To be absolutely fking sick of Universal Credit

Uc is administered by DWP?

My other half has just been migrated from WTC lost a lot of benefits. As he's over the old UC age limit the local office can't cope. They keep calling him in asking the same questions, he than asks for the manager, sees the same one every time who sorts it out, then a week later has to go in again, wash repeat. He also wants his benefit to go into a third party account as he is having trouble managing money, DWP have done it over the phone for the benefits they administer, not UC, he has to go i and beg them to do it and they took great delight in saying no. Yet another complaint to our MP.

I’ve had this exact same problem since I’ve had a new case manager. I messaged him over 30 times, each time he would come back and wasn’t even answering my question. It was making me unwell. I even asked him if he was AI at one point. When I called up all they would do was take the details and pass it back to the case manager so I was going around in circles. Eventually he realised his mistake.
he has messed up again this month and over paid me. I don’t have the energy for it all I really don’t. I dread my statements.
All so I can just claim childcare to go to work.

I receive UC due to childcare costs. Those that are referring to it as free money and should be eternally grateful would you petition for our local authority jobs to pay us a higher wage so we no longer need to claim please. Partner works full time i work 30 hrs over 4 days (if i increased hours would need more childcare help)

When we started the claim both of us were expected to attend local jobcentre and were both given appointments during our working hours! I managed to rearrange to my non work day and partner had to rearrange to final appointment of the day and arrange to leave work early to attend.

They also made an error one month and didn’t pay the childcare asked on journal about it 3 times and got ignored. Spent whole of my lunch break on phone to them one day for rude advisor to admit issue.

No, thanks for the concerned though. Heard some horror stories about those.

It's a business I've sort or resurrected from years ago. Basically selling printed goods like cards and invitations. At one point years ago it was making a fair amount. Have also branched out into other items.

So you would be happy if it was your childs teaching assistant having to do that @Deeperthantheocean

Would you fuck! I can just imagine the AIBU

AIBU to be pissed off that the TA has to keep taking time off for appointments?!!!

Am appointment when she said she was at work you would be happy about?

The system is terrible but people keep voting to punish the poor under the guise of 'fairness'... I get UC despite working full time, having no dependents and not having had a rent increase for 15 years. And I'm not on minimum wage either, I'm a Universal Credit work coach.

If you earn under a certain amount then you are entitled. Please check what that amount is.

yes, Im just too tired to argue or fight with them. Their rules (hidden in the smallprint) say that your first months wages are your baseline, if they are more than the AET. Or more that MIF(minimum wage at 35 hrs a week). and if you fail to match that level for the next 3 months you lose the protection payment.

That is irrespective of whether you have any work commitments normally - so if you are a carer, or are disabled and receiving LCWRA, but may have managed to do some work that month.

I imagine a whole lot of seasonal workers, or contractors, get caught out on this too as I thought I was on the ball with it all - I had done alot of research before I migrated about when in the month to apply to reduce the wait for payments to the minimum, but this never crossed my radar.

But mainly Im just peed off because the grant wanted you to pay yourself at the proper rate for the work you did - it was one of its aims - but with the loss of TP and the needing to cover full rent and council tax in month one, Im ending up doing 60 days work at £46 a day, not including travelling expenses. And of course had I known, I would have delayed the request to the Arts Council for a week, and not even be having this discussion.

Im not even sure of the reasoning behind it - if you worked less the TP doesnt go up, you wouldnt get more money, it just feels like a trick.

I never knew we could get free dentistry or prescriptions on tax credits.

We have always paid.

God that's a big reduction!

One year (2021 I think), I was working as a long term temp and was being paid by an agency. Their payroll department had made an error one month and so one of my payslips looked like I'd received more money than usual. It was like a double payslip, 2 slips in one.
I hadn't and proved it with bank statements and also highlighting the zero figure on the top payslip.
It was clear as day that I hadn't earned double.
I received no UC in the December that year and we're as over £400 out of pocket.
I was told that they could see that I hadn't received the double pay but because it was entered as so, it wasn't rectifiable.
They basically just robbed me of my money and that fucked me up so badly but of course they didn't give a shit.
Took weeks to get to that end result and I was going to appeal and fight it but it was making me mentally unwell so I'm I decided for my own health to stop the process.
Over £400. Cunts.

You are still entitled to free dentistry and prescriptions. There is even a tick box on the prescription for Universal Credit claimants, which nullifies you from paying.

Someone from the DWP probably gave that incorrect information to someone, and of course it would spread like wildfire 🔥 out of horror. Tbh, it is believable. It is something they would do. I just wouldn't put anything past the government. Our pockets get more empty, whilst theirs get more full! However, on this case, it's still free "for now."

I migrated from tax credits to Universal credits last year. As Im a carer I dont have work commitments or an AET, I am self employed but again, as a carer I just report the earnings and expenses each month - but as they say Im not Gainfully Employed (due to being a carer) I dont have a minimum income floor or a start up period.

During the month I migrated I was awarded a grant around the work I do - this was to cover expenses related to a project, and to pay me for about 60 days of work over the following 10 months. I made sure, because I was aware of how they work on a monthly cash basis, that all the expenses were pre-bought during that first month, and because I was aware of how Carers allowance have a maximim earning per week, I spoke to them and sent them all the details - and they were happy that the conditions of the grant would keep me under their limit for the period of the project.

That first month I obviously had a high 'earning' even though it was all my wages upfront for the next 10 months, once the expenses had been taken out. I think I ended up with about £20 UC for the month, so had to cover my full rent and council tax from this amount.

The following month I had a loss - obviously, because Id had all the pay, and there was a bit of travel I needed to do. The next couple of months I made a small profit.

Month 4 they removed my transitional protection. This is a top up they give, as they say nobody will be worse off on UC than they were on tax credits. It remains static, until UC ncreases to that level, or you have a change in circumstances. For me it was £300 a month. They said Id failed to reach the earnings in my work commitment, and yet I had no earning limit, or hour requirement. Then they said its because they take the first months earnings as your base, and if you fail to reach that same level for following 3 months, you lose your TP. Then they said that it was because I made a loss.

I did explain that it wasnt 'earnings' that I was a carer and had no commitments. They acknowledged that I want told this in the migration letter. The really galling part is that the grant arrived 4 days before the end of the 1st month, and if I had been aware I could have held back requesting it for a week, and it would have gone into month 2 and I would still have kept the transitional protection. Fortunately I am due a change in circumstances this year as my son will be going to Uni in sept, so was always going to lose that protection payment anyway, but basically I will lose £3000 from my household income due to information I wasnt given, and wasnt aware of. It sometimes feels like they are trying to trip you up.

Another thing with it is that it's less money than tax credits but you lose free prescriptions and dentist when you're moved over. How does having a reduced income make these more affordable? I'm skimping on dental work that I need due to long term issues because I can't justify the cost.