Universal credit what my husband to go to the job centre, AIBU?!

[ImEasyLikeSundayMorning]

After a string off 'errors' that occurred out of nowhere, we have been kicked off tax credits, and we cannot reapply.

Both DH and I work full time and have not been out of work for many many years.

We can only apply for universal credit. We are entitled to a very small amount towards DC3's childcare but we are absolutely broke and desperate so need to apply.

Despite checking and double checking, during the application they did not ask for DH's income (self employed), but they did require mine.
DH had a phone interview today and has to go to the job centre next week to prove he is self employed and working.

We hare always just used his self tax form for that in the past.

Who can just drop work like that with a weeks notice?! I know I can't.

Is this a normal expectation?!

Self employed have to have an appointment and if he is found gainfully self employed he won’t need to attend again and he’ll report his earnings online every month. You can make a Saturday appointment if it’s more convenient.

You sound hysterical, it’s just an appointment. Calm down. If it’s not a suitable time, you can rearrange it like a normal adult would by letting them know. You’re not going to get paid until he attends.

UC can check HMRC for your income if you’re employed, which is why they can take your word for it, but they can’t do that if he’s self employed. He needs to go in to provide documents and invoices to see whether he is gainfully self employed or not. They would get so many people fudging the system otherwise, which is what happened over the pandemic. They’re not being unreasonable here.

You are claiming universal credit, you can’t be surprised if you’re getting jobcentre appointments. They don’t give people money for no reason, you have to be entitled to claim and part of those checks need to be done in person.

That’s a misconception or misunderstanding.

@ImEasyLikeSundayMorning Have your tax credits ended because you missed the August deadline, what errors were made.

UC do not usually ask for an appointment they ask for the earnings to be uploaded. Is there as question over his earnings that they want to clarify?

They’re ridiculous.

I applied for UC but because I get spousal maintenance from my eXH I am not entitled to any financial support. Fair enough whatever, but I have to go to the job centre every two weeks to speak to my work coach. Again, whatever. Except the work coach is never there and I have seen maybe 5 different coaches, each of who ask every time what my story is, and start the process from scratch.

Even now that I’ve got a job I still need to keep going in until I start work, and the truth is nothing happens. They say “hello, any news on the start date yet? Ok, we’ll see you in two weeks.”

It’s a waste of their time and mine when they could do this digitally or over the phone.

I have a disability and wasn’t told until 6 weeks in that our job centre has a disability employment adviser, who took a month to ring me and then apologised because he was going through all sorts of problems in his life. And by then I’d got a job so he said that clearly I didn’t need him then.

It’s a farce and the system is just keeping people in jobs who don’t appear to actually do anything.

TBH they’re perfectly decent people. But the system is screwed.

I’m surprised anyone is still on tax credits I thought they did away with them years ago.

He does have to attend an appointment but can ring and try and reschedule for maybe the first or last appointment of the day or on his lunch break so it won’t affect him as much.

You could ask if they do other the phone ones but I doubt they do them anymore.

I’d find out what he needs to take with him too as if he doesn’t have the right things they may want him to come in again.

It's a long story and I feel a bit like a conspiracy theorist about it to be honest!

My 3 year old has the free childcare element, I have never received email, text, phone or letter correspondence from them in 10 months.
Therefore I've always been flying by the seat of my pants when renewing every 3 months.

This month I was late.

So the free childcare code stopped.

I had to reapply. During the application it asks
"do you want to stop receiving tax credits"

because we are in financial dire straits I clearly remember clicking no. Very clearly.

Except our tax credits have stopped and they claim I clicked yes.

so they have stopped, we get less money and we have shifted over to UC.

And now I'm getting both email and text correspondence non-stop from childcare ever since.

They basically twisted my arm, or so it feels.

Also you may not actually get it for a while but you can apply for an advance payment which you pay back bit by bit.

I hadn't realised until today when my son rang on his way to the job centre, he is self employed and has to go once every 3 months for the first year. Not sure after that

I hope you don't have that awful attitude with your patients op
People are trying to help you and you're being vile

I had to reapply for dla last year and they lost the claim 🙄 because it stopped so did my carers allowance so I had to move from tax credits to UC

vile to the person who called me hysterical?

I knew it wouldn't just be me!

Do you feel as if you have had your arm twisted?

We have been forced over, haven't we?

Oh and ds can't just go back to work after, he's working in cambridge and we live in Nottingham. Oh and the appointment was at 12.30 , they don't let you pick and choose when you go in

A friend of mine is a Work Coach...all I can say is, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Think it's punitive and harsh right now? It's about to get a whole lot more so.

Nobody will be on what they call 'legacy' benefits (which include Tax Credits) by 2025.

He will have to go in for the self employment appointment. There will be a file in his journal once the appointment is booked (UCD5) which will show all the documents he will have to take in. UC doesn’t receive self employed earnings through the same way as ‘normal’ earnings via the HMRC. There is no facility to do it over the phone or upload documents. Once he has had the appointment, he has to report his income and expenses every month through his account.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide

Yes, DH has to travel into the city which is a nightmare and not the simple "hour" some people claimed but I couldn't be arsed to argue.

Its not as simple as people are claiming it is.

Ironically, I work 5 minutes from the job centre he needs to attend.

Definitely feel like that, even though the dla and carers was back dated they stopped my income support and when I refused to apply for it back by moving to uc they stopped my housing benefit

That's actually really helpful information, thank you.
The monthly reports will actually make like much easier and we won't end up owing tax credits if we're wrong. Although it rarely happened it was a painstaking waiting time to see if we were in-debt to them.

You obviously didn't fill the online application in correctly. So yes he will have to go in of he want to be paid! If he's aelf employed I'm sure it's doable!

I think he only needs to go so often because he's in his first year of being SE but it seems like a waste of everyone's time for me.

They will want to verify that he is gainfully self employed and will initially want to do this in person. Sadly too many self employed people played the tax credits system so UC have closed this loophole, hence the appointment he has been asked to attend. They won't simply accept his tax return as proof of gainful self employment. As said upthread, UC is not just given anyway and he needs to prove his self employed status to claim.

Oh and the appointment was at 12.30 , they don't let you pick and choose when you go in

No they don’t but if you ring up they’re usually pretty good depending on how busy they are.

Whatever you do don’t just not turn up though and not contact them, as they will sanction you for it and it’s a nightmare getting it back up and running again.

I’ve been on it for a while now and my earnings slightly fluctuate each month but I’ve found it really straightforward although I’m not SE and I do think it worked out I was worse off.

That is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard, and I work in welfare rights, so hear a lot of UC absurdities. It should be self-evident that someone whose needs are so high that they require an appointee should have minimal work search requirements and not need frequent appointments.

One of the difficulties with UC is that an awful lot of things are at the discretion of the work coach or case manager, so there are no set rules for many decisions. And some JCs seem to take a much tougher line than others (my team covers 2 counties and a city, so we have knowledge of a LOT of job centres).

The 3-month wait for a work capability assessments is standard though, there's no getting round that, it's in the regulations.

Its because not all are genuine so they do have to check
Also can't see how your worse off on UC than tax credits ? That wasn't the case with us , plus no risk of overpayments like with tax credits