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.

A childminder likely has her own family to put first. And if she didnt ppl like Kath would be the first to jump and call her irresponsible.

Its going to have to the complete opposite effect in future years of what it's hoping to achieve.

Five years ago I went back to work as a single parent I had to wait 3 weeks for my first wage, was still receiving CTC weekly, CB monthly plus I got travel assistance for my first month back at work. It took weeks for LHA to be sorted but I still had some money coming in each week to put aside for rent and buy basic food for kids.

Two years ago I had to leave my job to care FT for one of the kids who has a disability. I had to wait 2 months for her to be awarded DLA, another for CA and then another for IS. My LHA had been suspended all that time and I'm just lucky I have a landlord I'm now £2k in arrears to but have a really good relationship with. If I hadn't been receiving other benefits that bill would be much higher.

The system was screwed before, its really not better now. When I went back to work 5 years ago I was working a 25 hr job well above min wage. I could do that as there was the weekly financial help to transition into work. If I was on UC and already in debt/arrears before even finding work I wouldn't bloody bother.

Can you imagine the mumsnet threads?

'I am a childminder and the parents say they can't pay me for six weeks'. There would be howls of 'CF, give them notice, you're not a charity'. (And the occasional poster telling her that it's her own fault for not having a high flying career where she could be sure of getting paid).

(And the occasional poster telling her that it's her own fault for not having a high flying career where she could be sure of getting paid)

And Kath would very likely be one of those posters.

Treacle You are right about a childminder, but if there are lots of parents unable to pay (as Helena thinks) then perhaps (just perhaps) the parent and CM can come to some agreement. Otherwise the CM will have no children to look after.

Of course we are talking hypotheticals here as it depends on the provider, their flexibility, the number of children, their age, the length of time the provider has known the child, blah blah.

Its not as i think. NeedsaSock has already posted that this is happening.

Kath

That childminder would be highly likely to be on UC herself. That means if she contrives employment (which is what not making your customers pay you means when self employed) you either get sanctioned or get capped or lose your UC claim.

If she doesn’t tell them she’s not been paid that’s fraud.
You seriously think it’s ok to do that to a childcare provider?

Every childminder I’ve had contact with charges in advance if you don’t pay they don’t take your kid. They then find another kid to replace the none payers. It’s called real life.

Oh and I think your shocking actually berating low paid employees for not conning other low paid workers. That is scummy, and you have the cheek to make out your bill dodging backside is better than anyone of the lower paid posters on this thread.

garden according to their own info graphic yes that’s the case however I’m not sure about the 6 week wait.

The knock on effects are absolutely mind blowing.

GardenGeek - If you have 5 weeks in a month that you get automatically kicked off UC and have to reapply completely which takes a minimum of 6 weeks

Not quite. If your 5 weeks pay takes you over the limit for UC you'll need to reapply (for lots of people they'll still get some UC in a 5 week month so their claim won't close) but it's not like reapplying from scratch. You don't have the waiting period and you keep the same monthly assessment period as you had before. You just need to log in and confirm your details. Info here.

What's not clear from that page is what happens if you reclaim after the next 4 week assessment period has already started. Do you get anything for that month or does it start from the next assessment period?

It's also no clear what happens about seasonal work - does anyone know?

It's also no clear what happens about seasonal work - does anyone know?

Pencils From the gov.uk site - "your income is too high is too high and you will no longer get universal credit. You can reapply the following month"

I think after everything yous have said yous have a cheek to call me rude! And like wise kath, if you cant handle the debate not my problem
But dont sit there on your mighty high horse berate other people. And there is people
Who have heaps of kids and go away on 3 holidays every year and sit on their backside. u clearly haven’t ventured out of you high society very far to notice these people but yet us mere commoners have seen it many times

The drama aside.

If you are working in the private or public sector on a full time wage, you are being paid on the last Friday or last day of the month. So why are we having a benefits system supporting zero hours lol

Why have you namechanged Mrsstrat?

Children will go hungry ... mrsrat. think about that . 10 x more unclaimed through shame than defrauded. Class traitors curtains twitch - victims reported. Yellow stars and dinner tickets - let them eat cake. Kathy come home ???... there all on the make.

I would sooner have the one or two abuse the system (and it is only the few that genuinely abuse the system) but everyone is fed and housed to a good standard. Then have people starving and homeless Because a few took the piss.

Here's the link for that petition again, it needs about 1300 more signatures to get a government response

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200213

Wow are there purposely goady comments on here?

MargaretMary/ mrsstrat- I am not sure why you're having a huge go about people living a fab lifestyle on benefits when this entire thread has been MNers saying how awful their low income lives are, and how seriously close to disaster UC is going to put their families . Poster after poster pointing out how difficult it is to save anything as the cost of living has gone up so much but wages have stagnated for over a decade.
I don't think anyone on this thread, in receipt of some form of benefit, has three foreign holidays a year!

Tax credits are benefits, otherwise they wouldn't be moving you onto UC. Child benefit is also a benefit, it is means-tested, unlike the previously universal family allowance.
Please do not look down on people in receipt of benefits- most of the posters on this thread have stated they're in receipt of some form of assistance, and you yourself are also in receipt of that assistance. The system is there to help people in need. People. Not sub-people, or lesser people, or inferior people. Just ordinary people.

Mrsstrat You're talking nonsense. I haven't been on holiday for years and years. I'd love to but I couldn't when I was working and I can't now. I don't know if I'm going to be able to afford heating this winter and I always have an overdraft at the end of each month. That's the reality of benefits, not your bloody nonsense. The standard of living is certainly not High Society nor anything like it.

There will be an emergency debate on Universal Credit in the House of Commons tomorrow. I'm glad that Labour is on the case. I wonder if there will be any opportunity for the House of Lords to step in again too, as they did with Osborne's scheme to cut WTCs?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41726526

I’ve been following Labour’s fight for UC to be paused. Sadly I don’t think it will. There is talk of backing down and setting the minimum wait to 4 weeks instead of 6.

But other than that, I think they will go full steam ahead.

Of course, I hope I’m wrong.

Also, I don’t know of anyone and have never known of anyone on benefits living the high life with 3 holidays a year. If there is any one of these mythical families anywhere in the UK, they will be the exception, not the rule.