To be absolutely fking sick of Universal Credit

Oh goody, another thread which attracts the benefit bashers.

YANBU op, I get a UC top up every month and I've never had any issues but I'm a member of some UC groups on Facebook and really feel for some of the posters, who in some cases have been left with zero money for weeks on end. The reasons are "your children haven't been verified yet", their employer has reported a salary of £80k for that month instead of £800, or some other admin issue which means their payments are held up. One woman was forced to make a long journey to her nearest job centre to provide paperwork a week after a c section. Another poster was overpaid significantly (no fault of their own) and struggles to pay it back. The amount of people who are marked as "not attending" for a telephone call that they never received, and sanctioned as a result. A lot of the time admin errors and issues aren't picked up until just before the UC is due to be paid, leaving very little time to rectify the situation and then the earliest appointment they are given to fix it isn't for another 3 weeks.

Some of these people CANNOT work because they are disabled, caring for a partner with terminal cancer, have a disabled child etc etc. it is simply not the case that they are sitting with their feet up trying to milk the system for all the money they can get. They are just trying to survive and feed their families.

But sure, carry on moaning about people needing their "free money". 🙄

No, but just like NHS bashing posts, the answer is too few being net contributors to the tax system, meaning public services (like the DWP) are run down and under-resourced. The debate is utterly kafkaesque.

Maybe…just maybe if wages had kept up with the cost of living people wouldn’t need to claim UC.

Pretty telling that a lot of UC claimants are in full time work!

Do you get a little thrill when you sit there bashing away at your keyboard, talking about "free money services"? Does it make you feel a bit rebellious?

It's a case of UC staff having to justify their existence by creating unnecessary admin. My friend told them she'd inherited a sum of money which would take her over the UC threshold, so she wanted to close her claim immediately.

They insisted via her journal, that she attend an appointment to discuss how a large sum of money would affect her UC and whether she would be able to continue the claim - it was quite obvious she couldn't. She politely declined and said just close the claim, which they did eventually without a word of apology.

'Free money'. 🙄 You clearly have no idea how the benefits system works.

It’s not running them down. I used to think the same as you until I found myself unexpectedly on it.
They set people up to fail. It sounds ludicrous but it’s absolutely true.

It’s a shit show. I just like to write back really friendly and oblivious replies in my journal and let them think I’m a thick as they assume.

It’s a pointless waste of resources though. For the work coach and the claimant.

The 'free money'? You are supposed to wait until you've at least posted 4 or 5 incoherent rambles before you drop free money in. You peaked too soon

I’m sure the DWP could be better, but running down a free money service is laughable. Maybe if so many didn’t rely on UC payments, there would be more appointments and greater flexibility for those who need the services.

No these posts we normally just jump to support people sick of universal credit. It in I see this thread is for people who think even having to do some admin to get the free money is too much effort.

I know that’s why I said those who ‘choose’. I was on UC because I didn’t earn enough with my job, I hated being on it because I felt they owned me.

I don't think that pp has even bothered to read that OP is working, it'd mess with their Daily Mail narrative too much.

Wish I could tell you what I really think of you

Another fantastic idea! What happens if you can't work to support yourself?

Simple solution - close your claim. Problem solved

And if you can't work?

Have you actually read anything OP has posted?

We should have migrated onto it from tax credits but we just took the hit in terms of loss of income (which was considerable as we have a child with SEND as well, who gets DLA and tax credits you had extra to recognise this).

DH works all the hours god sends, I work p time as am disabled myself but can't get PIP. So our low income has got lower.

It was just too stressful to contemplate on top of all the other nonsense we have to deal with (SEND parents with EHCPs will know).

I bet we are not the only family to make this decision. The way it is set up is punative and stress making. I do not think this is by accident, but by design, to punish the poor.

We have always worked, and always will work. Despite this we earn very little. The government needs to recognise that most people on benefits are the hard working poor, not people sat smoking joints in their PJ's and watching day time TV!

Was irritated beyond measure at Reeves in the supermarket on BBC news today. They need their verify team to look at the stats for benefits - why long term sickness has gone up since Covid (er, Long Covid and other impacts of the virus) and how much goes unclaimed!