Universal credit...two paydates in on period

[Originalusername01]

Posting here for traffic. Can someone explain to me how my universal credits will work next month? The assessment period this month will include two paydays from my job as I get paid 4 weekly. I realise this will mean my income will be to high to receive universal credit but am I expected to then wait until my next pay to get the universal credit ? I did read online something about how the rules will change from November as it was leaving a lot of people in poverty but i can't understand it. Something about receiving half of your allowance? Any advice/information would be great

Anyone?

As far as I know you will be deducted 0.63pence in every pound you ear over 292 pounds, if this takes your award to zero this then means that you will receive no universal credit until next month. Also if next month you have no pay day because of 2 this month, you may not technically earn enough and the benefit cap may be applied and again you get zero

Hi @Originalusername01 The article you read is read for people who get paid monthly who's pay dates change due to bank holidays, weekends etc not 4 weekly. I can help you work out what you entitlement will be (I'm quite sad and have a spread sheet ha) if you want to DM me? The two pay days wont necessarily mean you get 0 depending on your elements on UC. I can also help you work out when it will happen again in the year if you need help x

If you applied for UC at the start of a month and you receive 2 pays in any month, it will count it as one income and you may get no UC.

If however, you applied in the middle of a month, e.g. 15/05, your assessment period will only catch one pay date, very unlikely to catch two, and it won't matter.

I think that's how it works.

If your pay takes you over the threshold you will not get any UC and your claim will end and you will need to reapply if you speak to your advisor they can tell you the best time to reapply.
I know that this is really shit and it has put thousands of people into debt. This is how it was designed and just another reason for it to be scrapped, but UC was intended to punish the poor

This is definitely going to be two pay dates..it will be the 16th of October and the 13th nov..and the assessment period for me is the 15th of oct till the 14th of nov. Typical. This will be my 4th payment.

@StraxDestroyerOfAll have sent you a dm x

Oh help here please too for those that know how to calculate UC!! So my boyfriend has been receiving about £800 pm (no job, has kids). He is now looking at earning £160 per week. So £640 pm. So can someone please tell me what he would get per month? (Sorry for hijacking thread...)

@toobusytothink use entitledto.co.uk to get a very close figure

@Originalusername01 what horrible luck for this month!
You may get £0 but due to covid rules, your claim is likely to be left open for 2 - 3 assessment periods. If it closes, just click the 'reclaim' on your account but wait until your salary has cleared so that it's not in the new calculation.

@Cabinfever10 You're UC case would have to closed for 6 months to be given a new assessment period .

Benefits adviser here.

Your normal UC amount will be reduced by the amount of the second payment x 0.63. Depending on how much you usually get, this could wipe out your entitlement entirely.

Let's say £500 in UC, and your second lot of wages is £1,000 after tax etc.

£1,000 x 0.63 = £630

Deducting £630 from your normal £500 UC payment will give a negative amount and your UC payment will be nil.

If your second lot of wages is £500, your UC will go down by £315 (£500 x 0.63) and you would get £185 in UC (£500 - £315).

Hope that helps.

@toobusytothink

Oh help here please too for those that know how to calculate UC!! So my boyfriend has been receiving about £800 pm (no job, has kids). He is now looking at earning £160 per week. So £640 pm. So can someone please tell me what he would get per month? (Sorry for hijacking thread...)

For a start, £160 pw is NOT £640 pm, it's £693.33.

Because he has children, the first £292* of that will be disregarded, leaving £401.33.

£401.33 x 0.63 = £252.84

With an award of £800 pcm, that would leave around £547.16 of UC payable.

*That's assuming that he claims for housing costs (ie rent) in his UC. If he has no housing costs, it will be around £240 more, because he'll get the higher work allowance.

This is starting to feel like being at work. The online calculators at entitledto and turn2us are very good!

@LakieLady if this means I wont get any universal credit this month do they let you apply for an advance? Its going to be a struggle this close to Xmas to go for 8 weeks with no universal credit.

I'm not aware of any loans apart from the one that you can get when you start your claim.

But that doesn't mean they don't. Why not put a note on your journal and ask?

I have a vague recollection that there is a way of getting UC paid early in an emergency, but I'm not sure that this would constitute an emergency.

With your pay arrangements and the dates that your assessment period runs, this will happen every year, so it might be an idea to sit down with a calendar and work out when that will be so that you can put a bit by in the other months to even things up a bit.

UC can be a real bitch when people have anything other than pay days on the same day each month and get paid for a full calendar month. I had to advise a client the other day who gets paid on the 3rd Thursday each month, and about 4 times this year it has meant that she gets no UC.

@LakieLady thank you so much!!

This happened to someone I know recently. They ended up with no UC for the month but then the following month 'had no pay at all' and got their full UC entitlement which was far more than double their normal amount so ended up quids in. The system is bonkers.

Thanks everyone. Had a few unexpected bills this month so a bit worried. I didnt want to have to reply on them too much but this lockdown has meant hours have been reduced. I've put a note in my journal do hopefully will have an answer this week