AIBU to claim UC with a 'high' income

[Loriclimbs]

I am very conflicted about lifting the two-child cap. I know many would benefit from it but it would lead us back to more abuse of the system. I, however, have three children myself. I have gratefully received UC in the past but as my income has grown I am currently no longer eligible.

With the addition of my youngest child, I will now be eligible for approximately £200 per month. I an a higher rate tax payer abd Icurrently pay over £1200 in income tax alone per month. I have to repay the majority of the child benefit I receive.

AIBU to claim what I am entitled to?

That’s the same for those working with disabled children though. Where are they getting this extra money from?

Anyone else wonder about all this universal credit paid to landlords through rent? It must be a HUGE amount. Lots of private equity and banks are becoming mega landlords, so we're effectively transferring huge amounts of taxpayer cash to billionaires. I'm actually more concerned about my tax going offshore to billionaires, than to disabled or hungry kids...

I didn’t say it was the case for all, but it is for many.

As I said, something went wrong with your online calculator calculations. They aren’t always reliable. If comparing like for like circumstances, because of the work allowance and earnings taper, a claimant would not receive more UC when not working than they would in UC and earnings if they were working.

Their earnings. If they are not eligible for UC, their earnings will be higher than the UC they would receive if not working because of the work allowance and earnings taper. As I said, the online calculations you did were wrong.

I find the whole system perplexing. I applied recently but qualified for zero because I have a small work pension (£300pm) and a small part time job that pays £400pm. I have an injury that makes working more hours really hard but have been declined for help there. It seems if you either don't have children or they are over 18 you get zilch. The most I could get is less than £80 pm and that is only if I give up my job. 🤷‍♀️

This is why you aren’t eligible. You need to have dependants and be renting.

I really hope it’s not reliable because it’s plain depressing! It wasn’t just UC that meant it was higher though. There was also carers allowance, that I can’t claim now because I work.

Isn’t that in September 2026?

Carer’s allowance is deducted £ for £ from UC.

It isn’t that you can’t claim carer’s allowance when working. It is that you earn over the threshold. Some receiving CA still work. So long as their earnings after certain deductions are under the threshold.

I’ve just tried doing the calculation with our income of £50k and we are entitled to nothing.

In the financial year 2023/2024 the government paid out £31.8 billion.
Don’t know what the spilt in between private rent and council rent though.
It is expected to rise to £35 billion by 2028.

The calculator listed amounts for UC and carers allowance separately. I used the calculator linked to on the gov.uk site

After reading this I have reached peak-benefit and I am done with peoples noses in the trough when they should be working or living within their means or just having one or two DC like the prudent rest of us.

Of course, go ahead and claim what you are entitled to.

Since you and others are getting money for free, you can pick up the slack for donations to the food banks, toy donations and for the homeless from now.

And yes I know how carers allowance works. If you earn just £1 over the cut off you lose the entire amount, making you worse off for working.

In that case, put £2 into a pension.

It may list CA and UC separately but CA is deducted £for£. CA should still be claimed though for the better NI credits.

Imagine a world where we hadn't destroyed social housing, hadn't left the EU and had used the austerity years (where borrowing costs were virtually nil) to properly invest in public services.

We wouldn't have a perfect society but bloody hell, it would be better than what we have now.

We've had fourteen years of cutting welfare spending and public services and where has it left us? Poorer than before and, funnily enough, welfare costs are just as high!

Reform blame foreigners, Tories blame scroungers, Labour blame Tories, Greens blame billionaires, but it's really just us. We see the consequences of all these mistakes and demand they're made over and over again.

The tax payers paid out….

Having plugged in the numbers, we'd be better off if I dropped a day at work.

We do have savings just over £16k but these would pay off the remaining mortgage which it seems is an acceptable use.

I find it mind boggling.

I'm not going to do it but it's insane. I could be mortgage free, work less and still have the same at the end of the month. The system is goosed

But hence the gaming and insistence on disability diagnoses. Of course nobody on here would do that, but clearly many in the country do, looking at the beyond affordable social welfare costs. PS i have a child who has a disability. Child benefit was great and appreciated. That alone helped a lot. I dont pay rent, but did pay a mortgage for many years. But I worry about my older friends who rent into and beyond retirement. They will also need support - state pension + lower paid work ( so little to no private pension) will mean support from the state. I genuinely do not understand how we as a country are going to afford to do this.

You've put £1200 odd for childcare per month for an 8,6, and 4 yr old... Skewed the figures

The OP is not so much universal credit as disability allowance... It's just the way it's worked out

Also, you have to work... Pre 3, you are not expected to, 3-5 you are expected to a little bit, 5-11 at least 16 hours, secondary full time... As I understand it...

That's not far fetched if the 4 year old is in nursery and the older 2 go to before/after school care

You should do it

Totally. It must be some kind of idea that Boris had that he would be driving the economy by paying landlords 🙄

Although apparently housing benefit as it used to be known has always been controversial

Yep.