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! 😡

Yes me too purple ! Although I'm sure if anything happened to my dh and I had to go onto UC I would be made to look for more hours !

When we reclaimed we had to go for an interview - 45 mins travelling each way - just to get a bit of paper with a code on it for logging in to the website.

The whole 10 minutes was spent with the lady printing and cutting out the number and putting into a little plastic wallet.

I must say though the staff are always lovely. When we first claimed they hsppily admitted they didn't really have a clue what they were doing. They were also working 6 days a week to try to catch up /sort out the mess.

This makes me really glad I have a job

By far the majority of people who need to claim UC to make ends meet have jobs.

Yes I guess that's true. I just meant from hearing above about people having to write essays and search for 35 hours for a job

www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/05/food-bank-use-will-soar-after-universal-credit-rollout-warns-charity?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet

@ilovewelshrarebit, are you aware that even if you restart your claim, if you are paid four weeklly there will always be one period over the year when you don’t get a payment? Those paid monthly get 12 payments over the year and those four weekly would grt 13 payments over the year if they didn’t pay out for one period. I do sympathise though that if you are not warned of this it can leave you in the lurch big time.

Could you ask your employer to pay you a day late rather than a day early? I would be contacting payroll to ensure you are not paid a day early in December explain to them why. See if they will oblige.

I'm so sorry OP. I count myself so lucky I got out of the system when it was still tax credits as I would struggle to cope now. Can I strongly suggest writing to your MP, visiting their surgery etc. Have a look at the Gingerbread website- they have some great resources on campaigning against these kinds of crappy things. Also look at your local council who may be able to offer you a hardship grant.

I think it’s highly unlikely that people will be able to change their paydays unless they work for tiny employers maybe.

Still can’t get my head around the interview nonsense. Also can’t really understand the housing element as described by a previous poster with regards to how much they will pay towards rent. What a shambles. I wonder how many people claiming universal credit actually work for universal credit. I wonder if their payments get messed up due to paydays.

This makes me really glad I have a job

Me too, though I still need to claim to make ends meet. And I earn above NMW, not much but I do. At least having a job I have some sort of income when the screw ups happen, and though it's not enough to cover all outgoings, we have light, heat and food and money for DD to get to school and me to work. Funnily enough it's usually the council tax I don't end up paying, and it's them that get horrible, worse than companies you may get in debt to and default - threatening bailiffs and prison if they don't get the full amount there and then, and explanations fall on deaf ears.
I get stressed enough if I have a lower income one week from illness or anything like that, I can only imagine what it's like to be totally at the mercy of the DWP and completely reliant, especially if you're disabled or a carer.

It is appalling that this has not been fixed yet (identified on Radio 4) last Christmas. The Tories are so fearful of paying a benefit claimant a penny more than they are due; that all common sense and recognition of the realities of everyday life evaporates. Compare this with the treatment of corporations that dispute tax payments and get deals on what they actually pay.

Sorry to butt in on this thread but I am currently still on tax credits (we receive a bit of working tax credits and child tax only) and haven’t changed over yet to UC. I have read so many frightening things about Uc and what it does to people, that I am dreading the change over. At the moment I am a SAHM with two children and DH works full time over 30 hours a week but he is self-employed. At the moment, with tax credits we send DH’s tax return every year to the DWP and they work out what our child tax and working tax payments should be. It’s not loads but it’s certainly a help. I have read so many things about self-employed people losing out and receiving less when UC comes in. Does anyone know if it is possible to claim UC when self-employed and when it comes to our area will we be automatically switched over or will there be an interview that me or DH have to go to? Will we receive much less and be penalised for being self-employed?
It seems ludicrous to me that that have changed an already successful system that they had in place as tax credits seems much more fair.

Get the Tories OUT!

For fear of getting flame grilled here. In work for DWP in a UC full service area. I'm also a single parent working full time and claiming UC so have seen it from both sides. If anyone wants to ask me anything I'll try and answer. Please bear in mind that I don't make the rules or necessarily agree with them either.

Contact You and Yours radio 4 see if you can get them to highlight the issue and look into it for you.

Thanks Morgan. How easy is it to claim if you're self employed? DH's earnings vary wildly and lastly time we claimed (before he was self employed ) dh had a back payment of holiday pay owed and our claim was cancelled even though he wasn't earning at all. I'm worried if we claim if he earns too much one month well be chucked off and have to reclaim.

Im so scared of going on to UC theres nothing good about it at all. Its a horrendeous system that needs doing away with

Yes you can claim of you are self employed. I don't know why your claim was closed. It should remain open for 3 months of your earnings being too high to be entitled. For the first year of being self employed your earnings will be taken into account when working out your UC payment. So if you earn nothing you will get your full entitlement. After the first year it will be assumed that your DH is making the equivalent of 35 hours a week at minimum wage and that amount will be used to calculate your UC payment. So if he earns nothing they will still work out the payment as if he had earnt a full time wage

Hi Morgan, so if you’re working full time (as in generally over 35 hours a week I assume) and earning more than minimum wage how often will interviews take place? Will you have to do work searches? What’s your opinion of people working full time having to take unpaid time off work to attend such interviews?

Universal credit - it's almost like it was a bad idea overseen by a minister thicker than shite in the neck of a bottle.

Morgan, thanks so much - we should apply nothing to lose I guess. It was in the first 5 weeks of claiming last time.

Working 35 hours a week you would be in the working enough work group. You wouldn't be required to attend appointments. Unless you had childcare costs that needed to be verified and these can mostly be uploaded by taking a photo on your phone (That's what I do). You would never be expected to miss work for an appointment and you can not be sanctioned if you are in this work group.

You don't have to attend work interviews if you are full time, they would tend to leave you alone.

If you earn over £338 as a single person and £550 as a couple you won't have to attend interviews. Other than when you first set up your claim.

Thanks Morgan, I read on this thread that you would still have to attend an initial interview to verify who you are (I think) so that would involve taking time off work and having to tell your employer where you are going. Can you confirm this?