To think Universal Credit are cunts.

[CatCave]

To cut a long story short, I broke up with my partner and moved out of our home to rent on my own. This happened in July.

Last year when I was still with him and did not claim benefits I had two part time jobs and was taxed double on Job 1 and nothing on Job 2.

Job 1 offered me full time so I quit Job 2 but was still being taxed far too much.

I received a refund of this tax in my August wage. Universal Credit have counted it as my earnings and are not paying me anything this month.

I don't think this is fair. I have already paid for the tax once, had it refunded and now I'm effectively paying for it again through losing a payment which I would normally be entitled to?

I have to go to an appointment to appeal to a "decision maker" but have been told its very unlikely that they will change their minds.

When I received the tax rebate I used the money to pay off arrears I had fallen into by being taxed too much in the first place so its not as thought I spunked the money on crap when I should have saved it - I had no idea they would do this!

AIBU to think I should have been paid UC as normal?

What's more is that I have to attend the bloody job centre, I'm a single parent and work full time, its humiliating.

The system is medievally cruel to people who don’t deserve it.

That^^.

And ya, tuck the Fories.

YANBU.
The UC system is punitive.

Not set up to help at all but to punish poor people.

I just looked on the Government website, and it seems they are still operating the awful 5-week month trap.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments-payment-cycles#if-youre-paid-every-4-weeks

Spot the daily fail reader folks. Please give a specific example of a person who worked two days a week but because of their benefits package earned as much as a five day a week?
I used to work for the DWP. I saw what it was like under both systems. It was heavily, heavily scammed before and now it's reached the other end of the extreme.
I've since left .

As for the 16 hour scam, it was openly boasted about by people doing it in my town. People would try to encourage others to do it. You declare 16 hours , maximise your tax credits top ups for your 'low income 'and then work extra hours cash in hand . Nobody would question it because apparently you were classed as working so you didn't haveto visit the jobcentre.
I even remember a single dad who got married, had a stay at home spouse and then asked me to help him declare to HMRC that he was dropping his minimum wage job to 16 hours despite having this wife and 4 teens to support.
Both systems were just wrong to me. I don't miss the place at all.

I take it back. I have been paid the princely sum of £1.78.

Yup...my student loan is income. Cunts. ( not the people who work in job centres but the government.)

Tbh i dont blame svammers for making the best of a bad system. If wages were better there might not he so much scamming.

YANBU UC is an immoral cuntish plan to gind those in povety futher into the ground

Spot the daily fail reader folks. Please give a specific example of a person who worked two days a week but because of their benefits package earned as much as a five day a week?

Oh please it's endemic people scamming the old system. I see a HMRC ex employee has already rebutted this.

Don't pretend it doesn't exist.

The problem now is it's gone the other way. Neither system was good. It needed to change but UC isn't the change we need.

Tbh i dont blame svammers for making the best of a bad system. If wages were better there might not he so much scamming.

No ones blaming the people, I would do the working tax credits scam if I could. It's the systems fault.

Labours plan to abolish UC is not a good one either because it will involve a lot of costly re-organisation. Same as all the big plans by labour and tories for health, education...

The way @EmeraldShamrock mentions - to do a yearly calculation of income sounds sensible. And to raise the amount given.

YANBU the system is cruel and ridiculous, just like government that introduced it!

The whole country is full of people scamming the system. Hence why the words tax avoidance and tax evasion mean two completely different things... We all know those at the top are doing it from Amazon and Google to our glorious leaders and their offshore bank accounts, so people think 'why shouldn't I?'.

I still don't believe benefit fraud was enough of a problem to warrant the UC system.

I also think that those people who were playing the 16 hours rule may have felt like they'd beaten the system, but they weren't exactly living like millionaires were they? I don't think that their lifestyle is generally to be envied.

Hundreds of thousands of people doing the 16 hours scam in the country is a huge problem that needed to be stop. So destructive making people dependant on the state and stopping them from wanting to ever progress or get more hours.

It's not a champagne and calvier lifestyle, but easy to get the same as a stressful professional job just doing two days on nmw so plenty would envy how little they worked and how handsomely their total package was.

The old system was set up in a way that drew a line in the sand at 16 hours. I know a good number of people wo worked 16 hours or less and were efectively trapped because to increase hours in a minimum wage job left then worse off. Pride doesn't pay the Bill's.

I hope I'm never desperate enough for work that I would need to work for UC. I consider them a deeply unethical organisation and wouldn't want to be supporting it in any way, just like I wouldn't wantvto be desperate enough to work for an arms manufacturer. And yes, I get that there but for the grace of God /insert deity of choice go I.

The same thing happened to us this month OP.

It's really shit! But I have to just be grateful to be getting anything at all 🤷‍♀️

We all know those at the top are doing it from Amazon and Google to our glorious leaders and their offshore bank accounts, so people think 'why shouldn't I?

And when you look at the figures, the total welfare bill pales into insignificance compared with the tax avoided by a small handful of companies like Amazon. People's anger is so very misdirected imo.

As for no magic money tree, there is when it comes to bribing the DUP and spending on non-existent ferries. People who die due to poverty just aren't important enough to the government.

YANBU.
They class it as income but the truth of it is you were given back what you overpaid.
It`s sort of like taking something back to a shop and asking for a refund.
They are little Hitlers.

Like a few posters pointed out, the way UC work is that they would overpay for the months you are overtaxed so on this basis, I don't see why the system is unfair.

In your case OP, the problem seems to be that you were not claiming UC when the overtaxing took place and either were getting no benefit then, or no more than previous months. On this basis, I really hope you win your appeal.

The 16h was a total disgrace and has a real impact on jobs. I interviewed many times for roles, always full time which was preferred but offered consideration of part time, although at least 3 days. I can't count the number of women asking if they could do 16h. 16h doesn't equate to any shift patterns, it was obvious it was because of tax credits. Twice we recruited and within a few weeks of starting, we were asked again to reduce to 16h, pointing to childcare need etc...

This really needed to end.

Spot the daily fail reader folks. Please give a specific example of a person who worked two days a week but because of their benefits package earned as much as a five day a week? Well when I became a single parent because I thought more of myself to stay with an abusive cheater, I worked 2 12hr shifts a week minus 2 unpaid breaks totalling 22 hours work a week. I had 5 days off. I earned 200 a month more than I do now on 22k managing a stressful environment. I wanted to progress my career and the loss is worth not relying on the government who could whip it away. I wasn't going to see my son suffer in the meantime by not claiming what they said I was entitled to though.

Darn my nosiness hates when I miss the deleted posts.

It would actually be cheaper to give every adult in the UK decent incomes and let those who want to work do so for extra income.