AIBU about people moaning about UC!

[Lemoncurdkid]

NC for this and sure I’ll get the backlash. I’m also aware there have been other threads. I’m hoping that people will help me see the other POV.

I’m not a stranger to claiming benefits but have never claimed UC.

I seem to see so many articles on how UC have ruined my life. This article annoyed me...

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/money/8014429/universal-credit-campaign-poverty-nicola-mclean-mum/amp/

This lady was claiming over £1600 a month in UC. That’s how much I earn monthly on a full time wage and I earn £26k a year. I don’t pay a pension either otherwise it would be £100 less.

I’m comparing my life to others on UC and there doesn’t seem to be reason to complain. Maybe that’s my issue, not to compare!

Along with UC there are many other benefits you can claim for which most don’t speak about. For example, free childcare, free travel, free dentist etc.
I know a lot of people who work 16 hours or who are unemployed, they may struggle but they are not in debt and they seem to live a much happier life than mine. Once again I’m comparing, but I’m struggling, living off credit cards after our bills are paid.

I guess my complaint isn’t that they are entitled to UC, but why complain about it? Shouldn’t we be grateful that we have this option in the UK. Rather than declaring poverty. A person on UC (depending on their circumstances) can actually ‘earn’ more money than a person working full time?

during the 5 week wait for a payment everyone is entitled to an advance payment so not as if they will go without, anyone getting paid 4 weekly can end up with no help from uc at some point due to the way it works, i had to put a claim in when i stopped working then 4 weeks later had a new job but i get 0 tax credits etc as now on uc which since june last year had one payment of £548 i work around 16 hours a week and have to pay childcare which varies every month sometimes can be £70 a month (depending on what shifts i work) they pay up to 85% of childcare costs i still get 0 towards mine, i dont even get help with rent. i dont complain about it there is no point as wont change anything, if i get help i get help.

Post a link that isn’t to the fucking sun and I might read it

I think yabu if you are doing the age old people being deserving of benefits thing - been done to death on here.

It’s for those with disabilities & low incomes. Zero hr contracts mean any to you?

Don’t play into the daily mail ‘scrounger’ tales.

Think the difference is anyone would be scuppered if their salary was late.

For the most vulnerable - Those with disabilities it can mean no food & risks homelessness.

I was involved professionally with a person who killed themself due to the stress of dealing specifically with this system.

If you live in a leafy suburb with few poor - open your eyes & ears. Try to have empathy.

How would you fare if your employer made you go 6-10 weeks with no money at all? Or transferred you to a new payroll system where you unfortunately don't get any pay for a 6 week period, despite working?

What if for every month with 5 Mondays, your employer decided you don't need to be paid?

Could you live?

I work full time, partner works full time. We have 3DC. We manage to pay our bills every month but we have no money for food or any unexpected costs, so we essentially top up on the credit cards, credit cards are maxed out. We now don’t know what to do.

I have already said my issue isn’t with UC but the complaints afterwards. I agree with the complaints about the wait etc, which is unacceptable. But why are there constant complaints saying it is not enough. A normal wage isn’t enough!

We have 3DC

There’s the issue. 3 dc is a large family, most people can’t really afford three kids. If you think life would be easier on UC why don’t you quit your jobs and give it a try then?

If you have two adults working full time and can't manage you must be living outside your means. Perhaps look at what you can change, just as bad relying on credit cards. That money isn't yours either really.

I live in central London, not a stranger to claiming benefits. Work with the young vulnerable children and I am surrounded by poverty.

All my bills are not luxury expenditure. Rent, gas, electric etc.
Having 3DC is definitely a huge drain. My monthly childcare alone is £1000. That is what is draining my finances. Unfortunately I am not entitled to any support.

Ok, you live in central London have 3 kids and earn 26k??? Surely you are in receipt of plenty of benefit youself or you are completely fictional.

WhoWants2Know
None of that makes sense. When you start a job you often go 4 or 5 weeks with no pay.
If my employer decided not to pay me if there were 5 Mondays in the month I wouldn't go to work - however that's not quite what happens with UC is it? In the month my employer 'decided not to pay' I'd get my full UC entitlement. If you're suggesting UC is the employer then in the months UC decides not to pay it's because I've already earnt too much

I’m comparing my life to others on UC and there doesn’t seem to be reason to complain

It's not the payments or amounts they're complaining about, it's the delays and holds on the process. Imagine you got a new job - big relief, you're going to be able to pay the rent and feed the family this month after all. But then your new employer tells you they won't actually pay you until you've been at work for at least 7 weeks, maybe longer. They're not sure, you'll just have to wait and see. All those direct debits will still be due, your rent will still be due, your council tax will still be due, but the money won't be there to pay them, you've been on benefits so you don't have savings to help you. Then if you miss a meeting with your manager your pay will be stopped - not just a part of it, all of it.

I think most people would complain about that tbh.

There's a load of other problems with the system as well - inability to cope with people receiving more than one pay packet in a given month (fairly common for those who are paid every 4 weeks not by calendar months), lack of recognition that 90 minutes travel might not be possible or practical to reach the second job you'll be under pressure to take if you can't increase your hours in your existing part time job, additional meetings with your claim manager to talk about increasing your hours at the same time as working and looking for more hours (which, if you miss, you'll be sanctioned). I can completely see why it's scaring people.

We bring in a total of 40k a year. I recently did an online calculator to see if I was entitled to anything and was told I was eligible for £600 on child tax credits. This was years after saying I wasn’t eligible.
The wait for this is also 6 weeks, yes I think this is appalling. But was so pleased for the support, but I wouldn’t dream of complaining after I received it. I am totally over the moon.

Honestly I don't think you have any idea. I'm a single parent and was claiming income support until I moved to a universal credit area. Since November I have had nothing at all. I'm in a massive amount of arrears with the council because my housing benefit has stopped. I've now been told that the reason it is taking so long to process my claim is because I am doing a degree and would be eligible for a maintenance loan, which I have not applied for because I don't want to be in more debt. Even though I have not applied for it because I would be eligible universal credit people have said they will still need to count this as an income. Which is ludicrous. They will likely reject my claim and to avoid my council taking me to court over unpaid rent I will need to take the maintenance loan. Which will not last very long after paying rent and child care costs. Then I will be back to square one but with added debt. Then maybe I will be eligible for universal credit. It's disgusting. I have been living off the small amount of savings I had and money from friends. This is no way to live

Some post topics really do make me feel sick.

Make sure you watch, I Daniel Blake tomorrow. On ch4 I think. Sobering watching.

Hopefully if MNHQ hurry up and read the report they can take this GF thread down

YANBU
I can't believe how entitled people feel. UC is something to be grateful for. I have literally 0 sympathy for anyone on UC. They are lucky to have anything. Thank your lucky stars you weren't born in the US.

She signed on for Universal Credit in 2017 and started to receive £1,640 per month for her family-of-three.

From the article , can't people read! Broken11Girl

OP I disagree with you but I am not going to be too harsh, the fact is that those of us who have never been on benefits don't really understand why people who are on them are so scared, take the 5 weeks wait, those of us who get paid monthly are used to having situations where we have spent or wages have no savings and its 2 weeks until pay day, we cope because we have been used to coping but imagine someone who has no savings and a low income anyway suddenly having to wait 5 weeks for their money and without even an understanding of what they will get that's the reality for a lot of people,

Those of us who are used to paying our mortgage direct to the bank/BS or who pay our LLs direct will not really understand why people have problems managing their money if their HB is paid to them rather than their LLs because its not happened before and the temptation to use the money for other things like food and clothes must be very difficult to resist when the money is in your bank account and the rents not due for another week, its easy to think I will get my other benefits and can make up the rent money but that's doesn't always happen does? it so people get into arrears.

There seems to have been a glitch in the system when it comes to payments over the last week when people have suddenly had a weeks worth of benefits they were not expecting, its caused fear and confusion to a lot of people and will be even worse when their next payment is due and they only get a weeks benefits because they have already had one weeks worth and maybe think its an extra payment and have spent it because there was no information given out by the DWP and it seems to have fallen to people who know the system going on social media to explain what has happened.

@Lemoncurdkid your household income is way above what anyone on UC would be able to claim and you still struggle, so they would be struggling to pay bills/eat at least twice as much as you. You answered your own question. I agree it’s awful that two full time reasonable earners struggle, but that’s a separate issue and a whole new thread.

UC is a massive pain right now for me and my partner, his Dad who stupidly ignored the fact that he needed to actually claim for his benefits to live is now waiting to get his money. In the meantime my partner is paying his rent and keeping him afloat which is massively affecting us and our finances.

As someone who claimed Universal credit on the 1st november for me and my child and partner who is now unemployed due to redundancy and my first payment is due 7th january, they messed up my first payment which means i have been going for 2 months without paying my rent, bills and have been borrowing money to feed us. Yabu.

The person who designed UC has said that it is underfunded and not working as it should be due to the delays. If the very architect of the system says it's gone wrong then I think it's only fair that people at the sharp end are also complaining about it.

@oldsu I have been on benefits. I was better off. This was before UC though. I went back to work to feel sane again.

Getting paid weekly is much easier for so many. But that’s not the reality. If I’m being honest I find it really difficult to manage my money. I opened a separate account for my bills so as soon as money comes into my account it is transferred immediately to my bills account. I’ve chopped up the card to avoid temptation.