My daughter Ellie, like so many other children have been in receipt of a disability benefit all her life and the disabled element of child tax credits. 

When she turns 19 we had to apply for Universal Credit in her own name, even though I am her appointee as with all her other benefits is in my name too. Because of this we as a family have to wait 3 months to have this paid as its a 'qualifying period' while they carry out assessments! Assessment completed within days. 

For this 3 month period we no longer receive disabled child tax credits, child benefit or her EMA. So for 3 months we are down this amount which is over £500 a month. Its a lot of money when you cannot work enough hours as you have to provide care for your daughter and adequately heat and care for her. 

This should not be the case and we were told transition would be smooth from other benefits/ services and because of covid there has been no transition meetings or services available when moving on from schools. 

If this is to continue to be the case then the payment should at least be backdated to when need was assessed for all participants. 

Please help us in making this a national campaign to remove this for our children and vulnerable young people. 

Thank you

Tracey and Ellie