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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To feel clueless about universal credit

22 replies

FleurDeLips · 04/11/2018 23:21

I’ve tried reading stuff online and I am still confused

I get £23k before tax in my job. Over the summer I took on 12 weeks of extra temp work, plus I started working another job in the evenings to increase my income. Over these 12 weeks i earnt around £2k extra.

The evening job continues at about £400 extra per month, and my normal salary of £1600pm, but the other extra work has ended after the 12 weeks. I informed housing benefit about this change from day 1 and tax credits. Housing benefit claim was immediately stopped and tax credits dropped to £15pw.

Which was fine. If I had continued doing all the extra work I wouldn’t bother claiming anything but as it has dropped again entitledto tells me I am entitled to £100pw from universal credit (mainly from housing allowance and tax credits but this seems a lot?)

I now have to claim universal credit because the housing benefit claim was stopped. As I started the claim online my tax credits have completely stopped.

I have to take time off work to go to a job centre 30 miles away Hmm

I also will get paid twice every month and see online comments that this can be problematic. I don’t know what to expect from my interview, what I have to provide as proof or anything. Am I expected to look for more work? Do I take my tenancy agreement? The helpline was most unhelpful

FYI I wish I did not have to claim at all. Single parent of 2 with rent of £900pm

OP posts:
HelenaDove · 05/11/2018 00:00

bump

TurkeyBear · 05/11/2018 01:05

Surely the evening job covers the tax credit amount you were previously receiving and takes you over the threshold for applying for housing benefit? Basically you've shot yourself in the foot as what was the point in taking on more work, esp as overtime and 2nd job unless they were permanent, when it would wipe out your benefits entitlement?

FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 07:07

Thanks
There was 2 elements to the extra work - the experience (for my CV) and then wanting to stop claiming anything. The extra work that lasted 12 weeks was the mistake as it was never going to last also I was never home and very tired. Not sustainable

But no online calculator says I am eligible to claim with evening job and normal salary now so I am just starting again from scratch. I just don’t really understand UC!

OP posts:
thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 05/11/2018 07:14

Why do you get housing benefit when you earn so much?

WaterOffaDucksCrack · 05/11/2018 07:24

You have to jump through so many hoops I wouldn't bother! I earn 21k and have 800pcm rent plus full time childcare and I'm not entitled to anything so I'd be surprised if you are.

FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 07:44

I think as my rent is high and I am entitled to the 3 bed housing allowance - I don’t actually know!

I am confused by this as I would assume I was not entitled either.

OP posts:
Stressedout10 · 05/11/2018 07:50

If you work 35 hours a week or more you shouldn't have any conditions attached to your claim if you work less than 35 hours a week you will have to look for more work.
As you get paid every 2 weeks in months when you get 3 pay checks they will count that as extra income and take extra off that months uction or end your claim as you "earned to much " if this happens you need to start a new claim

FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 07:56

If you earn £21k before tax you would be entitled for tax credits?

I don’t take home 23k as it’s taxed and pension etc

The evening job is not contracted - I am doing ad hoc hours when I am needed but it seems to work out £400pm

The £100 a week seems to be the combination of tax credits and the LHA

OP posts:
FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 07:58

@Stressedout10
Thank you!
Probably December will end as I will get paid 3 times
When you have to start a new claim do you have to go back to the job centre every time?
Do I need to take a load of stuff with me?

OP posts:
Brainfogmcfogface · 05/11/2018 08:06

Entitledto lies. It never gives the right amount, I’m in a Facebook group for UC and the differences in what it says to what people get when they actually claim is astounding sometimes.

TheGlaikitRambler · 05/11/2018 08:15

How many children do you have? and are you a single parent?
It does seem rather a lot of benefits to get when earning so much!

FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 08:31

Ah see that makes sense. It was even more on turn2us

Ok but I now cannot start a tax credit claim anymore anyway can I? It’s just UC?

OP posts:
FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 08:31

2 children and single yes

OP posts:
FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 08:35

My rent is nearly 50% of my income (and that’s with 2 jobs) and compared to what’s on rightmove my rent is bargain. I don’t know what difference it makes as to your rent iyswim

OP posts:
Beaverhausen · 05/11/2018 08:39

Why do you get housing benefit when you earn so much? I was just about to ask the same.

And can I ask OP why can you not find cheaper accommodation? My partner is on 35 000 a year and we refuse to pay that much in rent a month.

FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 08:45

I live not far out of London in the south. I was born here and had my kids here. I rent a 2 bed flat. £900pm is cheap iyswim. I have been here 10 years and the only choice I have is to move far away or work more (trying to work more)
Obvs I pay this by myself too

OP posts:
FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 08:47

I do think it’s hard to understand the concept of lack of choice of accommodation when you single parent
DC father lives locally my entire family etc. So moving north is probably the only option to pay less rent

OP posts:
FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 09:00

Been in the same property for 10 years. It was cheaper but rent has risen about £200 in 10 years
Can’t seem to save anything worthwhile either

OP posts:
flirtygirl · 05/11/2018 09:10

On UC you may end up worse off than if you just have tax credits and no housing benefit. The mistake was losing your housing benefit but now it's gone it may be an even bigger mistake to claim universal credit.

You will lose out on a payment every time you get paid more or if you are paid weekly, 4 weekly or fortnightly.

I would see how much UC is available and if I was getting paid at the right frequency to actually receive it, then I would see how much tax credit is on just my normal wage, that I would actually receive.

I think you had better stick with tax credits till forced to change over.

FleurDeLips · 05/11/2018 09:18

I’ve already begun and don’t think I can go back Sad otherwise I would

I was hoping to just get off them fully but it’s not really sustainable to work 70 hours a week and I felt constantly ill. I’m applying for jobs that pay £30k but they are a bit out of my league

OP posts:
LakieLady · 05/11/2018 09:48

I agree that the online benefit calculators are flawed and can give inaccurate outcomes. I favour turn2us over entitledto, it seems to get more accurate results.

Can you get to a CAB or similar? CABx round my way (and I daresay it's national) subscribe to a fantastic bit of benefit calculation software that appears to be incredibly accurate. However, you need to understand the basics to use it, so it's only used by benefit specialists. CABx have a practice of carrying out a benefit check for every client who rocks up, as this uncovers a lot of unclaimed benefits and errors.

Basically, UC has a range of allowances. All the allowances that apply to you are added together and the total is deducted from your income for the month.

Then the balance (which I think is called excess income in UC) is multiplied by 0.37 and that's how much UC you'll get.

Every time your earnings change, that figure will change again, and the amount you get the following month will go up or down.

But that's not a normal calendar month, every claimant has their own "assessment period", eg from the 5th of the month to the 4th of the following month. If you just have one job, don't do overtime, or get shift/on-call allowances and your pay day isn't close to the start of your "assessment period", your UC should stay pretty much the same. If your income varies, it can get very messy.

Your allowances will include:

Personal allowance £317.82
Work allowance £397
Child allowances £508.75
Housing allowance £0

Your housing allowance will be based on the local housing allowance per month for your area for a 3-bed property. This will be on your last HB award letter or your council's website.

For you, there will be added complications. There will be 2 months in the year where you will get 3 payments from the job that pays you fortnightly. The following month, your UC will fall by 63% of the amount of the 3rd payment. You will need to plan for this. The small variations in the income from the second job shouldn't make huge differences.

Sometimes, the extra earnings are enough to wipe out UC entitlement in the following month, and whether or not this closes the claim entirely seems to be random. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, and better minds than mine have been unable to get to the bottom of it.

Definitely take your tenancy agreement to the job centre, also proof of child benefit, bank statements, proof of any savings or childcare costs and proof of ID.

If you think you may be entitled to help with your council tax, you will need to apply to the council separately for this. All councils run their own schemes.

Caveat: because I work in one of the last areas to be "rolled out" for UC, my knowledge is limited, but that's what I recall from when I had UC training, and I've just checked the current allowance rates online.

And yes, the way some posters blithely suggest "move somewhere cheaper" shows they have no idea how hard it is to find affordable accommodation in the south-east (and many other areas).

A 3-bed place for £900 a month would be impossible to find round here, and I'm over 50 miles from London. The local housing allowance for 3 bedrooms is £997.08. As LHAs are based on an average of the lowest 30% of market rents, that tells you a lot about how high market rents are.

Beaverhausen · 05/11/2018 12:57

@FleurDeLips never assume a job is out of your league OP, just keep on applying it will come your way. As for accommodation, I used to live in on the border of Kent Upper Belvedere, our rent was reasonable for a nice two bedroom house. Maybe just look a few miles out of where you currently are.

As for universal credit, I have no idea unfortunately I choose not to claim anything as I have seen far too many friends struggle with repaying overpayments etc.

Have you tried your local Ucan centre I know ours is offering people assistance with completing the forms etc.

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