Universal Credit won't be paid in months with 5 weeks. (WTF?) AIBU to think no one realises

[raisinsarenottheonlyfruit]

If you get paid weekly, and there are 5 weeks in a month, in those months your pay will likely go over the Universal Credit limit and your UC will be stopped. You will have to go without that month and apply again.

WTF are they thinking?

Have they never heard of averages FFS? (That's how Tax Credits works). This is going to screw over so many people. It's ludricous.

The people claiming UC aren't any richer that month, they get the same amount of money as if it was paid in 12 monthly chunks.

This will happen to thousands of people every time there's a month with 5 weeks. (I guess they mean 5 Mondays?)

This is farcical.

There's 5 weeks in January, so if you get paid weekly that's you fucked for February.

April, July, October and December also have 5 Mondays.

This is utterly farcical and just plain callous.

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/23/universal-credit-sending-rent-arrears-and-food-bank-use-soaring-councils-say?CMP=share_btn_tw

Frequency Yo see, there you go again blaming everyone else (The DM readers/the Tory voters).

Gilead Yes they are examples of the truly needy. But some people in those situations are not on benefits!

16 years ago i was working ten hour night shifts in a sex chatline office. One of my colleuges was doing v. similar hours to me = caring for a toddler because her husband worked during the day. She managed it. Want to know how? Drugs thats how Uppers

Arr. \yes, you're right. We shouldn't expect people to work. Work too hard and have to take drugs? Then stop working. What the hell do you think other working people do when they have a mortgage or rent to pay?? Work through it.

MargaretMary If you aren't able to work around your situation thats your choice, so you will have no option to to accept UC - so you really need to stop complaining about it.

Another interesting UC fact.

The benefit cap.

Someone who is weekly paid who works 16 Hpw at the national minimum wage will not earn enough to avoid the cap for several months of the year (something like 7 months)

But someone who is paid monthly who works the exact same hours for the exact same pay would be exempt.

This happens because they worded the rules as earn over £520 to be exempt as opposed to work 16 hours per week.
And they calculated this by 120 x 52 divided by 12

If you aren't able to work around your situation thats your choice

You might want to read through that again. It makes even less sense than the rest of rubbish you've posted.

Kath she was doing night shifts and getting no sleep during the day. People still need to sleep.

Remember the Glasgow bin lorry crash?

I suspect a lot of people in these types of jobs will now hide any medical conditions that they develop while in the job because of the fear of losing said job and going on to UC.

Kath was also making goady comments on the food bank thread.

Which poster was it who said in essence just don’t pay your childcare provider and expect them to work for free?

*Let me just point this out once! My stay at home husband does NOT receive benefits at all! So you are mot funding him! I have an oppinion just like you! I work my arse off to provide for my family, you,your husband and the state do not provide for our lifestyle!!

So it was a mistake that you posted you receive tax credits and had not been moved to UC yet?? Or did you mean they go into your account rather than your husbands?

How it is a choice for a partner to be unable to magic up a job that allows him/her to work round the other party's shifts? How are disabled people supposed to magic up an employer who can work round their needs, especially know with things like Access to Work or Remploy cut or put out?

And I'd still like to know how people budget and prepare and save for having six weeks with NO money when they already have NO money left at the end of the month? Really, just PMSL at forewarning your childcare provider that you'll be unable to pay for their services and can they offer you a payment plan, they are not credit providers, it's not a shop.

It is a real travesty. And really scary just what a pile of shit it is with the 6 weeks wait and everything, but I didn't know about this bit. It's really awful and blatantly because they're thinking it will save money doing it that way & making people reapply.

'Which poster was it who said in essence just don’t pay your childcare provider and expect them to work for free?'

That would be KathArtic, Need, who still hasn't explained how you budget, prepare and save (and overpay your rent) for the at least 6 weeks with NO money you get with UC when you already have, well, no money.

Yellow.

A two parents working family with high childcare costs is highly likely to cost the tax payer more unless both are higher earners than with one parent working and no childcare costs.

Thanks expat.

Good to know she thinks Childminder’s shoukd risk sanctions or being capped and their work is less valuable than everybody else’s.

Easy expat. Just take in some ironing, sell your Bugaboo on eBay and set up a dog walking business.

I'm just making that suggestion before someone comes along to suggest it for real.

Yes childminders havent got any bills or rent to pay They can live on their wits cant they

Margaretmary, of course there are people on both UC and old benefits who are capable of working. They are called 'unemployed' The vast majority of unemployed people find work within 6 months but for some it's harder because, for example, they are nearing retirement age, have a disability or condition that is not severe enough to qualify for ESA but still impairs their ability to find work, or simply because there are very few jobs where they live and they can't afford to move.

The 'mythical people' I was referring to are 'The ones that have heaps of kids, go away on holidays 3times a year, are always out partying that Can work but are to lazy and the fact that they receive more on benefits than what they would get in a job'

You don't appear to have much of a clue about:

a) how low an income benefits provide on their own
b) how many hoops you have to jump through to show you are looking for work

There are a few people who abuse the system but benefit fraud rates are very low - much lower than tax fraud for example.

And you still haven't explained this bit: and they are not being affected by the UC

Why would benefit fraudsters be unaffected by UC?

Tax credits are state benefits that provide extra money to people responsible for children, disabled workers and other workers on lower incomes.

Even child benefit now comes under benefits. It's not just JSA or ESA

Fucking hell, you're rude!

TC may not have originally been sold to us as being a benefit but they are. You'll discover this when you get moved onto UC with the rest of the plebs and suddenly have to start jumping through hoops for them. Oh dear.

Personal attacks aren't necessary Margaretmary

Helena My comments are opposite to yours, (like the majority of the country), if you wish to get wound up by them that's something you need to deal with. Likewise Margaret, if you can't handle debate/differing views then that's your problem, but don't name call.

Certainly, if I was in a period of financial difficulty I would be informing everyone I owed money to. You may PYSL, but if some organisations will work with you to sort it out etc. Why wouldn't you tell your CC provider you are being moved to UC and not getting funds for 6 weeks?? If you are going to lose your place anyway I would be trying everything.........which is probably where a lot of people are going wrong. Because it's everyone problem and no one helps themselves. Ad infinitum.

@jamdonut the issue isn't how YOU work it out. The issue is the government seems incapable of working out averages and people will lose money as a result.

Instead they have decided that for your DH, on the months where he gets two payments (as the 4 weeks fall in the same calendar month) your DH will get nothing that month (or very little).

If you're a TA and don't work summer holidays, I wonder how they will deal with that? I just googled and it's not at all clear.

I'm now imagining a self employed childminder on UC herself, being hit by the minimum income floor because her mindee's family cannot afford to pay her and DWP are treating her as if she is earning 35 x min wage when she's not. Then when the mindee's family manage to pay her what they owe, her UC is cut accordingly.

It's just a total clusterfuck.

Kath Do you get Child Benefit?

EXACTLY Pencils.

It's one thing telling a utility company based or your bank that you're facing financial difficulty and asking for a payment plan. Apart from anything else, I'm pretty sure they have obligations towards customers with diffculties and they have to work with them.

Whereas a self employed childminder who is utterly reliant on you paying her is well within her rights to say 'ok, fine, let's cancel the arrangement'. And why wouldn't she?