Universal Credit...does this seem right?

[ItsNotChristmasInOctober]

DP and I are currently out of work (temporarily).

I've applied for UC online, we've both been to meetings etc.

DP has not been out of work for 12 years. Were both 30.

Anyway, I've been offered a full time position. Dream job. Good (for me!) pay! My take home pay is £1500 roughly. DP is entitled to Contribution based JSA which is roughly £320pm. I've put some numbers into entitled to and turn2us and they both say we're entitled to an extra £570pm.

This sounds like a lot to me. We have 2 DC's. I'm not complaining. DP will find work in a few weeks. I'm just not sure if the calculation is right.

Not sure what my AIBU is to he honest but I'd appreciate any advice from somebody who has claimed UC or with knowledge of it!

Sorry, JSA is taken into account for UC! So it says £507 but take £73 a week off... you will hardly get anything. Basically your wage, your husbands JSA and the child benefit and maybe £80 UC

JenniferM - On Uc everyone who rents gets a rent if you rent. Wages reduce the total amount. the advice you are giving is totally incorrect ! Contribution based JSA is deducted from UC.

Op what is your rent and LHA. I will do you a calculation rather than people guessing what you may or may not get.

The childcare thing has got a lot of people into debts because from my understanding, you have to pay the months childcare first and then they give you it back, so you're sort of pulling out a whole month before being refunded.

And then also factor in there's a minimum six week wait for any money at all, I can see why some people are seriously struggling and getting into even more debt to cover basic living expenses during those six weeks.

There's also people been caught out when they receive two wages in one assessment period and receive £0 UC, it employees report the figures too early or too late and it fucks the figures up.

None of this is your fault though and you shouldn't feel like a cunt for taking a job at all. I donate to food banks where I can, that might be something you could do so those less well off are kind of benefiting from you getting a job (I'm not for one second saying you have to do this btw, just that you shouldn't feel bad and maybe that ease you feeling bad)

Babyroobs, a wage of £1500 renders you out of entitlement to housing element and working element on UC. Yes it's one payment but the statement shows the elements you were paid for and on that wage, it would only be some child element. I did correct myself about the JSA before you commented. So on a wage of £1500 with 2 children, you are likely to get most of the child element (similar to getting child tax credit but no working tax credit) but the JSA will be deducted £ for £ leaving the award minimal showing as child element on the statement and £0 for housing and £0 for working element

JenniferM - Do you actually have any idea of how Uc works ? You are spouting a load of unbelievable nonsense ??

Op would only need to have a rent element of £500 a month to still receive £420 Uc per month and that is with the JSA averaged and deducted. Many people would have much higher rent than that.

JenniferM - for UC you are awarded all elements then the elements are added together and then deductions are made for wages, repayments, some benefits etc

Having a wage doesn't zero out certain elements

@JenniferM1989 There is no such thing as the 'working element'.

@Babyroobs our rent is £875 and LHA is £149pw. Thank you!

@JenniferM1989 that makes sense. So the £320 JSA is deducted from the £570 UC?

@FemaleEcho As soon as our finances are in order I will definitely be doing that.

I honestly didn't know how hard it was for some people.

Another question if anybody comes back...is there even any point in DP applying for JSA if it's only going to be deducted? The Job Centre can't do anything to help him back into work because his field is quite specialist. It just seems like an inconvenience going to the job centre every couple of weeks...

Ok so by my calculation with JSA paid separately and then deducted from UC you should come out with £573 UC which is pretty close to what you originally said. It would be up to your husband whether he claimed JSA, I think one advantage would be that it is paid maybe fortnightly so could help cash flow ( as opposed to Uc being paid monthly ). Also I think claiming new style JSA possibly gives him a better class of NI contributions ( although I would need to check that). So you are looking at your wages, child benefit paid separately to UC. £573 of UC and £73.10 JSA. If JSA not claimed then £889 of UC. The amount is so high because your rent is quite high. This figure assumes you will get paid once a month and that one of you is over 25 and one of your kids born before April 2017. When you apply try to keep the date you apply ( which will be the start of your monthly assessment period) away from the date you will be paid each month. This is in case for example you got paid early for Christmas it can mess things up.

Sorry just re-read and seen that you've already applied.

@babyroobs thank you. So the calculations I done already took into consideration DP's JSA? Luckily enough we have a bit saved to get Christmas out of the way and I'm sure DP will find something suitable soon.

I really appreciate all your help. I was expecting to be shot down😁

Yes I make it £889 UC without the JSA being deducted. JSA would be averaged at 73.10 x 52 then divided by 12 to give a monthly average of £317 deduction leaving £572 Uc to be paid. Have you both received final wages/ holiday pay from your previous jobs ? Your monthly Uc will be based on exactly what wages have been reported in your monthly Uc assessment period.
Your total UC is £1653.22 monthly ( standard 25+ couples element, rent element based on your LHA and 2 x childrens elements). Then you take any wages paid in your assessment period, disregard the first £287 ( work allowance) then x 0.63. This figure gives you the amount that is deducted from your total UC for earnings. Then Jsa is deducted pound for pound averaged. Sorry it's a bit complex !

@Babyroobs thank you again for your time. I really appreciate it!

I can't help but say again that I think it's quite a lot. I know previous posters have said UC works better for those in work but I honestly can't get my head around it!

My sister is paid the same as I expect to be. She has a DS4 and DC2 on the way. Her rent is only £350pm in a lovely council flat. Yet when her earnings go up due to an extra 10 hours or so, she receives no UC?

Her partner (of 6 years) lives with her and works full time (for minimum wage in a very physical job) but is not registered at her address.

It's only now that I can understand why they've chosen this arrangement.

I think on the whole, UC works well for people with something in the bank to fall back on.

I always assumed UC receivers didn't like it because of the one off payment and budgeting issues.

I can't imagine for the life of me what position we'd be in if we only had the state to rely on.

My apologies, I'm rambling.

Anyway, me and DP are going to have a good long sit down and take this as an opportunity to sort out our spending habits. We've already started shopping at Aldi...why did nobody tell me about this supermarket Narnia!?

This is definitely a good time for us to revise our incomes and spend accordingly. Until a couple of months ago we'd spend without concern. Not dramatically, but when our boys needed warmer coats it never occurred to us to look at what was in the bank. The money was always there.

For everybody that who has replied to my OP, thank you, your knowledge is now mine.

When DP is back in work, we'll definitely be helping our local foodbank. There's only so much I can do before Christmas but I'll do my best.

Thank you, Honestly x

Your sister will be getting less because her rent is a lot less than yours and she currently only has one child. When her second child is born she will get an extra £237 onto her total Uc so she may be a bit better off then. It is your highest rent that is boosting your Uc up so assuming the LHA you quoted is correct for the number of bedrooms you are entitled to that figure should be correct. I presume your sister has a joint claim with her partner - I'm not sure what you mean by he's not registered at her address. If they are a couple living together it needs to be a joint claim.

@Babyroobs, I ran this through QBC at lunchtime and came up with £576 and some pennies, so we're both in the same ballpark.