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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Question about UC and agency work

39 replies

cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 09:28

Sorry not aibu but needed answers, my partner had been offered work with an agency but we currently have a joint UC claim. How does him doing this work affect our claim? I'm worried I'm going to loose what bit of money we get!
Thank you

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Original poster
cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 09:29

Oh forgot to mention Blush the work is until November and about 28 hour a week

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MotherOfMinions · 25/09/2018 09:41

Not sure about UC but when I did agency work when claiming CTC and HB it was so bad I vowed I would never do agency work again. If I hadn't had mum to loan me money for the 5 months they stopped my benefits I would have been homeless and so would my DC

Pickleypickles · 25/09/2018 09:44

Provided he's paid properly through HMRC, UC can see how much he has been paid and they adjust you claim accordingly every month. They take 63p off your UC for every pound you earn so if he earnt £100 one month and £1000 the next it doesn't matter. Does that make sense? I'm not very good at explaining things.

MrsICantSayMyName · 25/09/2018 09:47

Types of earnings
For Universal Credit earnings are any wages, salary, payment or fee. This could be from:
work or employment under a contract of service
trade, profession or vocation
agency work
casual or seasonal work
If you are self-employed please see our guide to self-employment in Universal Credit.
There are separate rules explaining how other payments from employment affect your Universal Credit. For more information

You are allowed to earn a certain amount before your Universal Credit is affected. This amount is called the work allowance.
Then for every pound you earn over the work allowance, your Universal Credit will be reduced by 63 pence. This is called the earnings taper.

Original poster
cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 10:00

So do you happen to know how many hours he has to work before it effects us?
This is the only work he has managed to find in a year so feel like he has to grab it with both hands

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Original poster
cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 10:06

He would be earning the same amount for the month, it's not gonna change
We only get £535 UC as it is so I don't want anymore deducted

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MyDcAreMarvel · 25/09/2018 10:12

You won’t lose anything , for every £1 your dh earns you will receive an extra 37p.

MsHopey · 25/09/2018 10:12

Exactly as PP said.
It's off your payee number, so they'll know exactly how much he's been paid and when.
For every £1 he earns, they will take 63p off you.
If he earns £1000, they will take £630 off you.
If you are only getting £500 and he earns £1000, they won't give you anything.
But also if UC find out he's been offered some form of employment and it has been turned down they can issue sanctions.
Also having someone on his CV more recent will help looking for other jobs.

I'm pretty sure anything he earns will affect you. That's how UC works, they're not going to pay you if you are earning for yourself. But they only take 63p so that you are normally better off working iyswim.

Pickleypickles · 25/09/2018 10:13

Do you have children? If you have no children and you arent tegistered disabled then you have no work allowance meaning every pound he earns you will lose 63p UC. It means it doesn't matter how little you earn you will be better off working than not. If you get £535 UC and he only earns £1 you would get £534.37 but have his £1 he earned so would be 37p better off. Google can probably explain this much better than me though it's where I got all my info from when I started claiming UC.

MsHopey · 25/09/2018 10:14

*off your benefits, not technically off you.
So if you were getting £1000 benefits.
And he earned £1000, they'd still give you £370 in UC.
So you'd be on more money than him just working, and more money than just benefits.
You'd get his wages of £1000, but still get £370 universal credit.

Original poster
cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 10:14

But we'd be loosing 63p per pound he earns?
It's a joint claim so obviously I'd be loosing money? Confused sorry am very confused

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SnowWhitesRestingBitchFace · 25/09/2018 10:16

On your UC payment section if should tell you how much you can take home from work before anything is deducted (or added depending on which way you look at it).

For example we can take home just over £400 a month before then take anything so it's not really about hours it's about how much you're earning.

It explains everything on your UC payment statement.

Original poster
cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 10:17

Oh that does make sense now
We only get 535 in UC though so if he earns 500 they'd only pay me 35 pounds is that right?

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SnowWhitesRestingBitchFace · 25/09/2018 10:18

@cuttttiee no the 63p (per pound) comes off of the universal credit after a certain amount is earned.

SnowWhitesRestingBitchFace · 25/09/2018 10:19

@cuttttiee you'll have an amount you can earn without it having an effect on your payment. The amount depends on if you have children etc I think. We have children so ours is £400. Anything over that then causes the 63p deductions to kick in.

Pickleypickles · 25/09/2018 10:20

No. If he earned £500 you get £220 UC and £500 wages.

Original poster
cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 10:21

No there's nothing on the payment bit to find out about this, obviously I want him to take the job but so worried about having next to no money,our rent alone is 351 so if he only earned 500, we'd only have 200 odd left. I want to cry

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Holidayfromreal · 25/09/2018 10:21

snow that is not correct. The work allowance you are rendering to doesn't exist if the couple are childless and not disabled.

Pickleypickles · 25/09/2018 10:23

I don't want to sound harsh but how are you not understanding anything he earns will leave you with more money than UC alone? so if you pay your bills now you will pay them if he works.

Original poster
cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 10:23

We have 3 children sorry should have said, but one born after April 17

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Original poster
cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 10:26

Because I'm quite thick and literally don't understand how it works

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MsHopey · 25/09/2018 10:28

I have one child and our work allowance is £198, not sure how they work it out but that's what mine says.
It will be in the payment breakdown section of your online statement.

MyDcAreMarvel · 25/09/2018 10:29

£535 for two children and rent? That’s not correct.

Original poster
cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 10:39

The 535 doesn't include rent no, this is what we are left with though.
It should be about 880

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Original poster
cuttttiee · 25/09/2018 10:42

But if he worked, they wouldn't pay our rent (rightly so)
I just don't want to come around to November and we've only got a little amount of UC. Having worked it out I don't think he'd even earn 500 for the month, it's more likely about 420 he'd get
I'm confused trying to work this out. There's nothing on our payment section about how much earnings before it'd effect us

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