Latest news with #Claimants
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How much universal credit will I be entitled to after the welfare bill changes?
A bill changing the amount of universal credit people are entitled to passed its second reading in parliament on Tuesday, 1 July. So what does this mean for your benefit payments? The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill — designed to change the amount people claiming these benefits are entitled to — has changed dramatically since it was first unveiled in March. Most notably, the planned reforms to personal independence payments (PIP) were shelved this week (meaning the bill has had to be renamed the Universal Credit Bill). So if you're still playing catch-up, here's what the bill could mean for your universal credit payments – and in turn, what you'll now be entitled to. For those claiming universal credit, the standard allowance — meaning the basic rate of universal credit before any other payments are added — will increase for new and existing claimants. The universal credit standard allowance rates will rise above inflation. However, it will take a while for these changes to come into effect. They are due to kick in in 2026/27, and rise year-on-year until 2029/30. For a single person over 25 claiming on their own, this will increase by £7 per week from £91pw in 2024/2025 to £98pw in 2026/2027. If you're interested in the maths behind the numbers, this the government's formula: taking the annual consumer price index inflation rate and adding an additional uplift (2.3% more in 2026/27, 3.1% more in 2027/28, 4.0% more in 2028/29, and 4.8% more in 2029/30). One of the biggest impacts of the bill is on universal credit claimants receiving the health component of the benefit. Called the limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) component, the payment provides additional financial support and reduced work-related requirements for individuals whose health conditions or disabilities prevent them from working or preparing for work. Claimants can vary, and may have a terminal illness, cancer or be pregnant. The LCWRA rate will be frozen at £97 per week from April next year, and not increased in line with inflation until 2029/30. However, to push the bill through, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall confirmed the universal credit health top-up payments will rise in line with inflation each financial year. This rate will vary - for example, last year's rate was 1.7%. After April 2026, the LCWRA rate will be halved for new claimants. The amount will be reduced to £50 per week in 2026/2027 for new claimants, totalling no more than £200 compared to current claimants, who receive £388 a month. Disability equality charity Scope say that under these changes, more than 700,000 future universal credit health claimants would receive on average £3,000 less support each year than claimants do now.
Irish Times
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on personal injuries claims: going to court is rarely worth it
The message about the Injuries Resolution Board (IRB) is clearly not getting through to the public in general and insurance customers in particular. Established in 2004 to provide a lower cost route for settling personal injury insurance claims, nearly all cases must now be submitted to the board. Overall, it resolves one in two claims. The other fifty per cent of claims – where either side rejects the IRB settlement proposal – are resolved by litigation, which usually takes the form of an out of court settlement. The enduring popularity of the legal route for resolving motor insurance injury claims is hard to fathom, given that court awards and IRB awards are based on the same guidelines and the average value of awards made across both channels is the same. However, the litigation route takes three years longer and legal costs are on average 24 times higher. It is hard to see how the continued use of the litigation channel benefits the injured party. Why wait three years for the same result? The higher fees that are incurred – for little apparent benefit to the client in most cases – may be paid by the insurance company, but the wider pool of insurance customers ultimately foot the bill in the form of higher premiums. The presumption is that the bulk of IRB settlements are rejected by a claimant on the advice that they may do better by going down the litigation route. READ MORE The Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct places no specific requirement on solicitors to talk through the pros and cons of rejecting an IRB settlement and going down the litigation route with their clients. There are general guidelines about client relationships which if adhered to in the spirit intended should suffice. It perhaps asks too much of any profession to expect its members to turn down work. The time may have come when a different approach is needed to ensure that claimants are fully aware that, in the round, the benefits of rejecting an IRB settlement and taking your insurer to court are at best marginal.
RNZ News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Lawyers present evidence in Regulatory Standards bill hearing
te ao Maori 42 minutes ago Claimants in an urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing say the ACT Party's Regulatory Standards Bill is a more aggressive and stealthier version of the Treaty Principles Bill. Their lawyers presented evidence to the Tribunal on Wednesday in a tight, online-only, hearing that had to be pushed forward by 3 weeks. Maori news journalist Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira filed this report.
