To be absolutely fking sick of Universal Credit

[scorpiogirly]

Posted a few days ago regarding being called in for an appointment after work messed my wages up.

Went through all pay slips and could see the mistake, also could then see the basic pay per month which is over the AET. This is after increasing my hours.

So I messaged the work coach and explained what happened and that going forward my pay would be over the AET and asked if I still needed to attend the meeting which is today.

I was told yes as it was under last month. And we can discuss this apparently when I go in. Discuss what? Possible reasons work made the mistake? This is a work search appointment. For which there will be nothing to discuss or put in place as I will be over the AET.

But no, let's still waste my time, their time and also taxpayers money.

I just hate it. The way they make you jump through hoops in order to get the help you're entitled to.

Just a rant really. Does anyone hate UC as much as me?

You have a stable part time job which doesn't pay you enough to live on. So you can either work more hours or spend the time you are not working for pay wrestling with the UC system, which is just another form of work. I know which I'd rather do.

I’m sorry, why didn’t you submit your earnings by the specified date? That was a deadline, so if is fairly obvious to me what will happen if you miss it. People seem to think systems are designed to flex around them - they aren’t. They are designed to (hopefully) roll people back into full time employment, not create cracks for people to disappear into. Ultimately the DWP would like to have fewer clients 😂

Are you a single parent @Porcuporpoise ?

She thought she had 2 more days to submit, as she was told.

No but I was raised by one

She didn't miss the deadline, unless we have slipped into some parallel universe where 11 comes before 9

If you read my reply properly….
My work coach told me to submit them by the 11th of each month.
The claim was stopped because I hadn’t submitted them by the 9th.

I hadn’t passed the deadline.

So was I. They're two very different things.

Yep, my husband and I both work full time (although I’m term time only). Still have to claim UC. It’s soul destroying to be honest! People have no idea.

Same when you ring DWP up - if you can get through after a 5 hour wait - in one week both DH and I rang on separate occassions (tax credits era) and were told different things. They also didn't make a record of the calls so right hand deffo did not know what left hand was doing. I work in a library, and we are under strict orders to maintain consistency with our users. We have note fields in each account to log phone conversations so all the team know what the history is.

I cannot believe that if a flaming library can organise themselves, the DWP can't. Really? Something has gone dreadfully wrong and is wasting a lot of money and time through mismanagement and inefficiency.

I think we should have Dragon's Den but for failing NHS managers, DWP etc. Let Alan Sugar loose on them (not to privitise just to point out shortcomings). If I was making the programme he'd have to appear for free, in the national interest of transparency.

Not all schools have them!

Benefits are public money, our own taxes, I’d rather they were overly bureaucratic and follow the rules than to make it “easy” for people to claim and potentially abuse the system.

I've claimed my UC top up for 4 years. It's been very easy for me. I've never had to set foot in a job centre. All I'm asked to do is provide proof of my childcare costs every month which takes 10 minutes of my time.

I think your comment just proves you don't fully understand how the system works. Despite it being easy for me to claim what I am entitled to, it would be very difficult for me to claim fraudulently. I wouldn't be able to claim more childcare costs than I get because I have to provide proof of these every month. I couldn't pretend to have a tenancy agreement/rent because you have to upload proof of that too. I couldn't pretend to have another child because I couldn't provide another birth certificate.

Yes, i'm very grateful. But it just shows it CAN be easy to do whilst still providing people with what they need.

When my mum was working, she worked in a field that meant she could write reports / provide evidence to help some people claim DLA for their children. She said the amount of time it took and how complicated the system was for people to get what they need was utterly ridiculous. And some people needed the money so they could make their homes accessible for their children to, you know, live in.

It's correct that I am not a net contributor. But most people aren't unless they are high earners.

This.
I'm on UC due to a divorce. Having to walk into the Job Centre and have the staff look at me with judgement was very hard.
I work hard but part time due to being there for my children as a single parent.
Soon my house are meant to increase but I don't know how on earth to manage that for my children.

It's hard too for the penalties. So I had a small tax rebate which I was hoping to use on my daughter's birthday...but of course I was penalised heavily on this as if it were income rather than the government paying me back a debt owed.

I am thankful that we have it. But it's hard to have to use it.

Use a breakfast club, that adds another hour to your working availability. Or is it too inconvenient for you too?

I know the OP has responded to this already, but lol. "Just use a breakfast club" the waiting list for wraparound care at our school is 18 months long 😂

Yup. There's a really good universal credit group on Facebook which corrects many mistakes made by bad advisors.

The thing is, being a single parent full stop is bloody hard. I know millions of people do it and have done it for years but it doesn't make it any easier. Many have parents or other relatives that help and have the kids sometimes. I spent most of my time at my nan's house whilst my mother worked. So although my mother was a single parent, she had that help. I do not.

We're effectively doing the job of two people in terms of running a household and having sole care of a young child. Add pets onto that too. I have a dog and now a cat who decided he wanted to live me with me 😆

So everything, cooking, cleaning, admin, washing, ironing, gardening, decorating. There is noone to take turns giving the child a bath which in itself is a chore when you're knackered. Noone to cook or wash dishes now and then. This probably sounds so dramatic but it's how it is. It would be nice to have a cup of tea made for me on occasion!

So working full time on top of all that would be nigh on impossible right now I think. Not that I want to stay on UC. Which is why I've started a small side hustle which will hopefully turn into something with a decent income.

And yes, going into the job centre is horrible!

The system is terrible but people keep voting to punish the poor under the guise of 'fairness'... I get UC despite working full time, having no dependents and not having had a rent increase for 15 years. And I'm not on minimum wage either, I'm a Universal Credit work coach.

Not to be pedantic but, tax credits are HMRC, not DWP

Sorry, yes you're right. Different name, same old shit though!

They got in trouble about the lack of response on their phone lines. Not sure if it is any better now.

Dealt with DWP also, when I claimed for PIP. Capita did the 'assessment'. It was just lies, I got the transcript. Too ill to go down the mandatory reconsideration route so I abandoned it.

Ah, from what I have read on here, I was under the impression that only parents had their wages topped up by UC.

I've been fortunate not to have too many issues with them so far. However I has a voluntary call to discuss them helping me earn more (coincidently coinciding with a couple months lower pay due to parental leave followed by sick leave). I waited for my call, completely prepared and 20 mins after they were meant to call I had a message to say due to unforseen circumstances they couldn't call that day. I'd arranged my morning to be available for the call. The date they arranged for call back was fine until I got norovirus overnight and was poorly. I messaged early to say I was unwell and could we rearrange. Got a snotty message say that I had rejected help to earn more money! Was fine when they kept me waiting 20mins but wasn't fine when I was unwell and messaged hours ahead of time. Fortunately it was voluntary so no problem for me from that but if I'd been in a situation where I could be sanctioned it seems they would have, just because I had norovirus. I guess the lesson is take the call whatever if sanction is a possibility. I was annoyed by the tone of the message though.

Not financial net contributors but we are all labour contributors. Without those in low income jobs doing very necessary roles in society there wouldn't be a society. It isn't the workers fault that their role isn't valued highly enough that they aren't paid enough to live on without help from UC.

Covid showed that many of the most vital roles are also low paid roles. The people who care for others be that children or the elderly are paid far less than their role deserves. They are definitely contributors in every other way for society. Nursery workers allow everyone else to work, elderly carers allow their families to work. Without people in roles such as these there would be a very different dynamic.

I once asked a question phrased "I've read your guidance document on x titled blah" I couldn't find the answer to my question please can you explain xyz. They responded with a link to the document I had referenced. I responded saying that doesn't answer my question on xyz is there another document or can you just answer? They responded with a link to the same document. Think they did that 4 times. Eventually I asked randoms on the internet and got my answer and where the info comes from so I could check it.

I was also told I would be sanctioned for not looking for work when heavily pregnant and caring full time for a disabled child who was refused a school place by the LA as no school could meet his needs. But he wasn't officially diagnosed at that point and was school age so I had to work no debate. I could not find any childcare to take him. That was why I needed financial support I was self employed and could work had there been school/childcare for my son. Went in for the meeting about it and took my son with me. I cried at the poor woman while my 6 year old ran around climbed everywhere and shat himself and took it out his pants tried to smear it on their sofa. I never got sanctioned after that

That's what tax credits (in the UK) used to be like :(