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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be worried about Universal Credit

968 replies

idiuntno57 · 23/03/2013 20:21

I am in the lucky position of not needing to claim this but I am so worried about its implementation.

Its coming in in the Autumn and is going to be an online only, monthly, postdated payment. It will be paid to one adult in the family unit.

All well and did if you are god at managing your money, internet literate and in a stable relationship. But in the real world....

How are the most vulnerable in society going to have a chance with this?

Already the council tax changes are coming in and as far as I understand people are confused and shell shocked by it. UC is much bigger and no one is prepared.

OP posts:
skinnywitch · 25/03/2013 17:31

couthy I am sorry you are feeling so desparate but from the figures you posted it looks like you are getting about £24 000 a year tax free. That's about a £30 000 a year salary and much higher than most people earn.
I know you won;t want to hear that but it does need saying. There will be people reading this earning half that for a full weeks work.

SneezingwakestheJesus · 25/03/2013 17:34

skinny witch, have you read this thread and seen couthy's situation? How fucking insensitive.

IneedAsockamnesty · 25/03/2013 17:37

Skinny have you read the thread?

Couthy is herself disabled as are at least 2 of her children this means the living costs for them are more expensive than a none disabled person and they have fewer options.

So if you want to go and spout some bile about benefits why don't you pick someone whose not disabled to do it to.

skinnywitch · 25/03/2013 17:40

yes I have read the whole thread .

aufaniae · 25/03/2013 17:42

skinnywitch and your point is?

Couthy has 4 DCs, 3 of them disabled. She is also disabled herself. She is living in overcrowded accommodation, and has been for years.

I'm sick to the back teeth of this comparison with the "average" wage.
If what the government has decided a family including 4 disabled people is the bare minimum to live on is less than the average wage, then there is a problem with wages!

Once this lot have finished with us, you can be sure it'll be fair. It'll be shit for everyone but hey, at least it'll be fair Hmm

Actually skinnywitch your post makes my blood boil. I suppose I shouldn't blame you, you're most likely just failing to engage your brain, and lapping up the propaganda coming from the right wing press and government, but how dare you insinuate that someone in couthy's position is living a life of luxury, or one that someone earning £30K should be jealous of. Have you actually read the thread?

Darkesteyes · 25/03/2013 17:44

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

SneezingwakestheJesus · 25/03/2013 17:46

I am actually gobsmacked. There's been some nasty people on this thread every so often but this one... I couldn't imagine trying to make someone feel guilty for a situation they can't control especially when they are already worried about what will happen to their family. Disgusting.

Booyhoo · 25/03/2013 17:47

"couthy I am sorry you are feeling so desparate but from the figures you posted it looks like you are getting about £24 000 a year tax free. That's about a £30 000 a year salary and much higher than most people earn.
I know you won;t want to hear that but it does need saying. There will be people reading this earning half that for a full weeks work. "

is any of that fucking helpful to couthy? what do you hope to achieve by posting it? how is that information going to help couthy feed her DCs when this all comes into force?

JakeBullet · 25/03/2013 17:49

....because couthy is living the life of Riley on taxpayers money eh skinny? How very dare she have the nerve to claim benefits for disability?

I am in a similar position actually...on benefits have a big fuck off house, a load of electronic equipment and a selection of Sky channels. ....its fucking great.

And yes I am being sarcasticHmm .

Living on benefits while dealing with disabilities is no fun as you'd rapidly discover if you had to live it.

Darkesteyes · 25/03/2013 17:52

skiinny witch have you ever thought that employers paying poverty wages are part of the problem
It is NOT that benefits are too high. Its that wages are too low

wannabeEostregoddess · 25/03/2013 17:53

Tbh this thread is making me consider giving MN a break for a while. Some people are just fucking vile.

Booyhoo · 25/03/2013 17:54

i'm actually astounded by skinny's post. what were you hoping woudl happen? that couthy would suddenly see how grateful she should be to have 4p to feed each of her children and herself? Hmm

Darkesteyes · 25/03/2013 17:55

wannabe please dont. their psychopathy pisses me off too but i wont let it chase me off here Wine

wannabeEostregoddess · 25/03/2013 17:59

Darkesteyes

I know I shouldnt let it get to me but it does. I need to avoid these threads for a bit. People just never listen. Most of them dont even have the first notion of the benefits system or the shit people like Couthy find themselves up against.

We all have our health in this house, and being on benefits still feels like a nightmare that wont end. I know that others are much much worse off than us. The lack of empathy on here astounds me.

Darkesteyes · 25/03/2013 18:00

Wannabe and couthy Thanks Thanks Thanks

skinnywitch · 25/03/2013 18:02

I apologise. I hadnt read the thread properly and didnt realsie that couthy and her family were disabled. Please ignore my crass comments.

aufaniae · 25/03/2013 18:11

skinnywitch good on you for admitting you made a mistake rather than just slinking away and namechanging

I still think that the fact that benefits and wages can end up being the same should be seen as a problem with wages being too low, and it saddens me that people can't see this. Also that forced migration of the poor out of the South East / areas of high rent is not a solution we should be embracing. It will make society poorer for us all.

Booyhoo · 25/03/2013 18:12

so how did you know what her income was if you hadn't read properly? the figures she posted were in the same post were she discussed the fact that her DLA has been suspended as it's being reconsidered. if you saw the figures you saw where she said she is disabled.

skinnywitch · 25/03/2013 18:15

I agree aufsnuae its all worrying for too many good people.

JakeBullet · 25/03/2013 18:18

Thank you skinny Thanks

wannabeEostregoddess · 25/03/2013 18:20

I keep making the point on this thread, that high rents affect workers too.

So why blame HB claimants or say benefits are too generous? Its not the claimants fault. They arent getting anything out of it to profit them. Its the BTL landlords and the government who should be feeling the wrath. Not families just trying to get by.

CouthySaysEatChoccyEggs · 25/03/2013 18:21

Well, thank you skinny witch. I would give up my epilepsy in a heartbeat if it meant being able to go back to my original career, where I was earning £42k 10 years ago. But thank you for your superb mathematical skills. Hmm

CouthySaysEatChoccyEggs · 25/03/2013 18:22

And if you add it up, almost HALF of that figure is on keeping a house that is too small for us over our heads. £12k a year on a HOUSING ASSOCIATION 2.5 bed house.

marjproops · 25/03/2013 18:22

skinnywitch good on you for admitting you made a mistake rather than just slinking away and namechanging

exactly what I was going to say.

well done Skinny. That was courageous,

VictorTango · 25/03/2013 18:23

Can anyone sum up what is happening with SMI mortgage assistance under universal credit. I currently claim this since h left last July. He refused to look after the children while I worked in the evenings so I had to quit my job. He pays nothing towards the mortgage at all.

ATM I can claim until I get moved from income support onto JSA and then then when I find work I lose the mortgage assistance (or after 2yrs of being on JSA - whichever comes first).

Ideally I would like to return to work ASAP but I would never earn enough to pay the mortgage by myself. I would sell but due to the drop in house prices we would be left with a shortfall on the mortgage - and god knows how I would find someone to privately rent to me then. I'm hoping within the next couple of years the house prices rise, I can sell and raise enough to cover the mortgage and fees and then privately rent - high hopes I know, but I'm just about hanging on by a thread at the moment and I need some sort of plan to cling to.

Does anyone know the answer to these questions?

I know you can only claim SMI mortgage assistance for 2 years under UC. Does this include the time I have been claiming it while in receipt of income support. Or does the two years start when I am moved onto UC?

Will there be another waiting period? I had to wait 13 weeks for help when h first left. And I was almost on my knees money wise. Trying to find £750 for the mortgage out of my Income support, cb and ctc credits (and the maintenance money when h could be bothered to pay it) meant I barely ate or heated the house for nearly 3 months. I 'm not sure I (or my 2dc) could go through that again.

Will the interest be the same as it is now? Atm I pay £320 towards the mortgage and it's a real struggle. If they pay less then the percentage they pay now, I don't know how I would find the extra money.

I know some will judge and say I don't deserve help with the mortgage. But when we took it out in 2007, we were both working full time and doing lots of overtime between us. It seemed incomprehensible we would ever struggle with the payments.

I didn't plan this life. I never thought I would end up a single parent on benefits. I could cry thinking about how different my life was 5 years ago. But thankfully I live in a country that has a safety net to catch people when they fall. I don't plan on living this way forever. But for the short term there doesn't seem to be any other option.

I feel very trapped.