To the think this Universal Credit rule is so so wrong!

[ilovewelshrarebit123]

I'm a single parent, one DD and I work 30 hours a week.

I didn't get my UC payment this month which was a complete shock. I get paid my salary on the 15th of every month, and as the 15th of August was over the weekend I got paid on the 14th.

After investigation which has taken over a week, UC say I've been paid twice in the assessment period (15th to 14th) so I get nothing. I was paid on the 15/8 and 14/9 but it isn't two payments in one month is it. It was just a day early because of the weekend.

I'm £600 down and i just can't get my head around this policy. They've said there is nothing that can be done and I won't be getting this payment. It will also happen in January due to Decembers pay date.

They suggested I cancel my UC claim, start another one so the assessment period is different. But then I have to start the claim again and wait the 6 week assessment period with no payments.

Please don't tell me not to 'rely' on UC, I have no choice and I work hard.

So that's it, I'm stuffed this month through no fault of my own and UC is a crock of shit! 😡

You can verify your identity on line. And you can have your claimant commitment generated by the computer if you are working enough. So no you would not necessarily need to attend the job centre at all. Verifying online takes a while though as you need a government gateway account. Most people give up and make an appointment to bring the ID in

I have never successfully been able to verify my clients ID online but that may just be that they are perhaps not the type of person that has credit cards etc.

Quite possibly Babyroobs. It is tricky but I have seen people managing to do it

I think to successfully verify online you need to have a number of different Id documents, driving licence. I think I've struggled to help clients with this as they often don't have that available so they almost always seem to have to go for ID appointment.

i saw a report on the BBC a while ago where a part time had to take time off so it probably depends what time they are asking for claimants to come in and if the interview clashes with their work hours.

ID appointment is much easier. We are also going to start opening on weekends to help people who work Monday to Friday. It's a very quick 10 minute appointment.

Yes a lot of our clients are quite vulnerable , not computer literate, have no way of managing their claim etc. I had one lady the other day who had never sent a text, she is now on a fast learning curve with UC !! Many don't have pc's or even phones with email. And they are all ill with serious illness and can't get to the job centres to do all this, so home visits have to be arranged. I feel terrible suggesting to people on chemotherapy that they may now need to go to the job centre ( as if they don't have enough to worry about). We try to arrange home visits for a dwp representative to go to their homes but they never seem to get arranged promptly and their claims are delayed. This is despite frequent reassurances that this vulnerable group of people would get support.

If the interview clashes with work hours they will always reschedule. You can not be sanctioned for missing an appointment because of work

Totally agree with you Babyroobs. I have seen similar things. It was designed to make people self sufficient but totally neglected the fact that many people need the safety net of benefits because they are not capable of being self sufficient

And trying to explain the complexities of how UC works and how it interacts with other benefits to people with Chemotherapy brain fog, terminally ill or with severe anxiety and mental health problems is a nightmare. They deserve to be fully informed before they go onto it especially when all other benefits stop immediately the claim is made, but it is hard for them to understand.

Morgan do you think the UC system is here to stay?

I've seen a woman with dementia having to hand in a fit note. Which I find an embarrassment. We should be looking after people like that not making them jump through hoops.

Yes I think its here to stay. The old system was based on an extremely outdated computer system. They have spent a lot of money creating UC to go back. As a concept it does work but like OP said there are a lot of problems just like hers with it that are not fair. Whether they will be rectified I don't know.

I dread when the time comes for my Dd to go on it. She just about manages now on working tax credits. I don’t have much money myself but i am prepared to put money in her account every month to get her through it. It’s absolutely despicable whats going on. Universal credit is designed to cause major hardship, upheaval and despair. What a truly heartless mean government. I despair for the future for my kids and grandkids.

Thank you Morgan. Out of interest, what qualifications does someone need to be the person dealing with these claims and what’s the salary?

coolmule - Some people are better off on UC , it just seems to be that there are a lot of problems with it and that is what gets reported/ highlighted in the media. Some of the clients I see are better off on it, but then they don't tend to have work commitments. Some of my clients can start claiming UC when they become ill and drop to UC and if they can get assessed reasonably quickly for the not capable of work element ( LCWRA), which then entitles them to the work allowance, they can be better off than under the old system where they may have been able to get working tax credits alongside SSP but it was hard to estimate their annual income and whether they would qualify and all the worries of potential overpayments etc.

sorry that was meant to say when they drop to SSP only.

Thanks @Morgan14, I am on ESA support group, I know it may be a while yet until I will be asked to transfer on to UC, but will existing claimants on ESA need to have an appointment and their ID verified? I am bedridden so would need a home appointment.

And one aspect that is better is that where there is a disabled person in the household, one claimant can get the carers element even if they earn too much to claim carers allowance, so they can get an extra £156 on their UC ( as long as they are caring for a person on DLA/ PIP/ Attendance allowance).

I will have transitional cover but will lose my severe disability premium which is being abolished under UC so I will be worse off once inflation erodes my transitional cover. I know some will be better off on UC and some worse off.

@ilovewelshrarebit123 can you not claim working tax credit instead ? I'm sure you'll be better off ?

Tog - if you are on ESA then your ESA status ( support group or WRAG) should transfer with you and you should get the LCWRA element added immediately if you were in the support group. However there does seem to be problems with this element not being automatically added and people having to make numerous phone calls to get it added. UC have to request details form ESA who have to send a form verifying the persons esa group status. Would you agree Morgan that this is a problem area in your experience??

UC is a disaster from start to finish

Meanwhile megs n Harry a few million spent on a roof and hundreds of millions to be spent on Bucky palace. As long as the rich are ok to hell with the taxpayers such as us..

There are thousands of people working on these claims hmm and there will be many more as it rolls out across the UK. Everything to do with a person's claim is dealt with in the service centres (previously the people who dealt with tax credits) and not job centres themselves. Obviously it's a huge organisation with many pay grades just like any other company.

Tog - I think there are plans in the making that would mean people currently getting sdp do not lose that, it would be protected if you wait to be transferred over.