Wtf is this a new low for UC :(

[Continue1]

So in lie of my other thread, I'm in rent arrears. I decided to delve into this and see by how much to get it paid.
UC did not pay my rent for October, hence the arrears. I'm just off the phone the guy said "UC is paid 13 months, the rent is 12 months so for one of those months rent will not be paid"
He also said this months rent will not be paid.
Making me over 700 pound in arrears 😭 wtf

Every time I look at anything to do with UC, the more I think it is irrevocably fucked.

Amber Rudd is saying some good stuff about getting it sorted, eg making changes so that people won't lose out when they get 2 monthly or 5 weekly paydays in a month. Having spoken to someone at DWP who is involved in UC implementation, this is such a massive change it will effectively need to be a whole new system.

I think it would probably be easier to change the law so that rents have to be paid calendar monthly and people have to be paid wages calendar monthly.

The whole thing is such a massive cock-up that I think they should just bin it and start again; put everyone back on to legacy benefits until it's done.

And I think there is a class issue here: those responsible plainly had no idea that a lot of people are weekly paid and that social housing rents are charged weekly.

Not only are claimants suffering awful hardship and anxiety, but it's causing serious cash flow problems for social landlords. At least one housing association is encouraging people to overpay rent by a small amount each week so that some credit has built up by the time they are moved onto UC.

OP, your landlord may get that £350 in the next payment from UC. It may just have missed the cut-off date for the last payment.

No they won't get it, UC have said they won't pay October or January

I’m wondering if the issue is that the rent isn’t paid on the date that you get your UC. For example I get paid on the 24th of the month but UC pay the housing association rents in one lump sum around the 16th of each month (so they pay the rent for all UC claimants on the same day rather than hundreds of individual payments through the month) so as well as being paid in arrears I also have to wait another 3 weeks before they actually make the payment.

If it says on your statement that they are paying £350 to the landlord then they have to do so. Call up and check what day they make the payments and see if this is what’s causing the 2 months missing rent.

Yeah the rent is supposed to be paid 4 weekly, but the October payment is completely missing.
The payment for this month is due on the 28th but UC have already said this is the month they will not pay it

If rent is due 4 weekly isn't that 13 payments a year, but UC pays 12 times a year?

The debt from the previous tenants!? You say you switched the heaters off when you moved in. Did you take meter readings?? The HA will have taken them before they let you the property, so you need to get hold of those contact the electricity supplier. Why are you paying someone else’s debt!?

I'm getting even more confused now, OP.

While your rent may be due to be paid 4-weekly, UC will work out how much that is equvalent to for a calendar month using this formula (weekly rent * 52)/12.

Did they say you would get rent paid in October and then not pay it? If so, you need to ask them why they have not paid the money you're entitled to. Or did their UC figures for October not include any money for housing costs? If that's the case, you need to ask them why you weren't entitled to it.

I also wonder if working that one week has cocked things up, too. Did they use the right figure for your earnings in November?

I think you need to go to CAB or ask to see a financial inclusion officer at your HA to get to the bottom of this. They will need to look at your UC account so they can see exactly how the DWP have calculated your entitlement from October onwards. Then they will know if the DWP have made a cock-up, not had the right information etc.

The UC system doesn't actually get its sums wrong (it's shit, but not that shit lol). Errors are usually caused by the wrong information being used. The calculations themselves are pretty clear, you should be able to see what income figures and allowances have been used and if they have changed from previous months.

It's also worth pointing out that just because a payment doesn't show as received on your rent account doesn't necessarily mean it hasn't been made. There have been endless problems with UC rent payments, and it is causing much swearing and gnashing of teeth at the HA I work for.

Please go and see someone who is a specialist in this sort of thing, and they will help you straighten it out.

You could also google "floating support" and the area you live in. Floating support services help people with issues that affect their tenancies and there may be one in your area that can help. Or your local council may have a homelessness prevention team who could assist.

I'm not really sure, but I only moved in end of march so how does it work out when it's not even been a year.
No the HA didn't take readings, it was up to me to do it but I didn't until two days later as I couldn't find the bloody meter

Afterthought: if your rent is £350 every 4 weeks, you should be getting housing costs of £379.17 included in each UC assessment.

Same lakie!
On my online payments it says 350 was taken off my amount to the landlord, but the statement here shows no payment in October.
I didn't do any work in November

No they only send 351 to the landlord no more

The HA 100% should have taken readings. They will be responsible for the electricity usage between when the lady tenant moved out and you moved in! And should have showed you where the meters were when you signed up for the property. Go back
to them and explain.

Last not lady!

I signed the tenancy in their office so when I tight I the house there was nobody there

You had no viewing? Signed for the property in the office without seeing the house at all?

No I saw the hous

Go back to the person who did the sign up and explain about the existing electricity debt. You should not have to pay it.

OP, how much is the weekly rent for your house?

If UC are only paying £351 a calendar month (when they actually pay it!) that equates to £81 per week, which seems remarkably cheap. Admittedly, I'm in the south-east, so used to expensive rents. A 3-bed HA property here would cost £229pw.

I'm utterly mystified as to how they can think you're not entitled to any housing costs. I'd contact them via your journal and ask them to explain the calculations for the 2 months when they say they're not giving you any rent money, and when they reply, post the details on here.

Then we can all see if we can find out wtf they're doing wrong to come to the conclusion that you're not due any housing costs for those months.

I work in the rent arrears department for a HA.
What UC have told you is correct. If they pay it direct to landlord then they pay it four weekly and four weeks end up missies. If you get it paid direct to you, it is a monthly set payment... you are better off getting it sent to you and setting up a direct debit for the very next day.
Are you an assured tenant or an intro / starter?
If you are an assured tenant then you can offer to pay what you think is affordable on top of your rent (providing you've not agreed and broken agreements in the past).
If you are an intro / starter, when does your year end?
Where are you in the arrears process?

On my online payments it says 350 was taken off my amount to the landlord, but the statement here shows no payment in October.

Do you mean the rent statement? It may not have been paid until November, even though it was deducted in October.

If your assessment period runs from (say) 5th of one month to 14th of the next month, your UC record will show a deduction in October. But if the DWP pay the landlord on the 8th of each month, they won't pay October's rent money until 8 November.

Then if there are problems with the information that accompanied the payment, it's quite possible that the HA could take a while working out which rent account that payment relates to, and it might end up not getting credited to your rent account till December.

I suggest you go back to when your claim started and make a note of the date and amount of every rent deduction. Count them up, and see how many payments should have been made. Then look at your rent account and see how many have been credited. If it's just one short, that'll be down to the time it takes to complete the process. If it's more than 2, then something is going wrong and it needs to be sorted out.

I'm intrigued and mystified as to what is going on here.

SPR I have no idea of anything you've just said
Yes the rent is about 81 a week, it was 71 pound a week when I was in temp accommodation. I'm in scotland

What UC have told you is correct. If they pay it direct to landlord then they pay it four weekly and four weeks end up missies.

Wtaf? But wasn't one of the aims of UC for everything to be done monthly?

So for the claimant, do they deduct a calendar month's rent or 4 weeks? And if the latter, that would mean that one month the claimant gets a double deduction.

16/07
13/08
10/09
5/11
03/12
31/12
These are the payments on my rent statement, this is when my HA have received the money from UC

But if this is the norm why has nobody else mentioned this in their grievances about UC! I could of at least been aware of it.
Frankly to have no warning that they can choose a month not to pay your rent is absurd. How is that fair