....to think people are over exaggerating how bad Universal Credit really is?

[GingaNinja84]

Hear me out!

I've recently come off maternity leave and have just signed up to UC to supplement my wages for the next few months, while I ease my way up to full time hours. I'm not entitled to a lot, but what I do get will be enough to live on and pay my bills until March when I go full time again.

All very easy. Apply online, meeting at job centre, first payment next week. Smashing.

Can the people who've experienced the horror stories please share? I'm intrigued as to how and why it's badly affected some people, and how much worse off people are on UC now, than they were on old style benefits. All I've ever heard from everyone I know is that UC is terrible and I shouldn't go on it (just go back full time straight away instead....)....without backing it up with any real stories or details.

I'm hoping this doesn't turn into a benefits bashing thread. I'm just really interested in how other people use the new system, and it's benefits and drawbacks

I dont think I'm very helpful as I'm better off on UC than old style.

My family is me husband and child. He works full time low wages. I'm raising my 1yo and do minimal part time.

I find it great too as on tax credits we've gotten into debt before as started a year on low wages, then got more by end of tax year and end up having to pay all back. UC is calculated in real time so never get into debt.

Much better for working people.

I think it's none workers such as job seeking or disabled who do not get on with UC maybe. It's odd as my disabled MIL is better off too tho. So not really certain what has happened for some people to be better off and some worse

It’s better for me as a part time worker. I was always very scared of being overpaid by tax credits and on UC this cannot happen.

For people out of employment though it can be awful. 5 week wait for any money at all. I can’t imagine what some people have to do to make ends meet or even to just survive.

I'm also better off on it and realise how lucky I am. Single parent, two children and rented home. I work full time shifts on a flexible basis (I have an amazing employer) so I don't claim any childcare costs.
It adjusts for my real time wages so I can't be overpaid. I did have to take out an advance but its recovered over 12 months.

There are massive problems with people who are not paid in the conventional (i.e. once a month on a set date) way - if you end up being paid twice in 4 weeks, your UC just stops and you have to reapply - so you will have nothing coming in.

UC is intended to mirror real world payment patterns and conditions, but it completely lacks the flexibility that is inherent in the real world.

Also the 5 week wait is devastating if you have come out of low paid work with no job lined up straight away. It's inhumane.

Worked great for us . Applied straight after we realized we would be entitled to help. Got an appointment the following week and got a advance that day. Then our monthly payment has been so much of a help . And because it's based on what is paid every month you never end up with those ridiculous Over payments. Also whenever you have a question the online help gets back to you really quickly.

Overall I find it much better than the old system.

It's on the bbc news page today and why they've delayed rollout till 2024

I volunteer at a food bank and the main problem people run into is waiting weeks for any money to come through, say if they become suddenly unemployed. It's also not really helped woman who've suddenly had to flee domestic abuse and need access to funds quickly.

I had to apply for UC at the end of January when ex upped and left out of the fucking blue

He was a SAHD, and my children have additional needs so I had to quit work to care for them as DD especially doesn't cope well with childcare. She struggles massively in school.

I'll get my first payment 26th of Feb, but got an advance to cover me put into my account when I had my first appointment at the job centre, 3 days after I applied.

I've since had 2 appointments with a work coach who is fantastic and has turned my commitments off until the 24th and will do so for longer if a doctor provides a fit note (I'm currently suffering really badly with my MH)
She was also gobsmacked that I wasn't claiming DLA for my DD and pip for myself. She gave me all the info I needed to apply and told me where I can get help to fill in the forms.
She also said she can get a family liaison officer to help me with supporting my kids through the transition period of their dad leaving, which is fab.
She's been really really helpful.

I'm not sure yet how much money I'll be getting per month, but I looked online and it turns out I may actually be better off (once I go back into work). And I know if I'm having any issues my work coach will try to help. She told me off today for going to my appointment when I'm in excruciating pain (I have EDS) and said I should have messaged her and she'd have arranged for a phone call appointment instead.

Trust me, no one is exaggerating. Some of us are luckier than others. It's genuinely potluck as to whether it works for you or not. DP and I are on it because I fell very ill a few years ago and he had to be my full time carer. Absolutely sailed through everything, got everything we're entitled to. Through recovery they've been very helpful, supporting us with everything, we will likely be on it for a while as DP is now about to start training to finally return to work.

His mother on the other hand, has had to have reassessments to switch over to the new system, she's chronically ill and will never go back to work, she has been getting the same benefits for 10+ years, and they took virtually everything off her for no reason. The assessor completely lied about her appointment. This was before Christmas and she had nothing, couldn't pay her bills and is now finally playing catch up after her appeal was granted, but is struggling seriously with both money and her health as a result.

When it works well, it's great. But unfortunately it's luck of the draw, and they can put you in the shit instantly for no reason. One person can click the wrong button and ruin your life. One person can try to make quotas by lying about a work capability assessment, and someone dies.

It's real. It's awful. That being said, I'm glad we are on it because it's been supportive for us. I just wish we were the majority and not the minority.

Well this all sounds really promising I wonder why the negativity? A friends of mine's mum is always complaining about it, but then she's a lifetime benefits user and I think she's annoyed that UC is forcing her to look for work. She's perfectly capable of working, just always chose not to under the old system.

They took my entire months payment off me without any warning because of a tax rebate I had received - for tax I had overpaid before I clained universal credit. I used the rebate to pay off two large bills I had been left unable to clear when I was paying far too much tax so when they whacked my UC off me I was nearly £500 down - left me totally up shit creek with no warning or time to plan around it. Their "solution" was to offer me foodbank vouchers which I would have had to take time off work to collect and use.

Can only tell you what a dear friend has said. Less money for disability and if you have a partner and they get paid a day early for example, payday falls on a weekend and pay is received on the Friday then this results in them receiving no money for whole of the next month. This happened to my friend in December, it was awful. She’s a full time carer for two disabled children as well. Her husband works full time so lucky they could pay some bills however they were short for Christmas. Sorry for mistakes typing quick as watching love island

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51318730

There’s a 5 week delay before the first payment, so it sounds like you don’t know what you’re talking about. Which is odd, since you claim to be claiming it.

I work in short term housing. The 5 week wait is an issue if people have no income or savings at all when they apply, which is often the case in young adults or homeless people. You can ask for a loan but you then pay this off out of your subsequent payments which means a fairly small income (£251 for a single adult) gets cut even further. Other debts can also be taken off this amount e.g. budgeting loans from the old benefits system. I knew one person who was only left with £150 a month and had a service charge for their accommodation to pay out of this.
The other issue I have come across is when people aren't paid monthly in their job (e.g. 4 weekly) and get two pay packets in a UC month. This means your pay for UC purposes is 2x the normal amount so your UC decreases significantly even though your pay hasn't actually gone up.
Some people struggle getting paid monthly if they struggle to manage their money. The system for getting limited capability for work acknowledged is onerous and difficult to navigate. Sanctions are extremely harsh and seem to be handed out to people with mental health issues even though they shouldn't be.
Having said all of that it works well for some people and in our area it's the only option for new applicants.

I get help with childcare via UC. Every month they make mistakes and randomly don't pay. It also was a 3 month delay in actually getting a payment. Great when XH left and my part time wage didn't cover my bare minimum bills.

@GingaNinja84 How has she managed to be a lifetime benefits user? Really interested to know!

Genuine question....why do you need uc to ease up to full time hours? Did you have full time hours before mat leave?

It definitely works better for people with a regular income as a top up. Ideally a monthly income at that.

It’s an absolute pain in the twat for anyone who’s income fluctuates a lot month to month, calculated off the last 4 weeks when you may be entitled to sweet feck all but this month you’ve had two shifts. 4 weekly pay leaves you with a period you wouldn’t get a payment because you’ve had two pays in one.. which again can throw the budget the next month off if you aren’t made aware of it (seems like the advisors here forget to mention it).

It’s all well n good being almost completely online until you get to people who can’t use tech, be it disability, age, financial or just lack of skills.. more so in a rural area (costs £6 to get to the nearest job centre here and unemployed people were told they needed to look for work for 35hours a week and update their journal daily)

Some of that too is a staff issue though. And I suppose we see more of that through work than you would in a social circle.

People are too disabled to get to appointments... people kill themselves out of sheer desperation as they have no money...

Are you serious?!! Like, actually?

You need great cognitive ability, access to the internet (so probably a laptop or at least mobile enough to get to a library - but they're all shut), oh and the average reading aged in the UK is 9yrs old. But you're ok so everyone else must be.

I'm not even on it but this post has pissed me off SO much!

metro.co.uk/2019/07/21/dad-34-took-his-own-life-after-wait-for-universal-credit-left-him-with-4-61-10434856/

Go and volunteer at citizens advice and then tell us all what you think....bye...