Universal credit with SMP

[newmumtobe1998]

So just applied for UC whilst on SMP partner is working full time but doesn’t cover enough for us to live off just his wage and my SMP. UC said we are eligible but haven’t given us any numbers yet. Said we will see when it’s paid. Anyone else do this and can tell me how much UC roughly paid them?

I think it’ll depend on what your outgoings are, whether you have a mortgage or rent, and, if you rent, how many bedrooms you have and whether you’re in a private rental. So, if you give more detail, people may be able to help you more.
there are also calculators online - have you seen “turn2us” and “entitled to”?

Are you planning to use your keeping in touch days? They could help, but if you’re on UC I would advise you to spread them out over your “assessment periods” so you don’t have a sudden large lump sum that may then wipe out your UC entitlement for that month or even mean it is cancelled entirely.

I didn’t have that experience with KIT days specifically, but for example I did some work on a project-based, self-employed basis and got paid in a lump sum for one piece of work that had taken me around four months, and this tipped me enough over that I lost my entitlement and had to reapply, costing me two months’ worth of UC and multiple trips to the job centre. Whereas that same amount split over four months would have made very little reduction to the UC entitlement.

We social rent our property and only have 1 bedroom

Have you had a go at putting your numbers into one of the calculators mentioned upthread?