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?

We are on UC as a working family. Four weekly pay we still struggle. We had no money in December from UC as the system doesn’t work properly for those on four weekly pay. It’s not just for people that don’t work at all.

@Lemoncurdkid
I’m somewhat with you on this as I work with lots of single parent mums who have a low income due to working part time term time. Their wages are topped up by child maintenance, child benefit and UC. They have in the main had a reduction since moving to UC from WTC, CTC,HB etc. If they had no UC they would need to work full time which they are capable of. Why are we paying healthy adults benefits?
I totally understand and agree with benefits for vulnerable people, I am at a loss however as to why people who are able to work and earn the living wage are supported in this way.

And I see Lemon is still banging on

She did start the thread so why shouldn't she, if she had disappeared you would has no doubt accused her of being a troll

@thebaronet I haven’t been spiteful towards anyone. The girl on the article frustrated me, but that’s the harshest thing I’ve said.

Maybe you should direct your anger at the top 5% and not me?

Re the wait time

Genuine question.

When someone unemployed starts work, their job seekers allowance ceases from the date they worked, however they don’t get paid until first month completed of work.

So is the UC delay just replicating that scenario?

When I see the girl in the article complaining about receiving £1640 a month in benefits, when it’s obvious she has spare cash for her and Children’s fancy clothing, it really hurts.

Clothing that could have been bought for them as gifts or handed down from friends/relatives? Clothing she could have bought at discount second hand or in the sales or via a community clothing scheme? You're making judgements based on what they are wearing with no idea of where those clothes came from and even if she did pay full price for them it's none of your business.

As already discussed, she has a child with a medical condition so a portion of that £1600 will probably be a disability element to help cover the additional costs of raising a child with disabilities.

Maybe you should direct your anger at the top 5% and not me?

I have the ability to do both! It's amazing!

Go on then, jack in your job and go on UC. It's the life of Riley.

@efforf very true 😂😂😂

@ewlts her child has asthma. Who cares for the child when she works two days a week?
Those clothes look brand new to me. Probably bought them out of the money the sun paid her for that article.

She did start the thread so why shouldn't she, if she had disappeared you would has no doubt accused her of being a troll

Troll hunting is against Talk Guidelines so no, I wouldn't do that. 😂😂😂

**I have never understood why benefits/tops up can give an income greater than what would be earned if you had a job paying minimum wage. If minimum wage is deemed an acceptable amount by the government to pay people who work, why do some people who claim benefits get more than minimum wage?

If you’re on minimum wage with children you will get top ups.

@themachinestops You're absolutely right about the errors. The staff training has been pisspoor (if there's been any - I sometimes wonder). JCP staff in my area don't seem to know that people with 3 or more children can't get UC, that there is such a thing as "new-style ESA" on UC, that people under-35 on PIP can get the over-35 LHA rate and a million other things.

Then there are the delays. The 5-6 week wait quoted is the minimum. 8 weeks is not unusual and I've known waits as long as 12 weeks before a payment is received. They forget to ask people to bring in their tenancy agreements, so that first payment doesn't include any money for housing costs. There seems to be no mechanism for making an interim payment, so any mistakes take a month (minimum) to be rectified.

My own DIL didn't get any housing costs for 3 months. Luckily, she has a very supportive family who were able to lend her the rent for 3 months, a lot of people don't have anyone who can lend them £3k without any clear idea of when they might get it back. In her shoes, they'd probably have ended up homeless.

@abacucat I couldn’t agree more we are the easy targets for people to complain about and it’s not on.

@Bungalowbeth am ill and classed as disabled. I have anxiety, depression and mild learning disabilities.

"Single parent mums" ... Yawn, the usual villans get carted out once again as an example.
There are a million different reasons why they can't work full time - I won't list them because I'm sure everyone can work this out for themselves. Here's a clue: think of the reasons anyone wouldn't be able to work full time and add lack of immediate support (i.e. no partner) and no dual income to that mix. If I hadn't had tax credits when 'I was one of these "single parent mums" I would not have been able to afford my bills. I worked part time for a few years when they were small to, you know, bring them up and stuff, like a legitimate right and proper married woman might do.

Why are you living in central London when you clearly can't afford it?

her child has asthma. Who cares for the child when she works two days a week?

Asthma can be fatal, you do know that don't you? My niece has severe asthma and is in and out of hospital due to breathing difficulties, SIL and DB are regularly up in the night to see to her, frequent appointments with her consultant, she's restricted in what activities she can do, some of the medications make her gain weight so she outgrows her clothes quickly and she gets picked on at school for being "fat", it impacts hugely on all of their lives. They get DLA, carers allowance, and the disability element of child tax credit.

"Asthma" can be very much a disability so don't say "her child has asthma" like this implies she won't be getting an disability element of UC.

I would presume a childminder or other wrap around care looks after them when she's working but that doesn't mean she isn't still giving the child additional care compared to another child of their age.

If you think caring for a disabled child is all designer clothes and government handouts then feel free to step the fuck up, I'll PM you my address and we'll see how long you last.

Yep, YBU. My sister who cares for a disabled child, and experiences moderate to severe health problems herself has just had to go to a food back because of the six week week wait for money. The uncertainty, the loss of some of her previous benefits and the disgusting way she's been made to feel as if she's undeserving by the new methods in the DWP, has been horrendous - not just financially, but in terms of affecting her self esteem. I'm fuming on her behalf and everyone else who is being treated like dirt by this (quite deliberate) dismantling of the welfare state.

LakieLady

Your DH is not correct about the 6 year rule. Government debts (HMRC and DWP) and council tax debts CAN be pursued for 20 years.

I agree with you re the RTI system. The RTI system employers report wages to Universal Credits within 3/4 days of the employee being paid.
However, many employee's UC 'assessment periods' are within 3/4 days of their wages, so it then looks like they have double earnings, and they get no UC top up the next month, and their council tax and Childcare is then affected. So even if employers are reporting technically correctly (ie up to 3/4 days early or late) , their employees still lose out. It's a loophole which is saving the government money out of the pockets of low earners. Loophole needs to be closed so people on UC can get the proper amount (which itself is often less than previous years).

And some employers don't even bother reporting within the 3/4 days, causing even more problems for low paid employees. The employers reporting late are supposed to be fined for this, but in practice, hardly ever are.

There are people campaigning against problems like this, whilst benefit-bashing continues by those who know nothing about what it's really like to be on minimum wage and reliant on UC system xx

I don’t know much about it but yes the wait times and also wage payments affecting the money coming in I understand are issues

Sorry, that should read

'However many employees assessment period dates are within 3/4 days of their wages, so if paid a couple days early for a bank holiday or weekend or Xmas, it then looks as if they have had double earnings, and they get no UC, their council tax goes up, and their payments for childcare to work are reduced'

@adultchildalcoholicparents I wasn't aware of that will have a look thank you x

It's quite ridiculous that you work full time hours but can't afford food, yet you will continue to pay £1000 a month in nursery fees. You or DH should go part time to reduce the nursery bill and you'd be eligible for more child tax. This may not be how things 'should be' but you've said repeatedly you can't afford food so surely you do whatever you have to. £1000 in nursery fees is utterly ridiculous when you are struggling. You're being martyr

As for paying to their bank account rather than to the landlords, this is a covert plan to make vulnerable people homeless and free up more council properties. There are many people on benefits who arent able to manage their finances due to poor mental health and developmental conditions.
There are problems with UC, but I'm pushing back on this one. Where claimants have developmental issues that make managing finance an issue, there are a raft of personal budgeting support, direct payments to landlords, and responsible adult/guardian options. For everyone else, UC is designed to replicate work. Your employer doesn't pay direct to your landlord.
If you end up in rent arrears, this can be paid off thru UC; if the arrears are your own mismanagement, again, there are options to get this paid up front with deductions made to your subsequent entitlements.

When someone unemployed starts work, their job seekers allowance ceases from the date they worked, however they don’t get paid until first month completed of work. So is the UC delay just replicating that scenario?
Yes. Though the delay is 5 weeks minimum. Though unlike a job, you can get a portion of the payment up front to be repayed over the next 6 payments.

The 5-6 week wait quoted is the minimum. 8 weeks is not unusual and I've known waits as long as 12 weeks before a payment is received. They forget to ask people to bring in their tenancy agreements, so that first payment doesn't include any money for housing costs. There seems to be no mechanism for making an interim payment, so any mistakes take a month (minimum) to be rectified
Processing delays (esp housing) is an issue. However, it does say when you apply (if you add housing) that you need proof of your tenancy when you go to first appointment. When housing is processed, it will be paid then - it doesn't get delayed until the next routine payment. I used to work in a UC service centre.

@Kikipost

Yeah, I know if you are on min wage with children you get top ups, but i know of people who get tops ups which then make it unviable for them to ever get back into work because the tops up provide an income of more than they would get whilst working.

What I am saying is the top ups shouldn't make it more "profitable" to remain on benefits than it would be to work.

I know how you feel OP. For some, it’s an absolute disaster but does have its positives. The fact people complain they spend it all before paying bills is their own issue, it should go direct to the claimant and they be responsible for paying bills first. We shouldn’t be a nanny state.

I’ve also claimed UC and with the exception of the 6 week initial wait (which is absolutely disgusting the rest was fine). I am for one grateful for the benefit system we have.

My classroom cleaner (also a good friend) works 24 hours a week and has 3 children - all of whom are teens and get themselves to school and ‘earns’ more than I do in a month. I have one DC and the stressful job. Theres little incentive to work on UC when it takes 63p out of every £1. Quite frankly, my friend would be a mug to work more hours.

Unfortunately those on UC will never say the good things about it and those not on it will only see the ‘bad’. It doesn’t annoy me that my friend has more, what annoys me is that those who can work should not be worse off otherwise there is no incentive to work. UC has pros and cons in my opinion but definitely needs reviewing