Universal Credit help please.

[PinkKettle]

My dh got paid early due to Christmas he was paid on Friday 19th December instead of 28th of month like normal. He is paid monthly so 12 salaried payments each year. This made two payments within one assessment period and our December statement was reduced to £0. This will also mean that January’s assessment period will have £0 income from employment. I contacted DWP on 21/12 when our statement was ready through my journal to notify them of the error and ask if they could move the second wage into Januarys assessment period and again on 29/12 as of yet not heard anything back from them.

Dh takes home £3600 pcm so we are ok for money thankfully we receive £900 in UC pcm, my main concern is they don’t change it then give us the full entitlement in January £2600+ and then a few months later recognise the mistake and it causing problems.

Has anyone experienced this? I’m worried they might see this as benefit fraud if we are over paid in January because I know we aren’t entitled to full allowance due to earnings, it’s all over the news about them cracking down on fraud, rightly so. Is notifying them twice of the error enough for them to correct it? What else can I do?

Thank you

It’s not benefit fraud if no wages are reported in an assessment period. Uc can only go by what is reported via HMRC. Your husband also needs to get his employer to correct the date on the HMRC feed if he has not done so already.

If UC don’t sort out the wage issue by Januarys payment all you can do is keep any overpayment to the side

I don't think there's much you can do now other than wait and see what they do pay you, and then if you think it is too much you can raise it again through the journal

It’s not an error it’s a stupid situation that UC have created and they don’t care about nil awards due to pay being early. It apparently balances out but that doesn’t really help anyone in the moment. You are not committing no fraud though, this is a very very common situation.

I’d love to know how to claim nearly a thousand pounds in benefits on top of a ~55K salary

We went through this last month. It's the employers fault as they haven't submitted RTI to HMRC.

UC can sort it out but they have to investigate it first and it takes ages. It's much faster to email the employer and ask them to submit RTI retrospectively and make sure they use it going forward. Then send UC a message in your journal to confirm when the employer has done it and ask them again to move it to the correct period.

It took UC two weeks to sort it out using this process. However I did phone them to chase and it was only then that they did actually do anything.

By filling in all relevant forms and information and UC finding you eligible 😘 literally anyone can apply and if you meet the criteria, you too will get a payment. HTH

If he was paid early this month then it shouldn’t if effected his December payment. Your December statement should be for the previous months wages? That’s how mine works. So last December we were paid early meaning two payments in our bracket. I still got a normal January payment as I informed universal credit that dh was paid early.

This.

As you've already worked out, your January payment will be higher.
Dont worry. Its not a error or fraud. Its suposed to happen!

Its just a stupid quirk of the UC system and it evens out over the course of the year.

Thank you for the advice. Our assessment period is 20th-19th of each month so November was paid on 28th and then Decembers early on 19th so both wages did fall into the assessment period making his income from employment roughly £7300, I will ask him to speak to work when he’s back on 5th January. If it’s not corrected and we get more than Dec/Jan payment combined at the end of January I’ll contact DWP.

@ladyamy dh earns £62,000 a year we are entitled to universal credit due to me being unable to work as we have a child with AuDHD in recipient of DLA and I’m the full time carer. Obviously I understand that may be annoying for you to read but it is nowhere near enough to replace the amount I would earn working. This is what life dealt us and I feel absolutely no shame in claiming what I’m legally entitled to and doing the best I possibly can for my family.

£900 is a hell of a lot of money and £62k is a very good salary, was just frustrating to read. All the best.

clever one, you! Xoxo

@ladyamymay be frustrating for you to read but maybe you should feel grateful that you don’t have a child with a disability that prevents you from building a career :)

I’m a CLN teacher and I can only imagine the struggle for the parents, you didn’t mention DLA or anything, or having a child with additional needs which is why I was a bit confused. I should have read the full thread before commenting xx

This is utterly ridiculous!

Was your DH paid early due to Xmas ? If so then his employers should have put his standard pay day on the system to avoid this.

@notapizzaeater yes that’s what happened but the new payroll lady didn’t report his normal payroll date to HMRC but the early one, not been an issue in the last 8 years we’ve claimed UC.

@PinkKettleyou need to ask for a Rti (google it) and I’d also be asking payroll to amend the date to the correct one on the HMRC

My daughter is a single mom to 3 children ages 2, 6 and 8. The dad has walked away. Youngest will be 3 soon so she will be expected to work. She has been on medication for MH issues for around 7 years, she struggles with panic, very low mood etc, would she still be expected to work 30 hours? Also childcare is an issue round here, school holiday clubs are like gold dust and her two eldest go to different schools and little one will just do nursery hours come September. Just wondering what people do really? Thank you

Her work coach should have talked her through this if the youngest is nearly 3.

If she has a health condition that affects her ability to work then she provides fit notes until she receives a work capability assessment. The outcome of the assessment will determine where things so from there.

If she is fit to work in reality it's not usually 30 hours that single mothers on UC aim for. Once you earn above £952 a month you are not asked to look for more work.

UC also cover 85% of childcare costs and many schools provide breakfast club free for UC claimants so its often not too hard to squeeze in 18 hours per week (ish) She'll also benefit from some free childcare sessions during the holidays.