To think EVERYONE knows that Universal credit advances are repayable?

[Musereader]

Had a friend saying she does not understand why she has an attachment of earnings, so helped her call debt management to find out, turns out it is from Universal credit, as she spent most of 2020 on UC like a lot of people.

But she was looking through and she had not had any overpayments or debts. So she calls them, and gets a call back, she had taken an advance at the beginning of the claim and it was not all paid back because she was not on it for long enough to pay it all back.

She called me to complain, saying she was not aware it was a debt, and she didn't get paid twice and she only took it because she had bills coming out the next week and she thought she was just getting paid it early.

I have Universal credit, to help me pay childcare, and I have taken an advance and I know it is repayable, because they told me so, when I go to the journal message giving me the advance, it says I will have to pay it back even if I stop getting Universal credit.

AIBU to not understand how she does not understand that the advances are repayable?

You have to tick a box to declare how much you are willing to pay it back, as your get a couple of options (higher amounts for 3 months or a lower amount for 6 months) so yes she knew it was repayable.

It sounds like she made a silly mistake by overlooking something at a stressful time. I think we've all done that, though some things have bigger consequences than others. She will obviously have to repay the money, but I'm not sure how helpful it is to berate her (and set up a thread encouraging other people to berate her?) for sticking her head in the sand.

I agree with HardbackWriter, she clearly misunderstood the payments at a difficult time. Although I've never been on benefits, I imagine it's a minefield to understand and arrange, and I think your OP is a tad harsh on her tbh.

She just kept saying it was never explained to her and she would never and nobody would ever take it if they knew it was repayable and I just don't understand how she didn't realise.

I'm not trying to berate her, I'm just baffled and wondering if anybody else did not realise it was repayable.

I have read so many articles watched shows and been on message boards about UC and just thought it was common knowledge that you have to pay it back, so wondering if it is actually common knowledge or if I have just overinfomed myself

I think Universal Credit policy is to explain verbally and on the journal that the advance is a loan- they can’t issue it without going through the repayment options like you say and they also have to check understanding that this will be deducted from the universal credit award going forwards to ensure affordability.

They go out of their way to ensure clarity.

I think some people just focus on the payment going in and while they say they understand, they’re not really listening.

Lots of people claim they were never told about X, Y or Z, when it's very clearly explained. You can't really say it was too complicated because it's all written as if they're explaining it to a child. I think a lot of people just don't take any notice.

I sold a car on FB market place and put in capital letters that it was an MOT failure that needed to be picked up on a transporter because it couldn't legally be driven on the road.

I had about 2 dozen enquiries within a couple of hours of the 'take my money now' variety because they'd seen nothing more than a car that appeared to be very cheap for the age.

She just kept saying it was never explained to her and she would never and nobody would ever take it if they knew it was repayable and I just don't understand how she didn't realise

Did she just think they gave you free money every time you asked for it? Sounds like she needs to be reminded of 'if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is'.

People make mistakes and not everyone filters/retains information in the same way. An Advance is usually an earlier payment of money owed.

She probably didn’t read it properly. It’s surprising how many people don’t read things properly, and it’s easy to not take things in when you’re stressed.

Many people don't understand that UC is paid in arrears, so the 'advance' to them feels like a normal payment. Plus, many are desperate when they apply, they don't think about the detail, only that they need to pay their rent, buy food etc. Unfortunately they cannot be paid for in arrears.

I think lots of things like benefits, CMS, tax can seem obvious to those who are in the system and have been for sometime but are a complete mystery to those who have never or rarely used it. When I got divorced there was a whole new world of terms I had never used before, maintenance, residency, contact, EOW, CMS, attachment to earnings. Someone on a CMS thread was shocked that another poster didn't know it could be £0 of £7 p/w - why would they if they are not affected? If your friend has only used the system once and briefly and at a stressful time of great change and furlough payments being given out, its not THAT surprising that she might think it was a gratis payment.