To ask, am I a scrounger for thinking I might be entitled to UC?

[UCNovice]

Have name changed as don’t want to be linked to my usual post, although have written vaguely about this before.

Also posting in AIBU for help, although have no doubt I may be flamed here for wanting to claim anything.

I applied for UC a month ago. Before that my income was limited, I receive spousal maintenance from my eXH plus child maintenance and PIP, financially things are tight but as I have any kind of income I figured UC was never an option so I never pursued it. Then my mum said she’d seen something by Martin Lewis and how you can claim UC, so I did so, not least so I could get my national insurance stamp paid.

I have a disability plus serious illness which means that I have been out of work for some time, so I was referred to a job coach to enable me to find work. To say she is useless is an understatement, but she referred me to Reed Consulting for their rapid employment programme, however I had an email from them saying that due to high demand they are no longer taking referrals in my area.

This morning I have signed in to check if i am eligible for anything, as stated somewhere on their site which I am now starting to lose track of. It tells me that for being single I am entitled to around £400 (didn’t note the exact figures,) and that for having one child I am entitled to around £200 a month, (again, somewhere in that range,) my calculable income is set at £1000 which is spousal maintenance, which is deducted, and thus I am entitled to £0. Added to which I have to provide proof of earnings from my last job, which was 18 years ago, and I am not able to provide.

CM and PIP are not counted, so technically my income is £12000 a year, and yet I am not entitled to UC?

I feel a bit like a scrounger now because they’re essentially saying that because I have an income of £12k a year I shouldn’t be claiming. That was never my intention and tbh I wish I just hadn’t started down the road, because it’s caused me nothing but stress.

Added to which, people have advised me to claim ESA, except ESA no longer exists, and I have been told I wouldn’t be eligible anyway despite the fact I have a visual impairment and a heart condition.

My thinking is to just withdraw the claim at this point because I feel embarrassed that I even thought i might be entitled to anything.

But how does anyone actually ever claim anything on UC? I read about people having part time jobs and being able to claim, or in the current age where unemployment is rife and one member of a couple losing their job etc. But seems it isn’t that simple after all and yet people are often encouraged on here to make a claim?

Was I in the wrong here?

In fact thinking about it, if my eXH stops paying SM I would be entitled to less then so I guess that answers my question.

I do have a mortgage on this house, but was told that as it is my place of residence it wasn’t counted as a financial asset. But I’m guessing that advice may have been wrong?

?

You haven’t done anything wrong in applying. It’s all so very confusing what you are entitled to or not, so unless to try you will never know. You could contact Citizens Advice with all your information to hand and they will tell you what you can and cannot claim.

I don't have an answer for you, however do have friends who are out of work due to covid who are on UC when they live with a partner who is working so would imagine you are entitled to something!

Have you tried Citizens Advice? Talking to a human as opposed to the online forms may be helpful and offer more insight.

Good Luck! X

It does seem correct based on your information. Spousal maintenance, unlike child maintenance is deducted. It's a really tough system. You can be really skint and still not qualify.

Your house is not counted as an asset, but it does mean you can't claim the housing element in the same way as renters. You have to keep a claim open for 39 weeks until you can claim some help with mortgage interest, but only as a loan, which likely will not suit your situation.

I'm on tax credits so different criteria, work part time approx £17k and get approx £280 child tax credit and £60 working tax credit. I know if I was changed to UC I would.get £0. I have a friend who works 30 hours a week on around £15k a year on UC.with one child gets enough to.cover her council house rent £600) plus a bit more (not sure of the exact figures). It seems so ramdom what people get. I dread having to switch to UC.

I think if you were awarded the LCWRA element you would get something because they would discount the first £500 of income. If you get PIP you would almost certainly get LCWRA. You need to get a fit note from your GP to get signed off at the JobCentre as unable to work. This should trigger the UC50 form being sent to you but it can take a while so you could also ask your work coach for it.

My partner and I both work but are eligible to claim the childcare element, as our childcare bill is almost £800 per month. Personal allowance part and Childrens allowance is cancelled out by our earnings similar to you.!

Never use the word scrounger.

There are two questions:

• are you entitled under the current system/rules?
• is the current system set at the right level?

I don't know the answer to the first question.

I do know the answer to the second question is no - the UK benefits regime now is very unsupportive and compares badly with other European countries.

The overall 'welfare' bill appears enormous -because the government lumps pensions and housing benefit in with the money people have to live on. They do this because so many people are hard of thinking and don't understand how society/finances/welfare works.

Thanks all. it does all seem incredibly random and as if it is made complicated enough that people will be put off claiming.

@ UnbeatenMum Technically I’m not incapable of work but it is almost impossible for me to find work. The number of visually impaired people estimated to be out of work is around 85% and rising, there are an awful lot of jobs which just aren’t accessible e.g. I can’t go and work on a checkout for instance.

I was in fact offered a job last year but due to the fact their system couldn’t be made accessible that job offer was withdrawn in April.

Prior to that I was invited for an interview at another company and when I told them I was VI because of an online test I would have to perform they withdrew the interview offer and actually said that they were afraid the system might not be accessible, and that if they’d offered me a a job and the system proved inaccessible it would be unfair on another sighted candidate who might have missed out on the opportunity.

Added to which we are now in the worst unemployment state in history so even without disabilities in the equation finding work is difficult.

The money is kind of a red herring really. i applied purely because my mum kept going on and on about how I should claim, how some calculator showed I was eligible, how I should be in contact with the job centre, and she wouldn’t listen when I said I doubted I was eligible for anything, and that disability employment is a nightmare at best and no-one I know has ever had any help through the job centre.

I will let it go now and am sorry I ever even entered down this road...

Log in and ask any questions you have on your journal. They take a day or two to get back, but you get the answers. For example, ask if they expect you to give proof of earnings from 18 years ago. You might have misunderstood that, or they might be looking for proof that you paid into the system at some point. Persevere with it.

Do you actually have 12k a year or is the spousal maintenance on top? Was confused by your post

Oh I see the 12k is the sm part ?

No I have around 18K a year which comprises of 12k SM, then CM and PIP, neither of which are apparently counted as earnings.

Anyway as I said, I will probably withdraw the claim now not least because the job centre are going to keep making demands on me as to how many jobs I should apply for etc etc, it wouldn’t bother me but for the fact they’re not actually achieving anything or even really helping.

And I see from the pole that almost half the posters think that I am unreasonable, so as I said,I am pretty embarrassed now really.

Good morning, do not be embarrassed. We now claim uc, my way of thinking we've paid our taxes since working, I know can't work so I take what we are entitled to.

We get bare minimum as my husband works full time and we have a mortgage, so no help with that. But it's enough to do a week or two of food shopping so I am grateful.
Actively I am not looking for work as I am studying with the open university, my job coach is very supportive of this, combined with having a two year old at home so she leaves me to it, drops the odd communication via the journal.

Your income of 18k seems to be why your not entitled, however, as your alone I thought you might of got something. Maybe put a note on your journal.

Please do not be ashamed, many, many people are now in this boat due to covid.

Don't be embarrassed. You will always get people on Mumsnet who think no one should get top up benefits.

Spousal maintenance is means tested unfortunately whereas child maintenance is not so it does sound right. Even if you found a job I don't think you'd be entitled to the working tax credit element as the spousal maintenance really pushes your imcome up.

I'm a single working parent and I get working tax credits of about £600 a month but obviously you have to be working to get that.

If you get signed off the JobCentre wil suspend your job search requirements. You don't have to be incapable of work to get LCWRA, just have 'limited' capability, which it sounds like you do with your disability. Worth a try before closing your claim?

You call CAB and ask them to assist you with a calculation they will book you an appointment.

OP, join the Facebook group 'Universal Credit Essentials'. The mods are trained advisors and can tell you if your claim has been assessed correctly, mistakes are common and they can advise how to rectify it.

I am not embarrassed for claiming universal credit. Some months we qualify some we dont. I used to get tax credits but as I am self employed and employed it can be hard to predict income and this has caused me to be in arrears. No danger with that with universal credit so thats a big positive for me.
I found the benefits calculator turn2us very helpful.
I would at least do as a pp said go on the group on Facebook and see if they are able to take a look (I didn't know this existed so will keep that for future reference)

You haven't done anything wrong in applying, you just already have more income than UC is.
We are two adults and three teens (DD is at uni but has to stay on the claim because she exists 🤔 - we're not sure why, it's complicated! and none of the UC is "for her")
We get £1200 a month.
You're claim for one adult and one child would get you much less, so you don't get anything.
It sounds mean but, honestly, you are better off without it mental health wise anyway! The whole process is degrading, stressful, demoralising and bloody well soul destroying when the work search stuff starts. You are treated like a piece of dirt.
(Sorry, I get ranty! I'll stop)

If you're not getting any money from it dont bother with it, it's very invasive on your life and will just make you feel like shit, the bar to get help when you're not able bodied is set very high and they question you constantly because it is a pretty easy system to cheat tbh.

Job centre helped me get my first job when I was younger but paid me £0 a month on benefits which was fine for me as I was 20 and living with my partner who was happy to provide, but I wouldn't do it again now for nothing.

OP, how long will your spousal maintenance continue? I think you should stay in the system now that you have been ID checked. If you know you can't work in the future due to disabilities, there may be some things you are entitled to. For example, there is a government savings account for people on UC who have income over around £600 per month. The government tops up 25% at the end of 2 years.