Financially struggling with good job and now i have received some money which should be a good thing but ...

[Itisadifficulttime]

I am in a professional job, single mum with 3 kids living at home (5, 11 and 18) and one in uni (19).
Take home pay is between £3458 - £3550/monthly and I am still in overdraft every month.
This is without credit card debt i am also paying off in bits monthly.

4 months ago after a series of happenings leading me to incur further debt about £7,100 more to HMRC, i had a breakdown and was in a very bad way mentally. I was desperate and applied for universal credit. A friend suggested i may be entitled to some help.

I applied, attended two meetings at the jobcentre. 2 weeks later i got a message saying my entitlement was £-43.00. So i forgot about it.

Tonight, i have received £1844 in my account. 628 for May, 608 for June and 608 for July.

I don't trust HMRC. Their mistakes are part of the £7100 debt above. And even though this money is really needed, i am worried this is a mistake and next year or some years down the line i will be asked to pay it back (i.e i will be owing HMRC even more!).

This £608/month UC pay seems a lot. Especially after the message of £-43 entitlement.
But i have looked through the calculations and they have all the right figures.
£3550 for wages, £1150 for rent, 3 kids at home and i am single. The first £379 of my wages is not part of the calculations apparently.

Anyone got experience with UC? Can i trust this money? Can a single parent earning £3458 - £3550 per month be entitled to this much?

Are you sure that is correct with that sort of wage and I presume a mortgage. Unless you have a child older than 2017 or disabled. Although thinking about it is it childcare included too?

You can claim help with childcare costs from uc as well.

I’m in the same boat. I have a good wage, work full time but have recently become a single parent so was advised to apply. Didn’t think I’d get anything. First month £93, second month £0, this month £907! I rang them yesterday and they said it’s all correct.

Agree.

I earn £1550 a month, rent is £800, this month we got £430 UC (DH self employed so fluctuates) some months we get £0 depending

Just doesn't make sense

No holidays, swimming or haircuts here!

Why are you paying care for your father? Can he not fund this himself or approach social services for this?

If he can't afford to pay it himself then he should be entitled to support if he needs the care.

I don't want to nit pick op, and I'm not suggesting you should never spend money...however if you're really stressed about your budget why are you paying for swimming lessons? Especially for an 11yo. Surely they can swim by now and you could just take them to the pool rather than actual lessons? If you went to family sessions it would only be a few pounds rather than a costly lesson.

I do understand your frustration at not being able to relax about the money. We had similar once where hmrc sent us a large amount, we queried it a few times and we're assured it was correct. A year later we got a letter demanding the full amount within a short amount of time. Luckily we were in a position to just pay it but it's made both me and DH wary. Not to mention, every year we get a letter saying DH owes an additional few grand in tax despite being paye and checking his code. It's unnerving.

Have you included your childcare costs in your claim? You should.

If your full rent as stated in your OP is within the Local Housing Allowance for your area, I calculate your UC as follows:

Single person £368.74
Eldest child £315
Second child £269.58
Third child £269.58
Rent £1150

Total before deductions: £2372.90

£3550 take home pay - £379 work allowance = £3171. 55% withdrawal rate gives £1744.05 deduction.

£2372.90-£1744.05= £628.85 UC

But that doesn't include any childcare. If you're paying approved childcare, you can get up to 85% of the cost back.

I am amazed to discover that if I was renting I’d get some UC on my very similar salary … not complaining, there is no way the LHA would cover rent where I live and I wouldn’t fancy the rental market. Good luck to you OP, I hope DWP has done its sums right.

And I can also attest that this isn’t a “massive salary” once everything is taken into account. I’ve ripped through all my savings this year on similar and we don’t have big luxuries.

Please ignore other people. I can't believe some of the comments!

It doesn't matter how much you earn. Everybodies circumstances are different and have different outgoings.

Make sure that you update universal credit with the new increased rent amount. Also if you are entitled to universal credit then you can also get up to 85% help with childcare fees if they are ofsted registered.

I am a single parent who works and to be honest with you, if I didn't have support from universal credit then we would probably be homeless. I don't earn as much as you but I am sure to some people then it is probably more than they receive doesn't mean I am struggling any less than other people. I live hand to mouth each month but my children are happy and that's the most important thing