to think applying for 30 hours free childcare whilst on LCWRA is actually impossible

[SomebodysMum]

We should be able to get 30 hours free. We’re on UC, I get LCWRA and husband is self employed earning more than enough to qualify. I have checked here www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/1257/regulation/9 and we definitely are eligible.

Yet when I go to apply, the form asks me if I receive Carer's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance. So I answer no. It asks me if I’m working. I answer no. It tells me I’m not eligible. But I am.

They do have a helpline number I can call which I have tried but honestly, I might as well be trying to call the fucking moon.

AIBU to think they’ve made this impossible and the personal responsible should be subjected to some extremely harsh language?

Also any ideas how I can actually go about sorting this out would be amazing.

Have you tried claiming using your DHs details first?

Use your husband as the main applicant and yours as the secondary details

Thank you I have not tried that but I will see if I can. I’m not sure how to but I’ll have a play and see what I can do.

There could be so many people out there who haven’t checked the regulations and just believe it when it says no eligible. Feeling rather frustrated for me and angry for them.

It's infuriating! So many forms haven't been updated to reflect the "new" system of UC. Last time I filled in a prescription exemption form it didn't have UC as an option so I ticked the tax credits one and hoped for the best.

I have done that too @CiaoForNiao It is fucked up. So many people must be losing out because the forms and even the information about 30 hours on gov.uk doesn’t match the actual regulations. I feel like I might email my MP or a newspaper or something.

@CiaoForNiao

It's infuriating! So many forms haven't been updated to reflect the "new" system of UC. Last time I filled in a prescription exemption form it didn't have UC as an option so I ticked the tax credits one and hoped for the best.

If it's like it was about 3 years ago - which it sounds like it is if they still haven't updated the back of the prescription, you'll get a £120 fine in the post in about 3 months, at which point you call them up and tell them you were in receipt of UC, whereupon they say 'Oh, OK, then' and it's wiped.

However, that doesn't stop many people paying the fine out of fear instead - and in the case of DP, secretly not getting any further prescriptions because we couldn't afford them and terrified that he'd be prosecuted for fraud.

Are you in England as it varies across the nations. I'm pretty sure in Wales you both need to work more than 16 hours a week.

@NeverDropYourMooncup it was about 3 years ago probably. I've never heard anything further from them. I'm medically exempt now instead!

[quote CiaoForNiao]@NeverDropYourMooncup it was about 3 years ago probably. I've never heard anything further from them. I'm medically exempt now instead![/quote]
I wish they'd ignored DP's! He was in a right state about the fine, took a load of convincing to make the call in the first place because he didn't believe me above an official letter - and then only admitted he hadn't been filling the subsequent prescriptions after about 6 months when he'd got far, far more unwell.

In the end, I had to buy a pre payment certificate before he'd get any medication. Which I really resented, but he needed medication and they'd scared him so much that there really wasn't any choice.

Hi did you ever get this sorted out please ?

Hi I know this is an old thread but may help others still struggling.

We applied for the 30 hours free childcare and it was refused initially. I work full time but my husband is unwell and not in work for the foreseeable, he has a long term health condition but didn't qualify for contribution based ESA. He gets UC with LCWRA so we applied for the 30 hours but it was rejected on the basis that he didn't receive a qualifying benefit, such as ESA or carers allowance. I looked into this as from what I could see, we were entitled to the 30 hours as the LCWRA meant he wasn't in a position to do childcare. We completed the mandatory review and sent in proof of the LCWRA and the print off from the Turn to Us webpage which states LCWRA is a qualifying benefit.

Long story short, a week later we have just received the news that the 30 hours free childcare have been awarded and we have received our code. So it is definitely worth completing the mandatory review if you apply and it is refused.