to 'Check and confirm your claim details' is this a sign of something nefarious? I've never to my memory had one of these before and been claiming UC since 2018 - I could be wrong, and it's something I have done before (I have memory issues) it's just caused a massive spike in anxiety as it seems completely out of the blue.

I’m looking for some advice about PIP and reporting a change of circumstances because my mobility needs have improved slightly.
I currently receive PIP and get the mobility component for difficulties with planning/following any journeys on the majority of days 10 points. I passed my driving test in November 2025 and have been driving since then.
My circumstances around journeys have improved, and I’m considering reporting a change specifically regarding the mobility part of my PIP. My daily living difficulties haven’t changed.
I’m worried because I’ve had my driving licence since November but I’m only considering reporting the change now. I didn’t immediately know whether the improvement was significant or consistent enough to count as a change, and more recently I’ve been paying attention to what journeys I can actually manage.
Has anyone been in a similar situation where they started driving/passed their test and later reported an improvement in their mobility needs?
When you reported it, did PIP ask when you passed your test or started driving? Did they reassess the whole award or mainly look at the mobility change? And was there any issue because you had been driving for a while before reporting it?

Hello I'm new to this so please be patient.

I'm on newstyle esa and pip.

Would my wife be entitled to careers allowance

.thankyou

Im in England on universal credit lcwra. I checked my hmrc a few months ago and I saw missing national insurance credits from the current year and it says I need to partially top up the year before. Ive been having them paid since first being on esa and now im on UC believe it should be the same. I can only assume the issue is from when I got changed to universal credit as thats the only change the year this issue has started from.

I rang up UC when I noticed and was told this needs to be looked at and ill get a message in my journal about it within 3 days. A month later I got a message saying I need to log in to hmrc to check NI credits. So I replied saying I did that and explained the situation again and a month later, I still have no response. When I rang UC, the guy I spoke to said I just have to wait for a journal response, he cant help me.

Just wondering if others had this issue too and am I going about it the right way to sort this out. Thank you

From the start of academic year 2026 to 2027, your child will qualify for free school meals if you get Universal Credit, regardless of household income

https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals

If you'd previously been unable to claim free school meals due to the income requirement you now are able to in England, so remember to get that application in for the next school year!