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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

347 replies

GingaNinja84 · 03/02/2020 21:14

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 Grin

OP posts:
kirinm · 03/02/2020 21:42

Didn't take you long to start the benefit bashing did it OP? Your initial post was clearly intended to goad anyway.

kirinm · 03/02/2020 21:43

Imagine having the luxury to gradually increase your hours after maternity leave and claim benefits to do it and then have the audacity to benefit bash.

WeKnowFrogsGoShaLaLaLaLa · 03/02/2020 21:43

I also had no issues. I had worked out approx how much i would be getting so took an advance of the same amount to cover the five week wait. Appt within 48rs and advance paid the same day.

Ive had two smaller payments because of an excess tax credits payment but this was shown on my account prior to happening and I could have contacted them to make these payments over more months if I'd needed to.

I like that I can update them monthly for childcare and know that my payments are accurate.

TabbyMumz · 03/02/2020 21:43

"oh and the average reading aged in the UK is 9yrs old."

Surely that's not true?

Original poster
GingaNinja84 · 03/02/2020 21:44

@LetsNotPanic just kept having kids...she has seven and the last one is about to turn 16. I know nothing of the old system so I can only assume this means she'll no longer be getting the child benefit or tax credits or whatever it was she was on? She's never had a job (or a partner for that matter, so no other income source...) so I guess she's annoyed UC means she'll actually have to get one?

@TabbyMumz I was yes, 37 hours. I've gone back two days a week and am using UC to top up my wages by a couple hundred. It doesn't bring me anywhere close to what I would get were I working full time, but it gives me approx what I was on during maternity leave, so I know I can live on it :)

OP posts:
Original poster
GingaNinja84 · 03/02/2020 21:47

@Neverender there are ways to make your point without being rude, I'm just intrigued as to the ins and outs of the system as some-one who's never used benefits before.

OP posts:
Neverender · 03/02/2020 21:49

digital.nhs.uk/blog/transformation-blog/2019/creating-better-content-for-users-with-low-health-literacy

8 in 10 adults are not at the reading age of 16...

CodenameVillanelle · 03/02/2020 21:50

UC works fine for people who are working and need top ups - partly because it's a benefit to incentivise work, partly because those already working are likely to be able to navigate the online system better than those who have been out of work for a long time/disabled/MH issues etc and also because if you have an income already then having to wait 5 weeks for your first payment won't be such a problem, nor will it matter so much when there are 5 fridays in a month so your payment for the following month is cut by 25%.

For those ported from benefits in the first rollout who had to wait a mandatory 6 weeks for payment with no option of advance loan or those who struggle in any way with literacy, online skills or have a disability that has been downgraded by the switch from DLA to PIP and therefore face a huge cut in their income UC is absolutely horrendous. Not to mention the actual amount people get when for eg single parents with young children has been significantly cut meaning they literally have to use food banks to feed their kids one week every month - oh and if they live somewhere with high rent they will have even more deducted due to the benefit cap.

unsure111 · 03/02/2020 21:51

I'm entitled to very minimal and had 2 problems which have been sorted quite quickly. But for people who are unemployed or lost their job it can be a nightmare. I had an overpayment which I knew before the payment went into my bank I rang them twice but still the money went in and I had to ring a debt agency to pay the money back. It was such a faff.

I was made redundant in 2017 from April I had no income at all until August when they finally sorted it. I rang every week, got in debt but luckily my parents helped me out a lot but still paying them back now as I had no money for rent, bills or food. If I didn't have them we would of been on the streets. I think it took this long as it was new and the back log was huge. It was a horrific time.

Neverender · 03/02/2020 21:51

I have relative who work for citizens advice and I'm an certain their extensive knowledge of a damaging and flawed system is greater than your one super-smug comment. Certain.

There are people experiencing an extreme amount of stress and uncertainty over this system and your flippant post makes light of other people's experiences.

No, I'm not on UC, but many are. And you're kinda, sort of, being a bit twatty.

TabbyMumz · 03/02/2020 21:52

8 in 10 adults are not at the reading age of 16..
I'm tending to not believe that. How on earth can they quantify that? Unless they do extensive testing of adults. I just dont believe it.

DaveMinion · 03/02/2020 21:53

My mum would be worse off on universal credit. She is paid 4 weekly so some months gets 2 lots of wages a month so universal credit would be stopped. Then she’d have to reclaim and wait 5 weeks for payment again. She can’t afford to do that.

She would actually be better off as she’d get more under universal credit but it’s just not worth it in the long run. She has 4 years until retirement so the longer she can stay on it the better.

LetsNotPanic · 03/02/2020 21:54

You need to do more research lovely, I needed to work at least 16 hours as a single parent when my DD2 turned 5 six years ago as I was put on Job Seekers. Awaits rando!m DLA update

EntropyRising · 03/02/2020 21:54

No, I'm not on UC, but many are. And you're kinda, sort of, being a bit twatty.

I think the point of the OP's post is that she is in fact on UC. Why is her 'lived experience' so much less valid than your relative's?

mindproject · 03/02/2020 21:55

I heard that single mums, part-time workers, zero hour workers (you know the kind of people that actually need benefits as opposed to the people claiming benefits to supplement average and reasonable wages) were the ones that were running into trouble with UC the most and finding it a bit of a minefield.

I have no idea if this is correct or not because I don't claim any benefits, but given what I know about this government and how it likes to kick people in the teeth when they're down, it makes sense.

Neverender · 03/02/2020 21:55

TabbyMumz They said the other day it includes dyslexic people, people with learning difficulties, people with English as a second language, those who can't read and write. If you add all of them up...

Neverender · 03/02/2020 21:56

The Sun is written for 8yr old English

trixiebelden77 · 03/02/2020 21:58

Always intrigued by people who ‘know’ people who can work but claim benefits instead.....when they’re doing the same.

You could work full time but have decided to ‘work up to it’ by claiming.

Not very different really.

Neverender · 03/02/2020 21:58

www.see-a-voice.org/marketing-ad/effective-communication/readability/

The Sun = 8yrs old

raspberryk · 03/02/2020 22:01

lifetime benefits user ? You make it sound like a drug addiction PMSL.

UC can be the fucking pits. It was horrendous for me when I was was forced to quit my job and move area into a UC area after my divorce. Legacy benefits were bad enough when I was on unpaid maternity leave as a newly single mother of 2, then the switch over left me unpaid for almost 3 months. Miscalculations galore, I ended up underpaid their fault (which they won't backdate), supposedly overpaid but they were wrong but I couldn't be bothered to fight it, overpaid also their fault (which they do backdate and claim back with vigour) what a surpise.
Never paid on time. Constantly get called to the job centre despite being a full time student.
Nightmare when my partner moved in.
Now I get nothing as they now deduct student loan £1 for £1, yet they still hassle me and make me sign commitments despite not getting any money from them.

PorpentinaScamander · 03/02/2020 22:02

I'm lucky that my issues with UC were fairly minor. It took 6 weeks to get my first payment, luckily my landlord is incredibly understanding and allowed me to get into arrears. They put me on work conditionality to work more hours or earn more. I was working full time on more than minimum wage. They wouldn't pay me until I accepted it but luckily one appointment later and they removed it again.
Currently having issues getting an appointment (have been signed off work with MH issues for almost a year and need to find out my options re not going back at all). If I phone them I get told I have to make an app online. I've left 3 messages in my online thing (can't remember what it's called). No reply Hmm

A friend of mine has had bigger problems. Mainly, as mentioned by a PP, due to lack of understanding as she has a very low reading/comprehension age. When she was on the old style benefits her housing benefit was paid directly to the housing association. She didnt realise this wasnt the case with UC and has ended up in massive rent arrears being threatened with eviction. Luckily they've accepted a payment plan. But if it had just been explained clearly then she wouldn't have ended up in that position.

Original poster
GingaNinja84 · 03/02/2020 22:03

@Neverender again with the insults. I was only trying to start discussion and hear other people experiences, and all you can do is be rude?

My experience has been good, and I keep hearing bad stories. I was looking to hear the bad side first hand, and you just start prattling on about your relative knowing everything there is to know and telling me I'm a twat and...well...just sort of being all kinds of unhelpful.

I don't know what you were seeking to gain from your posts other than to make another person feel like crap. Which is quite frankly, kinda sad.

OP posts:
Original poster
GingaNinja84 · 03/02/2020 22:04

Wow...thanks everyone for your firsthand experiences. I suppose I must live in a little lucky bubble sometimes....it's really interesting hearing the other side of things!

OP posts:
TabbyMumz · 03/02/2020 22:04

"TabbyMumzThey said the other day it includes dyslexic people, people with learning difficulties, people with English as a second language, those who can't read and write. If you add all of them up..."

Who is they?...who is making this stuff up?

lengthenmylutealphase · 03/02/2020 22:05

I work in welfare. The main problems problems people have are;
5 week waiting period
No access to internet at home
No computer skills to keep account up to date
No email address& don't know how to make one
No mobile number (the form won't accept landline)
No bank account

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