To think Universal Credit are a bunch of cunts

[StarbucksStraw]

I work full time but also claim Universal Credit.

They have awarded me £0 this month because two of my wages have fallen within one assessment period therefore to them, it looks like I have earned twice as much.

This happens several times a year because of how my wages are paid, each time I have to raise a dispute, they then "move" one lot of wages to a different assessment period and adjust my statement and pay me the outstanding amount. This is usually sorted within a few days but sometimes takes longer.

This time my payment is nearly three weeks overdue. I have no money left, all of my wages have been spent on rent, direct debits etc. Every time I ask them for an update I get fuck all.

How can they leave someone in this situation? They told me to ask the local authority for help but I've had no luck.

They already have the information from HMRC/ my employer showing when I was paid and how much. What the actual fuck do the expect people to do? I can't run my car to get to work on fresh air and I doubt my son wants to live off whatever stale shite is left in the cupboard for the next fuck knows how long.

I don't know what I'm hoping for from this post... anyone else had success in getting them to hurry up?

ring your mp today. Don’t write. We rang up, spoke to an assistant, emailed the details snd they were into universal credit immediately.

Well aren't you a peach.

Why don't you try not taking your anger out on strangers on the Internet and actually doing something constructive about it.

Yes, depending on when the last Friday falls it happens to me three or four times a year.

It's frustrating having to chase them, and as much as I would like to I just can't keep enough aside to cover it - I'm not irresponsible and I do keep money aside where I can but when you have an unexpected car repair or similar, that disappears quickly.

I know when it'll happen and how to report it properly, I've the done everything I normally do to have it resolved within a few days - Universal Credit haven't dealt with my dispute and wont give me any answers or respond to my messages asking for help/ escalation etc.

Now facing the weekend worrying about it and not knowing if they will deal with it come Monday and on top of that I have no funds to see me through until then.

I'm glad it only happens to you once a year and that you are able to save, but that's not how it is for me or for many other people.

Such as?

If your employer is over of the largest government contractors, then they must have thousands of employees receiving UC.

The constructive thing to do, would be writing to your payroll and pointing out their responsibilities as set out by the government.

If they refuse to change their processes, you could then contact your MP asking for help. If they're a government contractor, I'd expect them to be bound by government policies in this area.

There isn’t a ‘better way of dealing with it’. What you’re suggesting would involve somebody going through every single payslip every month and would be an administrative nightmare. No system is perfect, it’s a shame you’ve fallen foul of this one but that’s how it is. When you’re dealing with millions of people no system is going to be 100% perfect.

Maybe they think the same about you, who knows. Either way it’s a pretty vile slur for somebody just following the rules of their job.

You are fortunate OP to be getting UC as well as an 'above minimum wage' salary. Sounds like you need to look at moving to a cheaper place and cutting your cloth accordingly.

Frankly, I think we should all disengage with the OP. She's clearly got anger issues and sounds very unpleasant and entitled.

with a UC 'advance' is a debt.

It needs to be made clearer months ahead of having to apply that tax credits stop. I knew how bad the system was so managed to squirrel away enough money to tide me over in those weeks.

She's not "fortunate" to be claiming benefits, the government have designed a system in which the state tops up pay for lower paid workers as a handout to employers - paid for out of taxes including the OP's. I'm sure the OP would rather be paid a decent wage for her work.

I don't know if you've noticed, maybe it's something you've never had to worry about, but it's expensive to be skint. You can't buy in bulk, if your fridge breaks down or your car fails its MOT you have to borrow (at a cost) to pay for it, and when you inevitably go overdrawn by £0.37p you get hit with a £20 bank fine.

I expect the "just get a better job" lot will be along shortly so I'll ask you to consider what happens if we have no classroom assistants or doctor's receptionist or shop workers because they all magically got one of these millions of better paid jobs just floating around.

Yes it will be right if single, no dependents or rent as 20 hours wages will wipe entitlement. The sum is take home wage x 0.55. Then take that from uc entitlement of 393.45 Answer is probably O uc left to pay.

Yes it is but it is an option rather than five weeks without money.

@LiterallyOnFire* What a nasty ignorant ageist attitude

Ok. Apparently my brain wasn't braining last night. I understand the issue now and agree it's shit.

No its not I understand everything and I donr appreciate you insulting me ...reported !!

I bet you 99% of people claiming UC would rather just get paid enough to live on by their employer.

I've just read a Bulgarian family got £54 million from fraudulent claims from London boroughs maybe if they cracked down on fraud a bit more there might be a bit more to slosh around!

OP has posted about a particular complexity of the UC system we have in the UK. You came in and posted about how none of this applies in the country you are in and in subsequent posts certainly seek to imply that countries like yours which apparently have high costs of living and no state assistance are somehow morally superior. My entirely reasonable question was what the point of your intervention was. It's still not clear why you are posting on this thread. You feigned an interest in the UC system in one post, but then posted about how terrible we are for having it.

If you suggest cracking down on fraud everyone on here goes mad and says the real fraudsters are off shore companies and Michelle Mone

Evidently that was "cracked down on" - do you have reason to suppose such fraud is widespread and unaddressed?
OP isn't complaining about the value of UC, just the poor admin of it that leaves her without a payment she's reasonably entitled to for an unsustainable period.

Generally because according to published figures, there's loads more tax dodging than benefit fraud, but don't let the facts get in the way of a good frothing benefit bash.

What a fucking ridiculous response - why be so patronising to imagine OP hasn't considered that? It's insulting to OP, frankly.

What’s insulting is that the op calls everyone doing THEIR job a ‘bunch of cunts’

seriously, her attitude is disgusting.

Absolute ignorant fool.