Universal credit experts??

[Inbedbynine]

Can anyone tell me what would happen if I stopped working in these circumstance please?

I currently work 16 hours term time. I get WTC, CTC? HB, I get carers allowance as have a disabled child.

If I stopped work is that a change enough to change me to UC? It’s in my area for new claims. Or under UC can I work under 16 hours or will I lose a lot of money? I think I would lose the WTC now wouldn’t I?

Thanks

Bumping?

Or if I went under the 16 hours I know I’d lose my working ta credits but could I then claim income support? Would that trigger UC move?

I think that would push me into UC

have you tried using a benefits calculator to see what you would get in those circumstances as a new claimant? Turn2us is good

Iv had a look but I don’t know how reliant they are? It looks like I will be worse off on UC....

How old are your children?

I'm pretty certain it will trigger a move to UC, and you will be worse off since you will be working less. You can work as few hours as you want on UC as long as your children are under a certain age. Once they get older you would also be expected to look for more hours.

Best to phone CAB for proper advice.

My boss dropped a bit of a bomb shell on me today regarding my hours and I can’t work out if I’m better off stopping completely and claiming income support or try to get my hours reduced and claiming income support.

They aren’t little, they are 10 and 13. I will get carers at least for the next : years and then depends if they give my elders pip ..

CAB are currently shut..

On entitled to putting different figures in don’t seem to make a difference? Iv put in current situation and it says I’ll be a couple of pound a week better off. Iv put in working under the 16 hours a week and it says I’ll be about £180 better off. Obv I won’t have my wage but how can that be right? I would lose the working tax credit element ...??

I think that would trigger a move to UC, too, although I'm no expert!

According to entitled to I would be better off working under the 16 hours?? On tax credits I HAD to get a 16 hour job or I lost loads a month as you don’t get the working tax Element over the 16 hours? Is this right?

I highly doubt you'll be better off on UC . There's no severe disability element with it, either.

So where do they get these figures from?? I don’t know what to do..

Bumping? I can see I’m in for a sleepless night.

@unweavedrainbow are you able to help at all?

Stopping work in itself won’t trigger a move to universal credit. But as uc is in your area you won’t be able to claim income support it would be a claim for uc.

Any new claims for tax credits, job seekers, income support, employment and support allowance and housing benefit would mean you claimed UC instead. There are a few exceptions but this is the general rule.

If for example you were already getting housing benefit and child tax credits and you then wanted to claim income support this would have to be universal credit claim and your housing benefit and tax credit claims would stop as everything then comes under universal credit

Ok thank you, that makes sense. What if I went under 16 hours? Would I just lose the working tax credit or would that be having to go on UC?

Although if you get the sever disability element in any of your existing benefits then you won’t be able to claim universal credit.

Do you claim disability living allowance for any of your children?

Yes my eldest, he has low mobility, high rate care. I get the disability element on HB aswell as on tax credits....

Why won’t I be able to claim UC in these circumstances? We will be migrating over whenever they get to us?

You sound in a similar situation and i have a child on dla and get the sever disability disability element and in a uc area but we can't gone on because of the element i believe because you cant go on uc at moment you can actually claim income support. It still does exisit but theres very few people that can claim it now.

Reducing your hours and losing tax credits won’t mean you change to uc. It’s only new claims that trigger a move. So if your reduce your hours now and working tax credit ceases you would still remain on the benefits you are already claiming. If in the future your hours increased and you made a claim for working tax credits then that would be the trigger to move to universal credit.

At the moment it’s only new claims and changes that result in a new claim for a legacy benefit that trigger a change to universal credit. There is no managed migration for existing claims at the moment and isn’t likely to be for a while yet.

With regards to the sever disability element, people who were entitled to this previous to universal credit are a lot worse off on uc so the government back tracked and they are all to go back to legacy benefits or stay on the old benefits.

You don’t have to wait for migration and you can claim universal credit now if you wanted.

I think it would trigger a change.

But in all honesty you would be lucky to find an expert in this. From my experience not even the people who created this benefit can understand how it works

How are we supposed to make big decisions when they can’t give a definite answer though?!

I need to decide if I’m going to either stop working altogether or ask my boss to reduce my hours....

Can you claim income support if you’re still working but on low income, so in my circumstances or would I have to be not working to go on that?