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Original poster

Universal credit help

12 replies

Whatadayyyy · 27/01/2022 11:16

Hello,
I have made a new application for universal credit and got a letter today saying they can not pay towards mortgage interest? Does anyone know what this will mean with my payments? Will I receive anything from them at all? I’m panicking, recently separated and only work part time

OP posts:
Loveisthere · 27/01/2022 11:22

my understanding is that UC will only pay towards rent and not anything towards a mortgage. I would contact CAB for advice

Babyroobs · 27/01/2022 11:26

If you do not pay rent, then you do not get a housing element on UC, they do not towards a mortgage.
However if you have children on your claim, because you do not claim the rent element you will get a higher work allowance. This means that the first £557 of your earnings are completely disregarded before your earnings reduce your total UC. So this is how people with mortgages get a bit of extra help on UC.

crochetcrazy1978 · 27/01/2022 11:28

The housing element is only for rent unfortunately. After you have been on uc for 9 months you can apply for something called support with mortgage interest which only covers the interest on your mortgage and is a loan

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Babyroobs · 27/01/2022 13:01

@crochetcrazy1978

The housing element is only for rent unfortunately. After you have been on uc for 9 months you can apply for something called support with mortgage interest which only covers the interest on your mortgage and is a loan
Op would not be able to claim SMI as she works part time. You would need to have zero earnings for 9 months to qualify.
Original poster
Whatadayyyy · 27/01/2022 13:30

@Babyroobs ah thank you so much for clarifying that, that makes sense. I was panicking there, I’m new to all this so not really sure how it all works yet

OP posts:
crochetcrazy1978 · 27/01/2022 13:33

@Babyroobs yes your quite right I'd missed the fact op was working

Babyroobs · 27/01/2022 13:37

[quote Whatadayyyy]@Babyroobs ah thank you so much for clarifying that, that makes sense. I was panicking there, I’m new to all this so not really sure how it all works yet[/quote]
No problem. So you would get a standard element for yourself or a couples element if you are a couple, then child/ childrens elements. These amounts add up to make your total UC.
Then you take your net monthly earnings, take away 557 work allowance then multiply by 0.55. This then gives you the deduction for earnings from your total UC. Say you only earnt £800 a month for example, the deduction would be 800-557 x 0.55 = £133.65 deduction from your total Uc amount.
If you want to let me know your age, whether single etc and how many kids, I can do you a rough calculation. You would get child element for any children born before April 2017, if born after that you would be capped at 2 x child elements.

Original poster
Whatadayyyy · 28/01/2022 09:48

@Babyroobs thank you so much for the info that is so helpful. I am still in the assessment period before they decide what I am due. 2 kids both born before April 2017 and I am recently single. Another thing that is concerning me is the assessment period. Does this happen every month? I work part time but my concern is with feb being a shorter month, will my 2 pay days (last day of the month) be counted in the same assessment period and therefore will I go a month receiving nothing? I will be relying on the top up from uc to cover my bills etc.

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 28/01/2022 11:04

[quote Whatadayyyy]@Babyroobs thank you so much for the info that is so helpful. I am still in the assessment period before they decide what I am due. 2 kids both born before April 2017 and I am recently single. Another thing that is concerning me is the assessment period. Does this happen every month? I work part time but my concern is with feb being a shorter month, will my 2 pay days (last day of the month) be counted in the same assessment period and therefore will I go a month receiving nothing? I will be relying on the top up from uc to cover my bills etc.[/quote]
Your assesment period will run form the day you made the claim to one month later, so if you made the claim on 17th jan, it will always be from 17th-16th. They will look at any earnings received in that monthly assessment period, so if you are paid weekly there will be some months where four pay days fall in the assessment period and some five. If you are paid once a month there won't be any problem and your Uc should be the same each month assuming your earnings are the same each month. The only time where two pay days can fall in one assessment period is if you are paid four weekly.

Original poster
Whatadayyyy · 28/01/2022 11:41

@Babyroobs ah that’s ok then, I get paid the last day of every month so that sounds like it should be ok. Thanks again you’ve stopped me totally stressing x

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 28/01/2022 12:01

Assuming you are over 25 and with two children on the claim your total UC will be £844.42 per month before deductions for earnings.
So just use the calculation I posted earlier so wages minus £557 multiplied by 0.55 and that will give you the deduction from the 844.42.

Original poster
Whatadayyyy · 28/01/2022 13:30

@Babyroobs you’re a star for helping me work that out, thank you! 😊

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