Thread by @NiceConvos, Today is a day many severely disabled people will be screwed further [...]

Today is a day many severely disabled people will be screwed further with compliments of the Tory party.
You're unlikely to read about it in the MSM, it's only disabled people after all.

Summary is that as of today, many severely disabled people will lose money.
A thread.
/1

The longer story behind it is that today new regulations will come into force for disabled people and universal credit.
Although this is a major change with big financial implications, a lot of people will never have heard about the new rules. It's a very sneaky rollout.

/2

Let's go back further.
In 2016/2017 two disabled people moved homes. Nothing unusual so far.
They were both in receipt of the so called Severe Disability Premium (SDP) and Enhanced Disability Premium (EDP), which exist on means tested legacy benefits such as ESA, IS and JSA.
/3

When they moved homes, they had to switch to Universal Credit as their new homes were in a UC rollout area. And UC does not include SDP or EDP. Despite being told that nobody who switches to UC will be worse off, both of them suddenly saw a drop in their income of ~£178/month.
/4

Both SDP and EDP are additional payments for severely disabled people to meet the cost for their additional care needs. Losing almost £200 a month is a MASSIVE cut.
Now these two people didn't just accept the sudden loss of income, but they took the Tory government to court.
/5

In June 2018, a landmark judgement at the High Court in London ruled that the government had indeed discriminated against these two people by forcing them onto Universal Credit and thereby dramatically reducing their benefit payments.
The Tory government had acted unlawfully!
/6

You might have heard about it when it happened, as it was quite a big deal. The shiny sparkly amazing new Universal Credit, which was supposed to be the best system ever according to the Tories had failed already. You can read all the details below.
/7

https://www.leighday.co.uk/News/News-2018/June-2018/First-legal-challenge-against-Universal-Credit-fin

So in June 2018 The High Court had ruled that this reduction was unlawful on the basis that they had been unlawfully discriminated against and then in January 2020, after the government appealed against that ruling, they lost again when the Court of Appeal upheld the decision.
/8

Again, this was big headline news. Their brilliant new Universal Credit system was found to be broken and unlawful and discriminated against disabled people. What a surprise!

Anyway, if you want to read more details, have a look at the link below.
/9

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2020/january/dwp-loses-severe-disability-premium-case

Whilst these court cases happened, the Tories agreed to give disabled people who had already been forced to UC and who had lost their SDP/EDP a temporary compensation and also said no other severely disabled people in receipt of SDP/EDP had to move to UC for the time being.
/10

The so called SDP gateway was introduced, which gave other severely disabled people protection from being forced onto Universal Credit at risk of reduction of their benefit payments.
Sounds too good to be true, right?
Well, it sadly didn't last.

/11

From October 2020 those people who had already been forced onto UC and were receiving the compensation I mentioned above faced new rules.
They were now classed as "transitional elements" and no longer ring fenced and separate from other UC elements. The SDP became part of UC.
/12

This might seem like a logical progression and absolutely fine, right? However, because of this change, whenever there was a change, like a rent increase, the transitional element would decrease.
Basically when facing higher costs, they'd get less money.
Just great.

/13

Again, there were a lot more details to this change of rules, because nothing is ever simple.
I know this is a long thread already and you might be bored by now, but if you fancy reading even more about this part of the changes, here's another link!
/14

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2020/october/uc-claimants-set-lose-out-severe-disability-premium-money

Now, going back to the very beginning of this thread.
Today is a bad day.
Remember the SDP gateway that prevented more severely disabled people being pushed onto Universal Credit?
Well because as of Oct 2020 they have now incorporated SDP into UC, that gateway stops today.
/15

So as of today, any severely disabled person in receipt of a legacy benefit such as ESA, JSA or IS, who is in receipt of the severe or enhanced disability premium is not protected from being pushed onto Universal Credit anymore.
That safety net has fallen away now.

/16

This means that any time there is any kind of change, a rent increase, a breakdown of a relationship, a home move, a change in their health... they will now have to move over to Universal Credit.
And once on UC, their severe disability premium is not ring-fenced anymore.
/17

So yes, today is indeed a bad day.
Many severely disabled people will now have to face uncertainty, anxiety, a forced move onto Universal Credit, a six week wait for their first UC payment, a reduction in their overall benefit payments, and all the knock-on effects it brings.
/18

Although this is such a massive change with a huge impact on the lives of some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people, I fear you won't read about it in the MSM today.
And many people might be caught out by surprise about this change, even if it effects them.
/19

And all of this is happening during this awful pandemic.
The Tories could have delayed it but why would they, eh?

Anyway, read more here and PLEASE spread the news.
I am sorry it's such bad news.
People need to know this is happening today though.
/END

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2021/january/claimants-severe-disability-premium-awards-no-longer-exempt-requirement-claim

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